FAIRFAX, Va. -- The FBI is investigating several paving scams on homeowners across the region.

Agents said they believe the people conducting the scams have been traveling across the country targeting elderly people.

Authorities said the scammers approach elderly homeowners and tell them they can repave their driveways with asphalt, and then collect a large amount of money up front. According to officials, the scammers then do the job with tar and chips, and by the time the homeowner realizes what has happened the scammers are gone, with their money.

"They gave me a deal that was cheaper than what I had been quoted before," said scam victim Ed Armstrong.

Special agent Debra Leprovette of the FBI has been investigating the alleged scam for about a year. She said the company often operates under the name Capital One Construction Company.

Leprovette also said the construction workers use fraudulent fliers with fake addresses on them.

"Many of them have fake driver's licenses, fake international driving permits, which aren't even recognized in the United States as a legal form of identification. Several of them have bought fake Virginia licenses," she said.

FBI officials said they suspect that as many as 100 people could be involved in the alleged scam. They said the group has hit areas from Chicago to Boston to as far south as Richmond, Va., and elsewhere.

Officials said the scammers also sometimes turn violent on nonpaying customers.

"We had eight individuals show up at midnight at one person's home with shovels, you know, kicking in the front door just to get an extra $300.

FBI officials said that most of the people involved are Irish and have been staying in the U.S. on expired tourists visas. They said two of the alleged scammers in Maryland have been deported. They also said that they believe most of the money gained in the operation has been used to purchase vehicles and send them to the United Kingdom.