More alleged victims of Toai Me Pham come forward
A mystery Airtasker tradie who allegedly ripped customers off thousands has been told to repay one victim, while more people claiming they were ripped off come forward.
Geelong
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A tradie has been ordered to repay a woman he swindled, while more people who claim to be victims have come forward.
Newcomb resident Andrea Collins told the Geelong Advertiser last month she paid Toai Me Pham more than $5000, only for him not to complete the work.
Last Friday, the Victorian Civil and Adminstrative Tribunal ruled in favour of Ms Collins, ordering Mr Pham pay her $5110 in full as well as her tribunal application fee.
Mr Pham was not present for the hearing.
The Geelong Advertiser recently revealed angry Geelong residents claimed they were owed thousands by Mr Pham.
Bonnie McCrae from Ocean Grove claims to have paid $2400to Mr Pham, only for him to not complete any work.
The Geelong Advertiser has been provided with proof of this payment.
Like Mr Pham’s other alleged victims, Ms McCrae found him through the popular outsourcing app Airtasker under the name ‘Me.T’ in July of 2022 when she was searching for someone to install a gate on her property.
According to Ms McCrae, shortly after agreeing to do the job Mr Pham began giving excuses as to why he had to put it off.
“The day he came over to quote, we got put into a lockdown,” Ms McCrae said.
“So he had all Covid to play, like it was the perfect opportunity for a scammer because he could say ‘oh I can’t come because we’ve got that 5km rule’.”
“And then he couldn’t come to install the gate because his wife was at a cafe that had a Covid outbreak.
Ms McCrae said that despite this, when Mr Pham offered to fix her fireplace, another job she’d advertised on Airtasker, she agreed.
Work never commenced on either job, and Mr Pham allegedly became unresponsive.
Ms McCrae said she felt like an “idiot” after the ordeal.
“All our stories are so bloody similar,” she said.
“He’s just such a nice guy and you befriend him.”
Unlike other alleged victims however, Ms McCrae said she managed to recover some of the money she lost.
“I did get 75 per cent back from my bank,” she said.
“Because I had his bank account and his name and everything like that
Ms McCrae is a member of a Facebook group chat started by Geelong residents who claim to be victims of Mr Pham.
While most of the members of the Pham Scam group are Geelong based, residents from other areas have also joined.
Point Cook nurse Nicole Jones, not her real last name, claims she was also a victim of Mr Pham’s shady dealings.
She told the Geelong Advertiser her brother found Mr Pham via Airtasker about two years ago, when she was looking for a carpenter to fix some mistakes a prior tradesman she’s employed had made.
According to her, Mr Pham completed $160 worth of work, and never returned.
Mr Pham was paid $1931 between the November 8-11, 2022.
The Geelong Advertiser has seen proof of bank transfers made to a PayID linked to Mr Pham’s phone number.
Mr Pham used the name Dax when dealing with Ms Jones and told both her and Ms McCrae that he was from Melbourne.
This masthead reported earlier this month that he told other alleged victims he was from Newcomb and Leopold, and used the names Tommy, Michael, and Toai.
One of the Facebook group members has a VCAT hearing with Mr Pham on December 1.
An ABN attached to the VCAT hearing and to invoices say his name is Toai Tri Pham and he is based in a postcode in Melbourne’s west that includes Sunshine, Sunshine West, Sunshine North, Melbourne, Albion and Derrimut.
Airtasker advised it had investigated accounts associated with the same phone number provided to both Ms Jones and Ms McCrae.
They also confirmed they “restricted this user from the platform in 2020, meaning he could no longer make offers, comment on tasks or be assigned new tasks.”
Airtasker confirmed they had deleted duplicate profiles using the same number in the past.
Mr Pham was contacted for comment via the number he provided those he worked for, but did not respond.
KNOW MORE? CONTACT: william.keech@news.com.au
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