‘Gentleman’s handshake done and dusted’: Adelaide woman scammed by fake tradie

An Adelaide woman has warned others of a scammer passing himself off as tradie and ripping people for home improvements that he never does.

A northern suburbs woman says she and multiple other people have been scammed out of thousands of dollars by a man passing himself off as a tradie, taking deposits from them and then disappearing.

On Saturday, Sally Curnow told The Advertiser that she posted on the Facebook group, ‘Trusted Tradies and Community Page Adelaide’ back in May, seeking a landscaper to fix her driveway.

After she posted, she was contacted by a man who said he could do the job and that he lived in the same suburb as her.

“He said he’d be able to do it and that he would have a couple of guys with him and that he should be able to finish it in maybe a day,” she said.

After they spoke over Facebook, the man attended her property to assess the driveway and give a quote, before he contacted her later that day saying he needed a deposit to buy new pavers.

“(He asked) would it be all right if I could swing past and grab the deposit and he could pay for the pavers that day’,” she said.

“I said ‘yep, no worries’, so he pulled around and I gave him $500 cash.”

Ms Curnow said the man first attended her property on a Friday and after their initial discussion, they agreed for him to return on the Monday to complete the job.

However, he messaged her to say that he was “concerned” about the placement of the water metre and that he may have to pave around it, which would cost her an additional $550.

“He said that apparently, there was some law that you had to move it across and that you couldn’t just pave around it. I thought okay, well he seems to know what he’s doing,’ she said.

Ms Curnow said she transferred him the money which all up, was a total of $1050. However, he did not arrive on Monday to do the job and she has not heard from him since.

She has since found out that at least five other people have been scammed by the man in a similar way and they have all contacted and made reports to SA Police. However, the man has not been apprehended yet.

“From my police report, they said give us at least four weeks,” she said.

“I’ve actually told them (police) to add my police report number to theirs (other victims) and I’ve done that on mine, so it’s actually linking a couple up.

“The old gentleman’s handshake is gone … done and dusted. It’s really sad.”

The Advertiser has contacted the man for comment.

Originally published as ‘Gentleman’s handshake done and dusted’: Adelaide woman scammed by fake tradie