A Perth man has revealed how he was cheated out of $1100 by a fake leather jacket scam.

Graham, who wished to withhold his surname, was sitting in his car in Cottesloe on February 14 when he was approached by a “really likeable, beautifully dressed fellow” with a thick Italian accent who claimed to be lost.

The scammer offered Graham several leather jackets for his family as a gesture of thanks for his help with directions to the international airport.

“He said he wanted to give me something,” Graham said.

“He asked if I liked fashion and gave me his card that said ‘Versace’. He said he was in town for a fashion promotion event and had samples worth $3500 each he didn’t want to take back to Italy.”

The man then said he wanted to buy his son a $2000 computer before he left but had no Australian dollars left, so asked Graham to pay for “just one” of the jackets.

“I balked a bit and said I only had $300 in cash. He said we could go to bank that was only 50m away and I said ‘okay’,” Graham said.

“He waited outside, because of CCTV I suppose, while I drew out $800. I gave it to him and he convinced me to give him the extra $300 I had in my wallet.”

Graham said the man had seemed sincere and that he felt like an “idiot” when he discovered he had been scammed.

“He kept hugging me and inviting me to come to Italy. It all happened very rapidly so I guess the idea there is you don’t have time to think,” he said.

“When I got home I had a sniff of the jackets and found it was not leather at all. I went straight to the internet and put in the brand name and Scamwatch came up straight away with the leather jacket scam.”

Graham is one of five who have reported the leather jacket scam in the last 10 days, with others being approached by the man in Cottesloe, Claremont, Mount Lawley and Swanbourne using similar stories to convince his buyers to part with their money.

The scammer is described has having an Italian accent, is slim with a shaved head, aged in his 30s and dressed smartly in all-white clothing. The man was selling jackets from a white SUV claiming they were made from genuine Italian leather.

Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard said the leather jacket scam had been around for many years but still proved profitable for travelling conmen, and that consumers should be highly sceptical of any unsolicited offer.

“These silver-tongued salesmen are usually well dressed, claim to be of Italian origin and are convincing in their sales pitch,” he said.

“They frequently have some story about needing directions or having attended trade/fashion shows and having excess stock.

“These charlatans often claim the jackets are worth in excess of $1000 but you can usually purchase them for a few hundred dollars as they are often made in Asia from cheap materials such as vinyl.”

Suspected travelling conman details, such as offender descriptions, vehicle types and registrations and personal or business names used, can be reported to Consumer Protection by calling 1300 30 40 54 or emailing consumer@dmirs.wa.gov.au.