A CLEVELAND man has warned of an elaborate leather jacket scam that saw him duped out of $500 at Capalaba on Tuesday.
The man, who asked not to be named, said he was approached in the car park outside Spotlight by a man with a strong Italian accent asking for directions to the M1.
"He offered me a leather jacket as a gift and by the end of the conversation I had four leather jackets and had paid him $500," the man said.
The Western Australia's ScamNet website warns of the scam being carried out in Perth in 2015 and there are similar reports online from other countries.
The Cleveland man said the scammer was pleasant and said that his wife was pregnant.
He showed a passport, plane ticket, business card and suitcase during the conversation.
The man said the scammer was driving a blue-green four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The scammer had asked for directions to the M1 explaining that he needed to get to the Gold Coast airport to fly to Adelaide and then to Milan.
He said that he could not take all the jackets with him on the plane as he would have too much luggage.
The scammer said he wanted to buy his wife an iPad and asked how much one would cost in Australia.
The jackets have BV Clothing tickets and are believed to be worth about $40.
The Cleveland man said he searched online after realising that he may have been duped, fearing that the jackets may have been stolen.
He found reports of the scam being carried out around the world.
The man said he wanted to warn others so they were not taken in by the scam.
The WA ScamNet warning says consumers were approached at shopping centre car parks, petrol stations, traffic lights and in the street to buy so-called designer label Italian leather jackets.
"The silver-tongued salesmen are usually well dressed and of Italian origin," the warning said.
"They frequently have some story about needing directions or having attended trade shows and having excess stock.
"These charlatans often claim the jackets are worth in excess of $1000 but you can purchase them for a few hundred dollars."
ScamNet said jackets that were tested were found to have been made of sheep hide and PVC, with a wholesale value of about $50 to $100.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said recently that Australians had lost almost half a billion dollars to scammers last year.
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said the losses reported to Scamwatch and other government agencies exceeded $489 million.
"And these record losses are likely just the tip of the iceberg," Ms Rickard said.
"We know that not everyone who suffers a loss to a scammer reports it to a government agency."
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