SEVERAL Mornington Peninsula real estate agents are warning colleagues and property owners about a prospective buyer they allege has repeatedly entered into property contracts before failing to provide the required deposit.
Several real estate agents told The News they had similar encounters with the same individual regarding several properties up for sale across June and July.
Ash Marton, the principal and director at Ash Marton Realty, said his concerns began after an offer was made on a property he was representing in Mt Eliza.
“This person presented themselves quite professionally and diligently at an open for inspection in Mt Eliza,” said Marton.
“They proceeded to have or conduct multiple inspections of the property over the course of several weeks before having the contract professionally reviewed by legal representation, which they engaged.”
Marton said they then secured the property via a formal written offer.
“The agency completed and verified their ID via a passport, which the individual cleared,” said Marton.
“They then declared that they had paid the deposit, supplied a written receipt from NAB, confirming the deposit had been paid, but it never cleared.”
Marton said he believed the individual was successful in making offers and securing properties on seven separate transactions across the peninsula over four weeks.
Marton and Adam Flynn, an agent at Flynn Estate Agents, both published videos on social media platforms warning other agents about the prospective buyer.
Marton said he subsequently had agents from around Australia reach out and share similar experiences with who they believed was the same individual.
“Since making agents aware of this online, I’ve been contacted by countless agents across the country who reported very similar experiences, one of which was in the process of transacting on a property in NSW with the same person,” said Marton.
Marton said the motivation behind the individual’s actions is unclear, but there has been speculation.
“It is widespread, and it is something that runs a risk of causing significant problems for owners that engage with him,” said Marton.
“Whereby they believe they’ve got an unconditional contract on their property, and they very well may go and enter into other unconditional contracts on properties that they may be successful in securing.”
Adam Flynn said the individual signed a contract with him for a $5.1m property in Mt Martha.
“They then asked us to recommend them a conveyancer, which we did, and then they sent through a fake Westpac remittance, showing that they had paid the deposit money into our trust account,” said Flynn.
Flynn said at this point, he had been alerted by other agents about the individual.
“I played along with them; I wanted to protect our vendor, and I wanted them to pay the deposit,” said Flynn.
“They kept saying, ‘Oh yeah, it’s been paid, I’m not sure what’s going on,’ and sure enough, it never cleared.”
Flynn said his video on social media also garnered responses from agents around Australia who had similar encounters.
Jayme Lee, an agent at Black Fox Real Estate, said the same individual signed a contract with her before providing a receipt of the deposit, which never cleared.
“They ended up just giving us the runaround and then just went MIA,” said Lee.
Vicki Sayers, director at Sayers & Co, said she had an experience with the same individual in June 2023.
“I wouldn’t let the owners sign the contract until I’d seen some deposit money in,” said Sayers.
“They filled out the contract and said that they would transfer the money, and then I chased them for four days.”
She said they sent a fake remittance, but the money never landed, so she notified them the vendors wouldn’t be signing the contract until the money cleared.
“And then the next morning, he sent me a message saying, ‘Oh, look, maybe you should pursue other avenues’,” said Sayers.
She said at the time, she reported the matter to the police, who said it was a civil matter and there was nothing they could do.
The individual was subsequently flagged in their database, and Sayers said she hadn’t heard their name until she saw Marton’s social media post.
“I don’t know where they’ve been the last few years,” said Sayers.
“I have no idea what their motivation or rationale is, but it is clearly disturbing behaviour.”
While the circumstances concerning the individual’s intentions remain unclear, the agents interviewed byThe News said the similarities between their experiences, including false remittance receipts, were concerning.
Agents said they hoped raising awareness would encourage fellow real estate agents and property owners to exercise caution and ensure deposits are verified.
First published in the Mornington News – 18 August 2026
