The main scams that I have come across are migration scams facilitated by offshore migration agencies and/or by nationals from the person's own country,
The following comments are in the context of the Skills in Demand 482 subclass visa, but many points are also pertinent to other visa sub classes.
Due to the desperation of people wanting to work in Australia, these offshore agencies charge up to AUD$17,000 to overseas skilled candidates to 'guarantee' them a job in Australia.Â
It is impossible for anyone to guarantee a job in Australia; not even locals can be guaranteed a job, let alone someone from overseas who may take 3-4 months to get a visa to work in Australia !Â
Many of these offshore agencies advise the unsuspecting Australian business that they can recruit the candidate for free and they will not be charged any fees for the Australian Government, the migration agent or the recruiter. These fees are paid by the offshore agency on the employers behalf out of the very large fees charged to the candidates. This is illegal, to have the candidate rather than the employer pay for these fees; it is illegal under Australian employment and migration laws.Â
Genuine, Australian based recruitment agencies do not charge recruitment fees to the candidates as it is illegal and they are within the reach of Australian law. They brief the Australian employer to pay for the employer nomination ($330), the Skilling Australians Fund training levy (up to $7,200), the migration agents fee (up to $3,000) and the recruitment fee (usually around 10 per cent of the annual salary of the candidate). The legislation is silent whether the employer or the candidate pays for the visa application fee ($3,210). Most good quality recruitment agencies, however, are able to get the employer to pay for the visa application as well.Â
The risks to the employer and the candidate from these migration scams are real and significant. When DoHA does their investigation, the employer could be blacklisted from recruiting from overseas and fined and the candidate could have their visa cancelled and be deported.Â
There are obviously other scams perpetuated by some nationals in Australia whether it involves overcharging for services or for goods.  To a great extent there are always someone, somewhere trying to take advantage of others; I am not sure that overcharging for goods or services is necessarily a scam, certainly it is not honest, and the people involved should be named and shamed.