Fraud, Scam and Integrity Policy
Rules to protect customers, referrers, ambassadors, providers, partners and Your IT & Tech Mates from scams, payment bypassing, referral manipulation, false claims and unsafe conduct.
Before you join or participate
Our referral, partner, ambassador, student, provider and community pathways are designed to help eligible participants explore suitable referral, support, service, campus, community, administration, marketing, project, technology and related opportunities.
Participation does not guarantee jobs, income, referrals, leads, bookings, reviews, skill tags, ongoing work, future paid work, commissions, margins, bonuses or any particular outcome.
Participants are not employees of thefixers.app or Your IT & Tech Mates unless a separate written employment agreement is made. Participation does not automatically create an employment, contractor, agency, partnership, joint venture or franchise relationship.
Participants must only accept suitable tasks or referrals, follow all safety, conduct, privacy, guidance and platform rules, comply with any campus, community, provider, customer or partner requirements, and meet any age, tax, legal, insurance, consent, qualification, licensing or parent/guardian requirements that apply.
Australian visa, work rights and eligibility obligations: Participants are responsible for ensuring they have the right to participate, volunteer, refer, provide services, receive payments or undertake any work-related activity in Australia. This includes complying with any visa conditions, work rights, tax, superannuation, ABN, reporting, study, placement, internship, volunteer, contractor or employment obligations that apply to them.
thefixers.app and Your IT & Tech Mates may request reasonable information or evidence to confirm eligibility. Participation may be refused, paused or ended if required information is not provided or if participation may breach legal, visa, work rights or platform requirements.
Student pathway eligibility and review
The student pathway is designed for Australian university and TAFE students whose course, skills or study area match the type of help they want to offer.
Students do not all need to be IT students. Suitable pathways may include technical and non-technical roles, depending on the student’s course, skills, experience and the type of task.
- IT, cybersecurity, networking, software, web and digital media students may be suitable for technology-related tasks.
- Business, management, marketing, accounting and administration students may be suitable for support, coordination, content, customer follow-up, local outreach, ambassador or business-help tasks.
Students must only offer or accept tasks that match their skills, course area, confidence level, location, availability and any safety, legal, visa, work rights, insurance, consent or campus requirements that apply.
Student registration does not mean automatic approval. Before a student can be activated for suitable tasks, The Fixers may review their course or study area, skills, location, age, availability, eligibility and suitable task type. The Fixers may approve, limit, pause or decline student participation if the pathway, task type or eligibility requirements are not suitable.
Student insurance and suitability
Students must only offer or accept tasks that are suitable for their course, skills, experience, age, location, availability, visa conditions and work rights.
Students may be required to show that they are covered by suitable insurance before they can accept certain tasks. This may include public liability insurance for in-person, customer-facing, pickup, delivery, home, business, campus or community tasks, and professional indemnity insurance for advice, consulting, planning, tutoring, training, business support or technical recommendation tasks.
Insurance may be held by the student, their business, an approved provider, an education provider, a placement program, or another approved arrangement, where we accept that arrangement in writing.
Student registration does not mean insurance is approved. We may refuse, limit, pause or remove access to tasks if suitable insurance or eligibility evidence is not provided.
1. Purpose and related terms
This policy forms part of the Your IT & Tech Mates terms and must be read with our Service Terms, Terms and Conditions, Payment and Warranty Terms, Referral Terms, Referral Policy, Ambassador Network Terms, Provider Partner Terms, Provider Device Pickup Terms, Quick Help Terms, Privacy Policy, Electronic Consent Policy, Booking and No-show Policy, Dispute and Evidence Policy, Safeguarding Policy and any applicable quote, invoice, service form or written approval.
Where a more specific term applies to a subject matter, that more specific term applies. Nothing in this policy excludes, restricts or modifies rights that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law.
2. Zero-tolerance principle
We may investigate and take action where we reasonably suspect fraud, scam activity, dishonest conduct, payment bypassing, record manipulation, financial exploitation, fake referrals, fake bookings, false reviews, fake documents, unauthorised brand use, unsafe conduct, or attempts to gain a financial, reputational or competitive advantage through improper conduct.
3. Cash payments, off-platform payments and commission integrity
Jobs, leads, referrals, provider work, partner work, ambassador activity and customer opportunities connected with Your IT & Tech Mates must be recorded, invoiced and paid by online payment through an approved Your IT & Tech Mates platform payment process to qualify for referral rewards, ambassador rewards, partner commissions, provider commissions, lead fees or incentives.
Cash payments, direct payments to technicians or providers, private bank transfers, private PayID transfers, cheques, card payments taken outside our platform, personal payment links, side deals, unrecorded payments, payment splitting, payment redirection and off-platform arrangements do not qualify for referral rewards, ambassador rewards, partner commissions, provider commissions, lead fees or incentives.
We may withhold, cancel, reverse, reduce, offset or refuse any commission, reward, referral payment, partner payment or incentive connected with off-platform payments, unpaid jobs, refunded jobs, chargebacks, disputes, duplicate claims, fake referrals, misleading referrals, customer bypassing, provider bypassing, payment manipulation or policy breaches.
4. Prohibited conduct
The following conduct is prohibited:
- self-referrals, related-party referrals or referral manipulation schemes;
- fake leads, fake bookings, duplicate claims, circular activity or misuse of referral rewards;
- artificially splitting, bundling or structuring jobs to increase commission, avoid limits or hide the true job value;
- using bots, scraping tools, automation or AI systems to manipulate bookings, reviews, referrals, support processes, search visibility or payment outcomes;
- attempting to bypass payment controls, fraud checks, payment and dispute processes, quote approvals, invoice records or payout controls;
- exploiting technical vulnerabilities, unauthorised access, unauthorised data harvesting, attempts to copy protected platform processes or interfere with platform security or security weaknesses;
- false, purchased, coercive, retaliatory, defamatory, misleading or collusive reviews;
- fake documents, misleading qualification claims, false insurance claims, false licence claims, false identity claims or false government affiliation;
- harassment, threats, intimidation, discrimination, abuse, spam, unrelated advertising or pressure tactics;
- sharing personal contact details or payment details for side deals, misleading payment requests or reward misuse;
- bad-faith disputes, false refund claims, friendly fraud, dishonest chargebacks or evidence tampering.
5. Vulnerable persons, safety and anti-exploitation
Customers, providers, partners, ambassadors and referrers must treat seniors, NDIS participants, students, minors, carers, families, support workers, aged-care residents, customers with disability, customers with limited English, and other vulnerable or potentially vulnerable persons with heightened care and respect.
Financial exploitation, coercion, manipulation, pressure selling, personal financial arrangements, requests for gifts, loans, cash withdrawals, banking access, recovery phrases, MFA codes or unnecessary passwords are prohibited. Concerns involving immediate danger should be reported to emergency services on 000 in Australia.
6. Evidence, investigations and records
We may use available records to assess fraud, scams, disputes, chargebacks, warranty claims, commission claims, payment issues and policy breaches, including booking records, quote records, invoice records, payment records, referral records, customer messages, technician notes, support notes, call logs, emails, SMS records, photos, videos, timestamps, device information, pickup records, delivery records, IP, device and browser information, review records and other available evidence.
We may request further information, pause commissions, hold rewards, restrict services, withhold payments, refuse withdrawals, preserve records, cancel rewards, reverse entries, suspend participants, remove access or report serious conduct to authorities where lawful and appropriate.
7. Communication standards
All communications must be respectful, truthful, relevant to legitimate service coordination and consistent with customer privacy. Users must not use Your IT & Tech Mates channels, referral tools, customer details or service records for spam, harassment, misleading advertising, unauthorised marketing, off-platform payment arrangements or improper personal contact.
8. Authority and representation
No referrer, ambassador, provider, partner or technician may claim authority to bind Your IT & Tech Mates, approve discounts, approve warranties, collect money, promise outcomes, make legal guarantees, access accounts, request sensitive information, or represent themselves as an employee, authorised agent, government representative or official partner unless that authority has been expressly given in writing.
9. Enforcement
Depending on the circumstances and subject to applicable law, breaches may result in warning, investigation, service refusal, booking cancellation, account restriction, removal from programs, commission reversal, reward cancellation, payment hold, payout refusal, warranty refusal for off-platform work, dispute escalation, legal action or referral to authorities.
Nothing in this policy limits any rights or remedies that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law.
Cross-linked integrity, payment and safety terms
These terms must be read together with our Terms and Conditions, Service Terms, Payment and Warranty Terms, Referral Terms, Referral Policy, Ambassador Network Terms, Provider Partner Terms, Provider Device Pickup Terms, Repair, Software and Data Risk Notice, Fraud, Scam and Integrity Policy, Payment and Commission Integrity Policy, Dispute and Evidence Policy, Booking and No-show Policy, Electronic Consent Policy, Privacy Policy and any quote, invoice, service form, booking confirmation or written approval that applies to your service.
We may use booking records, quote records, invoices, payment records, referral records, customer messages, technician notes, call logs, emails, SMS records, photos, timestamps, device, browser and IP information, pickup records and other available evidence to assess disputes, refunds, warranty claims, chargebacks, commission claims, fraud risks, referral attribution and policy compliance.
Nothing in this section excludes, restricts or modifies any rights or remedies that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law.
Anti-scam, fair use and customer protection
All customers, referrers, ambassadors, providers, partners and technicians must act honestly, professionally and safely. You must not misrepresent identity, authority, pricing, qualifications, insurance, licences, experience, verification status, warranty authority, payment authority or relationship with Your IT & Tech Mates.
The following conduct is prohibited: fake referrals, self-referrals, related-party manipulation, fake jobs, fake reviews, duplicate accounts, nominee accounts, circular activity, misuse of referral rewards, artificially splitting jobs, manipulating job value or timing, referral link manipulation, bots or automation used to generate rewards, misuse of AI or scraping tools, unauthorised data harvesting, attempts to copy protected platform processes or interfere with platform security, evidence tampering, bad-faith chargebacks, false refund claims, harassment, pressure selling, misleading ads, impersonation, brand misuse and attempts to move customers, payments or job records outside approved Your IT & Tech Mates processes.
Extra care is required when services involve seniors, NDIS participants, minors, carers, families, aged-care residents, customers with disability, customers with limited English, schools, care environments, vulnerable persons, sensitive data, account access, CCTV, security systems or business-critical systems. Financial exploitation, coercion, unnecessary password requests, requests for MFA codes, recovery phrases, banking codes, loans, gifts, cash withdrawals or personal financial arrangements are prohibited.
We may pause service, refuse work, restrict access, remove participants, preserve records, request evidence, hold rewards, refuse payouts, cancel rewards, reverse entries, report serious conduct to authorities or take other lawful action where reasonably necessary to protect customers, staff, providers, partners, data, payment integrity, referral integrity, safety or legal compliance.
Additional scam, chargeback and referral-integrity controls
Customer payment warnings
Customers should pay through the approved online platform payment link shown on a valid Your IT & Tech Mates invoice, booking page, receipt or written payment instruction. Do not pay a technician, provider, referrer, ambassador or partner directly. If someone asks for cash, private transfer, personal PayID, gift cards, cryptocurrency, bank login, MFA code, recovery phrase or payment outside our approved process, contact us before paying.
Reviews, reputation and evidence integrity
Reviews, testimonials, public comments and dispute evidence must be genuine and based on real first-hand experience. Fake, purchased, coercive, retaliatory, collusive, defamatory, privacy-violating or misleading reviews and evidence are prohibited. We may remove or disregard review material or evidence where misuse is detected.
Chargebacks and friendly fraud
Customers and participants must not use chargebacks, payment disputes or refund requests in bad faith. We may rely on quotes, invoices, payment records, messages, photos, device condition notes, service records, pickup records, completion records and technician evidence to respond to payment disputes, card disputes and chargeback claims.
Verification, badges and authority
Verification, badges, profiles, references, insurance, police checks, vulnerable-person checks, skill claims and experience claims must be accurate. No person may state or imply that they are endorsed, employed, authorised, verified, insured, licensed or approved by Your IT & Tech Mates unless that status is current and has been expressly confirmed by us.
Advertising, branding and logo use
Use of the Your IT & Tech Mates name, logo, referral links, badges, screenshots, marketing material, service descriptions or promotional claims is governed by the Advertising, Branding and Logo Use Policy.
Any advertising, referral promotion, ambassador promotion, provider marketing or partner marketing must be accurate, not misleading, and must not imply employment, agency, partnership, franchise rights, exclusivity, guaranteed work, guaranteed income or official endorsement unless we expressly confirm that status in writing.
Paid ads, social posts, websites, business listings, flyers and referral promotions must not impersonate Your IT & Tech Mates, misrepresent pricing, warranty, service coverage, verification, referral rewards or commission eligibility, or encourage cash payment, direct payment, private bank transfer, side deals or off-platform work.
We may require correction, removal or takedown of misleading or unauthorised brand use and may withhold, cancel, reverse or refuse any commission, reward, referral payment or partner payment connected with misleading advertising, unauthorised brand use, fake leads, fake reviews, off-platform payments or other policy breaches.
Nothing in this clause limits any rights or remedies that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law.
Your IT & Tech Mates commission and referral model
Total platform commission: The standard total platform commission is 13.5% of the eligible paid job value, unless a different written program rule is approved by Your IT & Tech Mates.
Referral reward: The standard referral reward is 5% of the eligible paid job value. It is calculated as a percentage of the eligible completed and paid job value, not as a fixed dollar reward table.
Included inside the platform commission: The 5% referral reward is included inside the 13.5% total platform commission. It is not added on top of the customer price, and it does not create a separate extra charge unless a separate written customer-facing offer says otherwise.
Referral rewards, ambassador rewards, partner commissions, provider commissions, lead fees and incentives are manual and subject to review. Payment is normally after a minimum 14-day hold after customer payment is confirmed, subject to anti-scam, anti-cheating, duplicate, self-referral, refund, payment-clearance, chargeback, dispute, attribution, customer-consent and team checks.
Referral rewards are not lifetime rewards, recurring rewards, ongoing commissions, employment wages, partnership profits, franchise payments or automatic entitlements. Each job is reviewed separately and must meet the applicable Your IT & Tech Mates terms.
Minimum withdrawal balance: Approved referral, ambassador, partner or commission payments are manual only and generally require a minimum approved balance of $50 before withdrawal can be requested, unless Your IT & Tech Mates approves otherwise in writing.
Online platform payment required: A referral, ambassador, partner, provider, lead or commission payment only qualifies where the related job is properly recorded, approved, invoiced and paid by online payment through an approved Your IT & Tech Mates platform payment process. Cash payments, direct technician payments, direct provider payments, private bank transfers, PayID transfers made outside our platform, cheques, cash-in-hand payments, personal payment links, side deals, split payments, payment redirection, off-platform work and unrecorded payments do not qualify for commission, referral rewards, ambassador rewards, partner fees, lead fees or incentives.
This clause must be read with the Payment and Commission Integrity Policy, Referral Terms, Referral Policy, Ambassador Network Terms, Provider Partner Terms and Fraud, Scam and Integrity Policy.
Ambassador Network, share codes and local introductions
Our Ambassador Network may include local Ambassadors, Campus Ambassadors, Zone Leaders, Master Ambassadors, Building Captains, Street Captains, Suburb Leads, community referrers and approved local campaign participants.
Ambassadors may use approved share codes, QR codes, local campaign links, profile badges or public listing tags to help people find Your IT & Tech Mates. A code, badge, listing, zone or public tag does not make a person our employee, agent, franchisee, approved technician or authorised representative unless we separately confirm that in writing.
Zones, waitlists, profile visibility, provider or business introductions, customer referral attribution and reward eligibility are reviewed by the Your IT & Tech Mates team. Zone recognition is not permanent ownership of a suburb, street, building, campus or customer group.
Customer referral reward reviews, provider introduction reward reviews, campaign rewards and ambassador rewards are not automatic. Any approved reward is subject to eligibility, activity, attribution, fraud, refund, dispute, chargeback, customer consent and payment-clearance checks.
Ambassadors and referrers must not promise guaranteed work, guaranteed repairs, guaranteed discounts, guaranteed rewards, automatic payouts, official endorsement, provider approval, customer priority or exclusive access to a local area.
Partner Service Referral Abuse
The following conduct is prohibited: listing another provider's service without approval where approval is required; pretending to personally perform a partner service; hiding the referral reward; using fake customers, fake jobs or fake reviews; creating circular referrals or self-referrals; using related parties to manipulate reward review; splitting jobs artificially; redirecting customers to off-platform payment; collecting customer money directly for another provider's service without approval; using spam or misleading advertising; exploiting vulnerable customers; misusing customer data; pressuring providers to approve listings; or interfering with referral, booking, payment or dispute evidence.
We may pause, hide, remove, reverse, refuse or investigate partner service referral listings and reward claims where abuse, fraud, safety, privacy, misleading conduct or payment integrity concerns arise.
Student/helper partner service referral abuse
We may reject, pause, hide, reverse or investigate student/helper partner service referral listings or reward claims involving fake leads, fake jobs, fake customers, fake reviews, self-referrals, related-party manipulation, pressure selling, misleading skill claims, off-platform payments, cash collection for another provider, misuse of referral rewards, spam, academic/campus misuse, vulnerable-customer exploitation or misuse of customer information.
Core platform functions covered by these terms
These terms are intended to cover customer help requests, quotes, bookings, payment and warranty steps, support follow-up, urgent support guidance, scam safety help, device custody, pickup and handover, provider verification, provider profiles, referral and ambassador pathways, student pathways, campus and community help, senior and vulnerable-person support, partner service referrals, directory listings, reviews, media uploads, customer status updates, and customer portal use.
Some functions may be available only in selected locations, for selected service types, or after manual review. A feature being visible on a page does not mean a job, referral, reward, student task, provider approval, warranty outcome or payment is guaranteed.
Scam, referral and platform integrity
Customers, providers, students, ambassadors, referrers, partners and visitors must use the platform honestly and only for lawful, safe and genuine service purposes.
The following conduct is not allowed: fake referrals, self-referrals, related-party manipulation, fake jobs, fake reviews, duplicate accounts, nominee accounts, circular activity, reward misuse, artificially splitting or changing jobs to increase rewards, referral link manipulation, bots or automated activity used to generate rewards, scraping, unauthorised data harvesting, attempts to copy protected platform processes, attempts to interfere with platform security, evidence tampering, bad-faith chargebacks, false refund claims, harassment, pressure selling, misleading advertising, impersonation, brand misuse, and attempts to move customers, payments or job records outside approved Your IT & Tech Mates processes.
We may delay, review, limit, refuse, cancel, reverse or hold a booking, referral, reward, payout, profile, listing, review, message, payment, warranty claim or account access where we reasonably believe there is a safety, privacy, scam, payment, eligibility, referral integrity or platform misuse risk.
We may preserve relevant records, request reasonable evidence, contact affected parties, restrict access, remove content, report serious conduct to appropriate authorities or take other lawful steps to protect customers, providers, students, referrers, partners, our business and the public.
Student, provider and referral feature review
Student, provider, referral, ambassador, campus, community, pickup, urgent support and safety-related features may require manual review before activation or use. We may check eligibility, suitability, insurance, work rights, service type, location, customer risk, provider capability, payment status and referral integrity before allowing access to tasks, listings, rewards or customer-facing activity.
Urgent, scam and safety support boundary
Our scam safety, urgent support and vulnerable-person guidance is intended to help customers take safer next steps, document issues and find suitable support. It is not an emergency service, police service, bank, insurer, legal service, medical service or crisis service.
Customers should contact emergency services, their bank, their card provider, Scamwatch, police, a trusted support person, or another appropriate official service where the situation is urgent, unsafe, involves suspected crime, financial loss, threats, family violence, coercion, medical risk or immediate danger.
Providers, students, ambassadors and referrers must not ask customers for banking codes, one-time passwords, recovery phrases, card PINs, remote access without clear consent, unnecessary account passwords, cash withdrawals, loans, gifts, crypto transfers or private payment arrangements.
QA update: online platform payment required
This QA pass confirms that referral rewards, ambassador rewards, partner commissions, provider commissions, lead fees, incentives and similar payments are only available where the job is properly recorded, approved, invoiced and paid by online payment through an approved Your IT & Tech Mates platform payment process.
Offline payments and external payment methods do not qualify. This includes cash payments, direct technician or provider payments, private bank transfers, private PayID transfers, cheques, card payments taken outside our platform, personal payment links, side deals, split payments, payment redirection, off-platform work and unrecorded payments.
We may refuse, hold, cancel, reverse or recover any reward, commission, fee or incentive connected with an offline, external, redirected, side-deal or unrecorded payment arrangement.
Student campus helper integrity
Student campus helper features must not be used to create fake missions, fake endorsements, fake thank-you notes, fake skill proof, fake share activity, misleading paid work claims or referral manipulation.
We may pause, remove, hide or review any student proof, volunteer tag, mission, share card, referral, endorsement or account activity where we reasonably believe there is a safety, privacy, scam, academic integrity, payment or misuse concern.
Related term: Student Campus Helper, Volunteer Proof and Resume Showcase Terms.