Tenants are easy targets for scammers

The tight rental market is seeing tenants turn to social media platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree to find a home, but this is leaving them at the mercy of scammers posting fake rental listings.

“REIWA regularly receives reports of these types of scams,” REIWA CEO Cath Hart said.

“Sometimes it’s an owner or agent spotting their listing on one of these platforms under an unknown and unauthorised name. Sadly, sometimes it’s a potential tenant who has been convinced to pay a bond and rent in advance and finds themselves out of pocket and without a home.”

The latest reported scam involved the owner of a Baldivis rental property whose friends spotted the home listed under the profile Ethan Lewis on Facebook Marketplace. The property is currently vacant and will be listed with a real estate agency in a few weeks.

The Ethan Lewis profile had several other ‘listings’ on Marketplace. One had an address for South Australia, but the location said it was in Rockingham.

“While there are genuine private landlords who advertise on Marketplace and Gumtree, this discrepancy in address and location indicates this isn’t a real listing,” Ms Hart said.

“Our team also spotted several other fake listings after using Google to search for the property addresses. Some came up on www.reiwa.com as currently being listed with an agent. In one case the fake poster had taken the photos and text word-for-word from the agent’s ad. Other properties were not available for rent at all.”

Ms Hart said prospective tenants needed to be very wary of responding to ads on social media platforms like Marketplace and Gumtree.

“Most properties in WA are managed by property managers, they will not advertise on platforms such as Marketplace or Gumtree or contact tenants via WhatsApp,” she said.

“Other warning signs include rental listings that have extremely low prices or the ‘landlord’ saying they can’t show you the property because they are away or sick and suggesting you do a drive-by of the property instead.

“And be very sceptical if someone tries to push or rush you into making a decision and sending funds to ‘make sure you don’t miss out of the property’.”

REIWA has a number of tips to help tenants protect themselves from rental scams:

• Use a legitimate real estate site such as www.reiwa.com.
• Only deal with property managers or landlords you meet face to face.
• Check the address: if you see a property on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace, or have been contacted, google the address or look it up on www.reiwa.com to see if it is actually being advertised. You will probably find it is not. If it is available, contact the property manager directly. An owner pays them to find a tenant and will not advertise it separately to the property manager’s channels.
• Similarly, do a reverse google search of the photos. Scammers usually take photos from properties they find on the internet.
• Do not send a deposit to secure your chances of getting a property. Agents will not ask for any funds until a contract is signed.
• Do not send bond or rent until your rental application has been confirmed by the property manager, and you have a copy of the lease agreement.
• Be wary of sending personal information, such as driver’s license, passport details or bank details direct to an alleged ‘landlord’.
• Always inspect the property yourself, or if you can’t, have someone else inspect it for you.
• To avoid payment redirection scams, always call the property manager if you have been accepted for a rental but get an email with new payment details.
• Be cautious when communicating with potential landlords or property managers via email. Scammers often use email to impersonate legitimate landlords or property managers.

“At the end of the day, trust your gut. If you feel something is misleading or seems too good to be true, cease all interaction with the ‘property manager’ or 'landlord'," Ms Hart said.

If you spot a fake listing on Marketplace or Gumtree you can report it to those platforms and also to WA ScamNet. WA ScamNet can assist with the removal of the listings or profiles and also use the information for their scam warnings. If you know the property is also being advertised with an agent you can contact REIWA or the agent and let them know their listing is being used by scammers.

Consumer Protection also advises reporting fake listings and profiles to www.cyber.gov.au so tech crime police have the information as well.

If you believe you have fallen victim to a rental scam, visit WA ScamNet or ScamWatch to report it.

If you have any questions, contact the REIWA Information Service on 9380 8200, Monday to Friday, during business hours.

If you are having issues finding a rental, read our tips for securing a rental property.