SCAMMERS are targeting businesses and homes in Frankston and Langwarrin pretending to be VicRoads workers.
VicRoads issued a statement last week which read that the organisation had been “alerted to six cases of people being scammed across Melbourne with the fake workers targeting businesses and homes in areas including Craigieburn, Frankston, and Langwarrin.”
VicRoads says that one person was scammed out of $20,000 by fake workers who offered to fix his driveway.
“In the most serious case, two men claiming to be working for VicRoads and displaying fake VicRoads identification, knocked on the door of a house in Langwarrin and told the property owner they were selling left over asphalt from nearby construction projects and offered to fix the driveway,” the statement read.
“The owner agreed to the work, and within minutes trucks and rolling machines arrived. The owner paid $20,000 and was presented with a fake invoice with the company name Vic Road Marking Pty Ltd.
“The scam is elaborate with the men not only using fake VicRoads branded identification, they are also driving a fake VicRoads branded Mazda ute.”
Department of Transport executive director for metro south east Vince Punaro said “our staff never perform work on private property, and they certainly don’t go from door-to-door offering to do asphalting or line marking.”
“These incidents are very concerning and we would encourage anybody who suspects they may have been a victim of these scams to report it to Victoria Police immediately,” he said.