Guest The Pom Queen Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Five French backpackers have been stranded in Dalby, Queensland after being duped by a false advertisement on job-listing site Gumtree. Two backpackers, from France, headed to Dalby for a tomato picking job they found listed on the website, only to discover is was a hoax. A second group of French backpackers also arrived in Dalby after making a deposit of $130 each for on-site accommodation for the same positions, The Chronicle reports. The three friends responded to the Gumtree advertisement and had written correspondence from a person posing as an employer. They were provided with bank details on where to deposit money. The ‘employer’ told them they were the second group to be hired and that they should arrive at the farm at a Hedges Rd address in Dalby. The girls turned up to find there was no job and no accommodation – just a confused homeowner who answered the door at the given address. “We did not expect this,” said one of the backpackers. “Australian people are very kind, we didn’t expect this to happen. We are very sad. It is hard to find work in Queensland and we paid out money for this accommodation with the promise of a job.” Police are attempting to track down the fraudster. http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/a-backpacker-hoax-in-Dalby/1725138/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 If it is an Australian bank account they paid into it shouldn't be hard to find them. There are so many scams on gumtree, I've had to stop poor gullible hubbie a couple of times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalis Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 It is, it's scam city. There are a hella lot of naive backpackers mind, as the saying goes about a fool and his money. To give you an example, a job advertised for banana picking in QLD, that doesn't require transport and is paid anything near decently will get in the high hundreds of hits within a day or two, of which at least half must convert to phonecalls. The amount of backpackers looking for regional as DIAC tighten up checks on 2 nd year apps is unbelivable. Even the tiniest backpackers in the arse end of nowhere in WA will be full if there is the slightest sniff of regional work. It's getting silly and stories like this and IMO worse will become much more common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.