AXEDALE man John Smith is warning people to watch out for a sophisticated scam, after he had a close encounter last week.
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Mr Smith - who owns a shed business - was contacted on Monday July 14 by a man who wanted to order a custom-made shed.
After a few emails back and forth, the man told Mr Smith he lived in Suva, Fiji, and he wanted the shed to be shipped out to him.
"He said the sheds they sell in Fiji were substandard and he was prepared to suffer the loss of transportation to get a quality shed," Mr Smith said.
"At that stage I thought maybe this bloke is fair dinkum."
But Mr Smith smelled a rat when the man asked Mr Smith if he could pay him for both the shed and the $4450 freight costs by using a credit card.
When Mr Smith said he didn't have credit card facilities and suggested the man transfer the money into his bank account, the man said he didn't have time to do so.
"That's when I figured out there was something wrong here," Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith called the Australian Federal Police, who explained the scam worked by the man paying Mr Smith for the freight costs and shed using a stolen credit card, then asking him to transfer the $4450 to a fake freight company.
Mr Smith said the AFP told him scams like this were common.