Pine straw brings acidity to gardens, beloved by azaleas and dogwoods. Apparently it can also brings hucksters to your home.
Marietta police are warning of scam in which people promise to install hundreds of bales of pine straw but only lay down a few bales before taking off.
Police spokesman Chuck McPhilamy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the department got its first report last week.
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The victim, who lives off Whitlock Avenue, paid $1,500 for 375 bales of pine straw, McPhilamy said. The crew of four put down eight bales and split.
He said the scammers drove a white pickup truck with no markings on it that was pulling a black utility trailer loaded with pine straw bales.
He said there have been multiple similar cases reported in Cobb and Coweta counties.
Someone in Peachtree City got conned out of $8,400 in 2014 the same way.
McPhilamy posted a video on Friday to the department's Facebook page. Some comments mentioned having dealt with the pine straw scam.
“My understanding is that this is happening in a variety of neighborhoods,” McPhilamy told The AJC.
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