Many people are desperate for help to clear clogged driveways, and it appears that scammers are well aware.

Mai Lambert of St. John’s needed help as her car was not going anywhere without getting some of the snow out of the way. Lambert says she is tech savvy but did not see any red flags when she negotiated a price for someone to push the snow out of her driveway.

She went on to NL Snow Clearing Hub, which seemed to be a local Facebook group. A couple of emails later and they arrived at a price of $50. She e-transferred the money, sent some pics of the driveway, then poof – no further communication.

The e-transfer went through, but the photo did not so she tried again and again. Then the profile disappeared. She is now out $50.