Skip to content Skip to navigation
MENU
COTA Victoria Logo
Login
Get Involved
Home CLOSE
MENU
  • About
    About
    CLOSE MENU
    • Annual reports and financial statements
    • Staff
    • Board of Governance
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us
      • Current Job Opportunities
    • Our supporters
    • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
  • Policy
    Policy
    CLOSE MENU
    • Our policy priorities
    • Policy positions
    • Stories of Change
    • Policy Development Committee (PDC)
    • Aged Care
      • Telling your story
    • Assistive Technology for All
    • Ageism in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
    • Elder Abuse | Seniors Rights Victoria
    • Social Isolation
    • Submissions
    • Publications
    • End of life
    • COTA Green Sages
    Priorities for older Victorians: Submission for the Victorian State Budget 2023-24
    COTA Victoria's Strategic Plan 2023-2025
  • Information
    Information
    CLOSE MENU
    • Looking for information?
    • COVID-19 resources for older Victorians
    • COTA WISE services
    • How-to guides
    • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
    • Resources
  • News
    News
    CLOSE MENU
    • Latest News
    • Media
      • Media Releases
    • COTA Connects
      • COTA Connects Archive
      • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
    • ONE COTA magazine
  • Events
  • Our Programs
    Our Programs
    CLOSE MENU
    • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
    • Care Finders
    • Employment Support
      • Women Working Together
      • Locals Working Together
    • Living Longer Living Stronger
      • Find a Living Longer Living Stronger program in your area
      • Living Longer Living Stronger Online
      • Exercising at home
        • Random Acts of Exercise
      • Living Longer Living Stronger providers and instructors
    • Victorian Seniors Festival
    • COTA Cycling
  • About
  • Policy
  • Information
  • News
  • Events
  • Our Programs
  • Login
About
  • Annual reports and financial statements
  • Staff
  • Board of Governance
  • Contact Us
  • Work with us
  • Our supporters
  • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
Work with us
  • Current Job Opportunities
Policy
  • Our policy priorities
  • Policy positions
  • Stories of Change
  • Policy Development Committee (PDC)
  • Aged Care
  • Assistive Technology for All
  • Ageism in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Elder Abuse | Seniors Rights Victoria
  • Social Isolation
  • Submissions
  • Publications
  • End of life
  • COTA Green Sages
Aged Care
  • Telling your story
Information
  • Looking for information?
  • COVID-19 resources for older Victorians
  • COTA WISE services
  • How-to guides
  • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
  • Resources
News
  • Latest News
  • Media
  • COTA Connects
  • ONE COTA magazine
Media
  • Media Releases
COTA Connects
  • COTA Connects Archive
  • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
Our Programs
  • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
  • Care Finders
  • Employment Support
  • Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Victorian Seniors Festival
  • COTA Cycling
Employment Support
  • Women Working Together
  • Locals Working Together
Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Find a Living Longer Living Stronger program in your area
  • Living Longer Living Stronger Online
  • Exercising at home
  • Living Longer Living Stronger providers and instructors
Exercising at home
  • Random Acts of Exercise

Beware fake tradies and scammers!

10 August 202003/05/2021
Consumer Rights, Finance, Information
Beware fake tradies and scammers! preview image

What are fake tradies? People who claim to be tradesmen and offer to do work on your home at reduced prices. They ask for payment before starting the work and, once they are paid, they then disappear with your money regardless of whether they begin the work or leave the work unfinished or of a substandard quality.

They look for houses that have handrails and ramps, often targeting older Victorians. They either knock on your door or approach you while you are in the garden, offering:

  • driveway resurfacing
  • house painting
  • gardening or tree cutting
  • roof and guttering repairs, and
  • carpet cleaning.

Find out how Margaret was scammed out of $10,000.


If you want work done on your house:

  • shop around for a quote that is right for you
  • use established tradespeople who provide written quotes
  • ask for contact details of previous clients, so you can check references
  • do not sign any agreement until you are ready
  • ask for the tradesman’s full name and registration or licence details (if applicable) so you can check these with their industry authority
  • ask for the business’s number, so you can call to confirm whether the tradesman works for them.

What to look out for 

Fake tradies can be sophisticated in how they attract business. Be suspicious of flyers and websites that may look legitimate but offer cheap services. Check for reviews of tradies who advertise via online service hire platforms.

Also be suspicious of people who:

  • use words like ‘for today only’
  • only give a first name and mobile number
  • pressure you to accept their offer, and
  • say they can do the job now as another nearby has just cancelled.

Fake tradies no longer only do ‘cash only’ deals. Many now have EFTPOS machines or ask for money to be transferred into bank accounts.

Fake tradies often use:

  • flyers that have industry standard logos, Australian Business Numbers (ABN) and Australian Company Numbers (ACN)
  • signage on light poles or traffic lights, and
  • door-knocking with ‘today only’ specials.

Other scams to be wary of

Our growing use of technology gives scammers more opportunities to trick people into giving away personal and/or financial information. Scammers can use personal information to steal your identity for financial gain.

Here are some other tips on how to avoid being scammed:

  • Keep personal information private
  • Never send money or give credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents to anyone you don’t know or trust
  • Lock your mailbox
  • Shred any sensitive documents you no longer need, and
  • Check your credit report using a reputable credit reference bureau at least once a year, this can help you catch any unauthorised activity. Visit The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for information.

To find out more, visit the Consumer Affairs Victoria website.

fake tradies, travelling con men

RELATED NEWS

Have your say: National online survey on public transport accessibility preview image

Have your say: National online survey on public transport accessibility

21 March 2023
Read more
Read more
A new link between trusted health services and aged care services preview image

A new link between trusted health services and aged care services

20 March 2023
Read more
Read more
Information and education to plan for your future preview image

Information and education to plan for your future

17 March 2023
Read more
Read more
SHARE THIS CONTENT:
COTA Victoria Logo
  • About
  • Policy
  • Information
  • News
  • Events
  • Our Programs
Seniors Rights Victoria Registered Charity
Follow on
Facebook
COTA FEDERATION
  • ACT
  • New South Wales
  • Northern Territory
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia
COTA Western Australia COTA Northern Territory COTA Queensland COTA New South Wales COTA ACT COTA Victoria COTA South Australia COTA Tasmania
Follow on
Twitter
GET INVOLVED
  • Seniors Rights Victoria
  • COTA Connects newsletter
  • Get Involved
  • COTA Insurance
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Follow on Instagram
  • Contact Us
Seniors Rights Victoria
TERMS PRIVACY CONTACT SITEMAP
© 2023 COTA Victoria ABN 81 960 500 420 WEB DESIGN CODE AND VISUAL
Back to top
All correspondence may also be collected and stored, particularly in regard to registrations, including Email. Any information collected by COTA Victoria is collected via correspondence from you or your organisation. This may be via the telephone, Email, mail, fax or directly through our website.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT