We were just scammed by someone pretending to be named “Jacob McCabe”. 10 days ago, wee saw an ad on Gumtree about a job at an herb farm in Corrigin, WA. It seemed interesting, the wage was correct and by the hour, so we decided to apply.
A few hours later, I got a text from “Jacob”, the “farm manager”, telling me he had 13 positions available to start on March 9th, and asking me for my CV and details.
“Seemed Legit”
After several extremely detailed emails that seemed legit, we were told that we had the job and could book a room in a share house. We were asked to pay rent for 2 weeks in advance (400$ for the both of us). Of course, we were a bit weary about paying in advance, but we googled his name and found nothing. We figured that the farm needed to be sure the workers would show up. And the emails were so detailed about the farm, the job, the accommodation, it made us feel more secure about it.
When I emailed to say the payment had gone through, “Jacob” said he would give me more information really soon because he was very busy with the season. But, as I had told him we would arrive on the Monday morning, he even told me they preferred it if we arrived on Sunday.
Email Address No Longer Exists
A few days later, as I hadn’t heard from him, I wrote Jacob an email to know when to arrive to check in. I got an email saying the email address no longer existed. I tried calling and texting, no answer.
It is now very clear that there is no job and no accommodation, so we won’t bother to drive there. But I guess some people booked plane or train tickets and are going to show up on Sunday and find nothing.
We went to the police who redirected us to a website called Scam Watch. We are extremely gutted as we were really looking forward to this job, we needed the money and stopped looking elsewhere so we lost almost 2 weeks. Not to mention the 400$ that were stolen from us…
My Fruit Picking Disaster
Backpackers scammed by Suspect Operator
Backpackers Leave Their Money for Australian Government
If you’re looking for a job check the job board and if you have a story to tell send it through.
One Response to “Fruit Picking Scam Corrigin”
Abigail Hubbard
I have just experienced exactly the same thing, yet the guys name was Harrison Lukin. My boyfriend and I were going to move in this Saturday and start working on an apple farm in Ararat, Victoria on the 11th. In the email he said we would be working 50 hours a week for 3 months at 21.09 ph. Like you said, he sent such detailed emails that it’s hard to believe it’s a scam. I should have known better though – i googled the area but couldn’t find anything about an apple farm in Ararat, and when i questioned him he sent me an email claiming that they’re registered with ACO (Australian Certified Organic). I have since emailed him, but get a ‘delivery failure notice’ each time and when i call it goes staright to the answer phone where it says that the mail box is full.
We too feel absolutely gutted and were seriously relying on that job. I just hope other people realise it’s a scam before turning up.