Domain.com.au exposes property con; ACCC deputy chair warns SMEs on scams

Real estate classified site Domain.com.au (owned by Fairfax Media) has warned users of a property scam where fraudsters create fake apartment advertisements to dupe victims out of cash.

Under the scam, would-be tenants contact the advertiser of the fake apartment and receive a reply telling them that the advertiser is overseas. The fake advertiser offers to send the keys and contracts after the would-be tenant sends a deposit. But, of course, the keys never appear.

ACCC deputy chairperson Michael Schaper says similar scams have been run with commercial property leases and says these are an example of a growing number of scams aimed directly at small business owners and would-be entrepreneurs.

Schaper says that while scammers have always targetted business owners, the ACCC is stepping up its efforts to warn SMEs during the downturn.

“There’s always been that image that scams have been a consumer issues, but businesses are affected too,” he says.

He points to four distinct categories of scams:

Phising and email scams: Email scams targetting consumers are common, but recent scam campaigns where fraudsters purport to be offering tax refunds from the Australian Taxation Office have specifically focussed on businesses.

Overpayment scams: Under this model, the fraudster deliberately overpays for an item – often using a stolen credit card – and then calls the business to ask them to refund the amount they have apparently overpaid by. Schaper says tourism operators such as bed and breakfast owners have been a particular target; fraudsters pay for three nights with a stolen credit card, then ring up and get a refund for the third night after claiming their plans have changed.

False billing: Under this scam, fraudsters purporting to be from an online directory or industry trade magazine send an invoice to an SME, requesting payment for advertising services. Another trick is for fraudsters to send an invoice for a similar yet slightly different domain name to that used by the victim (such as example.co.uk for a company that uses example.com.au).

Franchising scams: As the downturn continues and unemployment rises, Schaper says there has been an increase in the number of franchises being advertised that are not actually franchises.

As well as warning SMEs to be vigilant, Schaper says SMEs need to start talking about scams they have seen with other business people and amongst industry groups.

Schaper has also been spreading the word amongst accounting bodies.

“We are saying that as accountants, this is something that you need to keep an eye on as part of looking over your clients’ books.”