South Australians are being swindled out of tens of thousands in a sketchy online building scam
Looking to build your own home? Then you need to know about this horror new scam stealing tens of thousands of dollars from South Australians.
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South Australians have lost nearly $60,000 to a sneaky new scam that sees fraudsters posing as builders online, work for hire platforms, and other websites.
The scam involves crooks replying to online posts and pretending to be licensed builders, then ask for a deposit that exceeds the legal amount in South Australia.
Deposits must be under $1000 for jobs that range from $12,000 and $20,000 or less than five per cent for jobs over $20,000.
After scammers receive the money, they will say the work has been delayed and then disappear.
The state government has put out a warning to South Australians, stating that the scammers will often take the identity of an actual business and could even call their victims and send out documents that look like a contract from the legitimate builder.
Consumer and Business Affairs Minister Andrea Michaels said the scammers often “speak with a degree of knowledge about what would be required in building work”.
Watchdog Consumer and Business Services is investigating the matter and is aware of at least three cases where people have been scammed out of nearly $60,000 in total.
Mr Michaels urged consumers to look out for red flags, including grammatical errors and unconvincing web links.
“If approached on one of these sites, the best thing people can do is find contact details independently and call the business, so they can verify that the person they are dealing with is who they say they are,” he said.
Consumers are also urged to do extra checks, seek multiple quotes, be wary of suspiciously low prices and know their rights.
Consumer Affairs Acting Commissioner Fraser Stroud urged people to be vigilant online.
“When choosing a builder, it’s essential consumers know their rights – especially when it comes to any request for a deposit,” he said.
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