Scam Artists !

The public are constantly warned to beware of scam artists peddling their trade by going door to door and offering dodgy services at " unbelievable " prices.   If the " deal " seems too good to be true - then it probably is !

Now we have a fresh reason to be afraid.   There could be huge numbers of tradespeople out there who believe that they have a legitimate right to offer their services, but it is they who have been scammed and the licenses that they are proud to show as proof of legitimacy are worthless.

It seems that nothing is beyond the ingenuity of some scammers.   An alert Fair Trading officer noticed a small irregularity on a license and this launched an investigation.   They discovered a man representing himself as an agent of VETASSESS, a legitimate accredited and registered training organization which brings overseas trained people's qualifications up to Australian standards and issues licenses.

This was not a shoddy, backyard operation.   It operated out of impressive offices and those submitting to examinations had every reason to believe that they were following Australian law and doing the right thing.  This scammer charged $ 6000 for his services, and provided a license which was a clever forgery.

The danger is that the type of work covered includes electrical, refrigeration, air conditioning -  areas where a lack of proper standards could be life threatening.   In many cases the tradesperson involved has worked in that trade area in another country, but the standards in Australia can be entirely different and that knowledge may not be applicable to the appliances being serviced here.

This scammer is serving a stint in prison and this bogus operation has been closed down, but the number of people issued with fake licenses is unknown.    Probably the best defence available to the public is to be ultra cautious when offered proof that a tradesperson has a license.    That license will have a number, and a phone call to the appropriate licensing authority will quickly determine if it is genuine.

It seems that the scammers are evolving into ever increasing levels of sophistication.   These days, even the evidence of a trade license can not be taken at face value.!