‘Conman’ tradie hit 30 Qld families with $450k social media scam

A dodgy tradie who was busted living an “extravagant lifestyle” after scamming 30 Queensland families more than $450k has been jailed.

Hong Thanh Dang Tran, was jailed after the $450k Facebook tradie scam. Picture: 7News

A dodgy tradie was busted “living beyond his means” after scamming over $450,000 from 30 Queensland families via false advertisements on Facebook.

Hong Thanh Dang Tran, 45, was sentenced to six years jail at Brisbane District Court on Wednesday.

He pleaded guilty to 30 charges of fraud by dishonestly causing a detriment – five of which were of a value over $30,000.

Crown prosecutor Erin Hanlon told the court Tran had ripped off 30 families a total of $452,542 over a 20-month period from April 2022 to November 2023.

The court heard Tran had falsely advertised himself as a qualified and insured builder on Facebook and other platforms.

Judge Tony Moynihan KC said Tran would furnish low quotes to win the jobs, before asking for immediate upfront payments.

After receiving payment, Tran would either not do the work or not complete the work, the court heard.

Judge Moynihan said Tran, who was not qualified or insured, would use business cards from licensed builders and provide clients with different names and phone numbers.

The court heard Tran would introduce clients to his family in order to build rapport.

Judge Moynihan said Tran had employed the “tactic” to encourage them to trust him.

“You were not qualified or insured. Your advertisements were false and misleading,” Judge Moynihan told Tran.

“You are at the end of the day a conman.”

Hong Thanh Dang Tran, 45, was sentenced to six years jail at Brisbane District Court

Ms Hanlon said Tran had also made vague “threats” to some clients when challenged.

Defence barrister Hamish Farr said Tran had been experiencing financial hardship at the time, with limited prospects of employment.

“It’s not alleged that the funds acquired as a consequence were relied upon or used to support an extravagant lifestyle,” Mr Farr said.

He said the funds were used for general expenses, electronics, and clothing.

Judge Moynihan responded that Tran had been “certainly living beyond his means” however.

The court heard Tran had returned just shy of $40,000 to his clients, therefore making a total profit of $413,342.

He had spent 544 days in custody since his arrest in November 2023.

Both prosecution and defence agreed that a sentence around six years jail would be appropriate, with that time taken into account.

Judge Moynihan said none of the victim families had provided impact statements to the court.

But he accepted they would have suffered loss and harm as a result of Tran’s offending.

He noted Tran’s history included prior stealing offences in Queensland, and doing residential building work without a licence in New South Wales.

Tran was sentenced to six years in jail with parole eligibility on November 16, 2025.

His time in custody was declared time-served.