Consumer Protection

As more brands turn to social media influencers to promote their product or service, it’s becoming increasingly important for businesses and buyers to understand how the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) applies to sponsored content.

Influencers don’t have to disclose any commercial arrangement regarding the products and services they promote and are free to express their opinions, but companies that have an arrangement with an influencer (either directly or via a third party) can be found liable for the claims that the influencer makes about their product or service.

Four Perth consumers have fallen victim to an Italian man selling jackets from a white SUV, claiming they are made from genuine Italian leather.

Reports have been received recently from consumers who were approached uninvited by the man in Cottesloe, Claremont, Mt Lawley and Swanbourne.

A security bond is a payment made in advance by a tenant to cover any costs for which the tenant may be liable at the end of the tenancy, such as damage to the property or unpaid water bills or rent.

Bond money is held in trust for the duration of a tenancy and must be lodged by the landlord or property manager with the Bond Administrator at Consumer Protection within 14 days of receiving it. Delays in lodging a bond can put these funds at risk.

A 70 year old WA man has fallen victim to an elaborate card game gambling scam, losing about $300,000 to fraudsters in the Philippines over a 15 month period.

The complex scam began when the victim was approached and befriended by a man at a shopping centre in Manila where the victim revealed he was looking for an apartment and a partner. The Filipino man invited the victim back to his home to meet his niece and then persuaded him to take part in a friendly card game assuring him that he didn’t have to put up any money.

A Mount Barker car restorer has been fined $5,000 by the Perth Magistrates Court for advertising his services without having a motor vehicle repair business licence.

Grantley Peter Graham, trading as G & T Restorations, was also ordered to pay costs of $514 when he was convicted in his absence on 22 February 2019 of breaching the Motor Vehicle Repairers Act.

Mr Graham held a motor vehicle repair business licence until it expired in September 2017 but continued to advertise his services via a website which is still active.

UPDATE 27/03/2019:

Consumer Protection has received about 90 calls/emails from consumers affected by the closure of Launch Film Productions, with funds at risk estimated at $450,000. Liquidator appointed is Katie Blyth, PricewaterhouseCoopers 9238 3000 - www.pwc.com.au 

Consumer Protection is investigating the closure of a Wangara wedding photography business which has alarmed many consumers concerned about receiving their photos and videos.

Consumer Protection and the WA Police Force are making a desperate plea to the community to help them hunt down travelling conmen who are ripping off Perth home owners, many of them seniors, in a roofing scam.

Reports have been received of conmen who knock on doors of unsuspecting home owners, convincing them that urgent roof repairs are required to their homes. They then charge exorbitant rates and either do not carry out the work or perform a sub-standard job.

Consumer Protection is warning landlords who manage their own rental properties in WA to comply with their legal requirements under the Residential Tenancies Act or face being prosecuted.

An illegal pyramid scheme has been uncovered that targets WA women and masquerades as a support network.

Two women, one from the South-West of WA, have contacted Consumer Protection reporting the activities of the pyramid scheme which is being promoted as a Gifting Mandala, prompting a warning for people not to get involved.

Two Perth seniors have lost money to scammers, claiming to be from the NBN or a telco, who have adopted tactics aimed at accessing their computers and bank accounts while preventing them from making calls to their family or their bank.

An 81 year old man received a call from someone claiming to be from the NBN and, as he had been connected to the NBN just the day before, he thought it was a genuine call. He was told there were infected files on his computer and they needed access it, so he followed their instructions.