NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
Luz Lenzi says she returned to her Sanford, Fla., home to find her driveway had been ripped up, despite never hiring anyone to replace it<\/p>\n
Sanford police say someone posing as a real estate company representative hired a contractor using a $15,000 check that later bounced<\/p>\n
Investigators say the alleged scam led to internet addresses in Nigeria and believe the contractor\u2014not the homeowner\u2014was the intended target<\/p>\n
A Florida woman says she returned home earlier this year to find her driveway had been torn out and hauled away as part of an alleged scam that Sanford police say they traced to internet addresses in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
According to local news station NDTV<\/a> and News 6<\/a>, homeowner Luz Lenzi never hired anyone to replace the driveway at her Sanford home. Police said someone posing as a representative of a real estate company hired a contractor to redo the driveway using a $15,000 check that later bounced.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn’t hire them. I didn’t need to have my driveway redone,\u201d Lenzi told News 6.<\/p>\n Police said the work stopped after the check bounced. Records obtained by the outlet showed the check was issued by a company called SOIL Realty LLC, which was listed in New Mexico.<\/p>\n According to Sanford police and News 6, investigators subpoenaed bank records connected to the company and obtained Google records tied to an email address used during the transaction. Police said those records ultimately led investigators to internet addresses in Nigeria.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, Nigeria, like in Africa? And he said, yes,\u201d Lenzi told News 6. \u201cI said how? I was shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n Police said the contractor never met the purported client in person and did not obtain a permit before beginning the work.<\/p>\n