{"id":128616,"date":"2015-11-30T16:33:41","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T06:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=128616"},"modified":"2020-08-05T12:56:32","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T02:56:32","slug":"watch-out-for-bitumen-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/11\/30\/watch-out-for-bitumen-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Out For Bitumen Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
One of the scammers' trucks spotted on the Darling Downs (Photo: QPS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 30, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s another common scam doing the rounds, but it has nothing to do with the Internet.<\/p>\n

This con involves people going door-to-door offering to sell bitumen\/tar products.<\/p>\n

Recently, Darling Downs police intercepted a group of people selling bitumen work door-to-door.<\/p>\n

Four people in four vehicles were “cold calling”, attempting to sell bitumen services for driveways and carparks at a reduced price.<\/p>\n

They said they were ready to complete the work in return for immediate payment.<\/p>\n

The group was claiming to be working on a nearby job but had overestimated the product required and were attempting to recoup some of their money by offering work at a discounted price.<\/p>\n

This was a lie. The people had no ties to the area and were not legitimately working on a nearby project.<\/p>\n

Police were able to confirm that the people were from overseas and were in Australia on working visas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They possessed very little or no experience in bitumen work and were living in either backpacker or caravan park accommodation.<\/p>\n

These itinerant workers had recently arrived in the country but had already set up registered businesses and bank accounts. They had business cards and even possessed a portable credit\/debit card machine for direct debit into their accounts.<\/p>\n

The vehicles being used by the itinerant workers have been spotted all over south-east Queensland and interstate and have been made to look like legitimate roadwork vehicles with the inclusion of fluorescent stripes along the side.<\/p>\n

One if the vehicles was carrying magnetic decals containing letters and numbers, as seen on mining vehicles, along with rotating orange lights.<\/p>\n

Information from the Office of Fair Trading is that Itinerant Traders are illegal door-to-door traders.<\/p>\n

Itinerant Traders have no fixed address but instead move around so they can target new towns and suburbs.<\/p>\n

Itinerant Traders aim many of their operations at older people, who may have trouble maintaining their homes.<\/p>\n

Never do business with anyone you suspect may be an Itinerant Trader.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Police say they will try to convince you to hire their services on the spot and then<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Never do any work; or<\/li>\n
  • Do shoddy work with no prospect of refund or repair.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Common types of itinerant trading includes:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Bitumen laying<\/li>\n
    • Roof painting<\/li>\n
    • General home maintenance<\/li>\n
    • Selling stereos or other electronics from the back of a van.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      They may try to convince you by:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Telling you a hard-luck story<\/li>\n
      • Claiming to offer a good deal because they are “in the area”<\/li>\n
      • Claiming they have products “left over from another job”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        How to recognise an Itinerant Trader<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Itinerant traders:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Usually call by uninvited<\/li>\n
        • Prefer cash payments<\/li>\n
        • Do not supply proper receipts or written contracts<\/li>\n
        • Can\u2019t show you their identification or QBCC licence (Queensland Builders or Contracts Licence)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Genuine Door-to-Door traders must:<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          • Give you a cooling off period of 10 business days to change your mind<\/li>\n
          • Not take any money during the cooling off period<\/li>\n
          • Not begin any service during this time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            You can report suspected travelling conmen to a national hotline on 1300-133-408.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            There’s another common scam doing the rounds, but it has nothing to do with the Internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":128617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,24],"tags":[1132],"yoast_head":"\nWatch Out For Bitumen Scams - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/11\/30\/watch-out-for-bitumen-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Watch Out For Bitumen Scams - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There's another common scam doing the rounds, but it has nothing to do with the Internet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/11\/30\/watch-out-for-bitumen-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-30T06:33:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-05T02:56:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/20151130scam.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"224\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/11\/30\/watch-out-for-bitumen-scams\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/11\/30\/watch-out-for-bitumen-scams\/\",\"name\":\"Watch Out For Bitumen Scams - 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