“I know how it feels to be homeless, I won’t do anything bad to you.”
“You need to show commitment to this property and that you’re honest.”
“The rent is lower than usual because what we are really after is someone perfect like you to look after our property.”
These are real-life examples of grooming, gas lighting and manipulation. The techniques scammers use to build trust and control before they steal your money through a rental scam.
It’s a tough rental market and even tougher if you need to move quickly or you’re under financial pressure. People in these situations become targets for scammers because they’re more likely to take risks out of desperation.
Unfortunately, that’s the reality as scammers pretending to be landlords flood online marketplaces and social media platforms with fake property listings and responses to ‘rental wanted’ adverts.
The stolen photos of the property will look great, and the rent price will often be too-good-to-be true. You’ll be given an address to drive-by to check it out for yourself but asking to inspect the inside will be met with a barrage of excuses as to why that’s not possible.
You might even be told to keep the deal private or that the property is only available through them. This stops you from getting a second opinion or checking the listing with an agent. It’s another grooming technique in the scammer’s dirty toolkit.
Then the money-grab begins. To ‘secure’ the property, you’ll be told you need to pay the bond and rent upfront via bank transfer. You may be provided with a fake rental agreement form, or the scammer might put in the extra effort of using the WA Government letterhead.
A time is then arranged to meet at the property to receive the keys and that’s when the penny drops - it’s a scam. The property is either occupied, not available, or is in-fact for sale instead of being available to rent. By this time your precious money is gone, and contact is blocked.
There are some checks all renters can do to ruin a scammer’s day, including making sure they can view inside the property and being suspicious of properties advertised well-below the current rental value, as this is a common tactic used to entice more victims.
You can also do a reverse image search on the images provided to you to see if they have been used elsewhere in legitimate listings - simply use the feature on your preferred internet search platform. Also look up the property on real estate websites and contact previous listing agents – scammers will often steal the images from recent adverts.
Only deal with landlords who can meet face-to-face, or go through a licensed real estate agent. Be careful if asked to pay funds via direct bank transfer, unless you’re sure the money’s being paid into the trust account of a licensed real estate agent where it is protected by legislation.
Make sure you receive the keys and a copy of the signed rental agreement in exchange for any funds you have agreed to pay. If you have to pay a bond, it cannot be more than 4 weeks rent plus a $260 pet bond if you have a pet. You should be given a receipt at the time of payment and Consumer Protection’s Bonds Administration will also send a record of payment of security bond directly to you – so you know your bond money is lodged safely.
Stay one step ahead of the scammers by arming yourself with knowledge of the rental process in WA – visit consumerprotection.wa.gov.au for the factsheets and approved forms.
Report rental scams to WA ScamNet via the website: www.scamnet.wa.gov.au or contact the team on 1300 30 40 54. If you believe you have sent money to a rental scammer, report the transaction to your bank immediately.