Police seek public help as stories of dodgy tradies continue to plague Melbourne’s suburbs

FAKE “persuasive” tradesmen, often with Irish accents, are continuing to prowl our suburbs and are preying on the elderly.

Tradie Scam

BOGUS tradesmen are prowling Bayside suburbs looking for victims, police say.

Disguised as roofers, builders or even landscape gardeners, the dodgy itinerants prey on people, especially the elderly, and rob them of thousands of ­dollars.

Often speaking with an Irish accent, they knock on doors asking if work needs to be done around a home or yard and use their charm to persuade people to part with their hard-earned money.

Recent examples include a Black Rock woman (see below) who was ripped off $2000 for non-existent guttering work, while another elderly Box Hill resident lost about $98,000 in a similar scam.

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Glen Eira Bayside Detective Sgt Andrew Collison said people should be wary of supposed tradesmen knocking on doors offering any sort of service.

“For many years now police have received reports of impropriety and possible criminal offences involving tradesmen performing home maintenance and building works,’’ Sgt Collison said. “Several terms have been used to describe this issue and the persons responsible including Irish gypsies, travelling conmen, roofing scammers, bogus painters and many more.”

Meanwhile the State Government is also getting involved in the fight against fakes.

The new Labor Government is targeting the conmen who are systematically fleecing vulnerable people across Victoria.

Consumer Affairs Victoria is working with police and immigration officials, along with interstate consumer agencies, to find and stop the conmen who often speak with Irish accents.

Consumer Affairs Minister Jane Garrett said in the past six months there had been 250 reports of conmen who, in December alone, collected $300,000 from the elderly, stay-at-home mums, the disabled and people with low English proficiency.

The Travelling Conmen Hotline is 1300 133 408.

CARNEGIE

Elsbeth Jones, 72, with broken tiles from her roof. Picture: Susan Windmiller

ELSBETH Jones was in her garden when two “friendly” Irish men posing as roof restorers approached her and offered to help her take in the rubbish.

The Carnegie grandmother, 72, was told her roof needed urgent repairs and she needed to spend $20,000 to fix it.

Within minutes she was convinced, the men agreed to accept $5000 and offered to drive her to the bank to withdraw the money.

“They really scared me that the roof was going to fall onto my car and I was going to be awash with water coming in,’’ she said.

“They were personable, confident, helpful, friendly. You know how you size people up? They seemed to be honest. They also know the language about roofs.’’

Mrs Jones drove herself to the bank and returned with $3000 in cash — money she says she has now written off.

“They are just awful, awful people,’’ she said.

A month later she was approached by two different alleged roof restorers and this time one climbed on her roof without permission and started smashing tiles.

Mrs Jones told him to leave, locked herself inside her house and phoned the police.

“This one said he was working on the roof next door and noticed some areas that needed to be fixed,’’ she said.

His accomplice stood at the door ringing the doorbell then both fled.

Mrs Jones is warning people to be wary and to contact police if they feel they have been approached by scammers.

BLACK ROCK

Peter Wyatt, 85, from Black Rock, hopes others will not make the mistake she did by paying the fake tradies. Picture: Susan Windmiller

BLACK Rock scam victim Peter Wyatt doesn’t want others to make the same mistake she did.

The 85-year-old was fleeced out of $2000 late last year by a pair of Irish fake tradies for roof and gutter work that was never done.

On December 17 Ms Wyatt was inside her home when she heard a knock on the door.

“They got me at a bad moment, I was just thinking the house needs a bit of work and there was a leak inside,” Ms Wyatt said.

“When I answered the door, he spoke softly in a beautiful accent, he told me he was working next door and noticed my gutters needed cleaning.

“He said ‘while I’m in the area I can do the work for you’, so I let him check.”

Ms Wyatt said after an inspection, he said the roof also needed work.

“He said he could do all the work for $5000, I said that was too much and we negotiated down to $2000. I thought I got a good deal.”

The man’s friend then came to the door and offered to drive her to the bank in Mentone, where she withdrew $2000.

She gave the money to the men when she returned, only to notice after they left that no work had been done.

She said she felt like an idiot.

“I was stupid, I knew I’d been taken,” she said.

“I felt such a dill.”

She said other people need to be wary, as they can be very persuasive.

Scam victim Peter Wyatt said she felt “stupid” after losing $2000 to a bogus tradesman.

Police say the conmen generally:

■ Appear to be from overseas

■ Offer to do home maintenance or repairs, which are then not done or are substandard

■ Target elderly homeowners

■ Often use standover tactics to pressure their victims to pay up

Information: Glen Eira Bayside CIU on 8530 5225 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.