Students scammed by Keat Enterprises in Melbourne

KEAT Entreprises is a accounting, modelling and PR firm in Melbourne that hire graduates, both International and local graduates. They advertise their jobs on seek.com.au. We explain the scam.

Image from RMIT Newintstudents site

Last month it was found (in the Age) that they have been scamming students and graduates, particularly International students. A number of complaints about the misleading advertising which had been placed on seek.com.au has been received by the Fair Work Ombudsman. This is another company which is going into administration

Mr Leong is the owner of this business and he also owns a few other start up companies such as the Superfood Lab which is a home delivery health food company.

He denied all allegations saying that these employees were "disgruntled". He also said that they had a tax agent and CPA staff member but failed to name them,

KEAT Entreprises promises that International students will get their money back if they don't get the job within a year, but so far it hasn't happened.

They are not a Tax company or a CPA Agent. In fact they are not registered Tax Practitioners Board.  The law says that anyone who does charge a fee for Tax services has to be registered with the board. Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating this business

When we looked at the KEAT site it said that it was under construction.

Lessons learned: Be cautious of anything that asks you for money esp in training and internships. Students have been scammed by this sort of thing.

It is not wrong to seek advice from Fair Work Ombudsman. In fact this is the right thing to do especially if you have been exploited. The Fair Ombudsman has people that speak your language.

"Any workers who are concerned they have been underpaid or treated unfairly are urged to contact the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 for advice and assistance. A free interpreter service is available on 13 14 50.
Consumers who believe they have been a victim of an employment scam should contact Consumer Affairs Victoria on 1300 55 81 81." taken from the Age (Jun 4, 2014)