Beware of rental scams! How cybercriminals are manipulating Australia’s housing crisis
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Disclaimer: Names with an asterisk (*) beside them have been changed to protect their real identity.
As the rental crisis escalates in Australia, those desperately looking for housing are being targeted by shady scammers hoping to take advantage of their situation.
In 2022, the ACCC received more than 658 reports of rental and accommodation scams, with a reported loss of $544,846.
Last October, Aven* was frantically applying for dozens of rental properties, attending inspections, and putting in applications – all in the hopes of finding a new home. However, the 21-year-old ended up becoming increasingly stressed by the string of rejections they received.
When a landlord reached out to say that they knew someone was looking for a tenant, Aven* immediately jumped at the offer.
‘The message stated that it was a nice place, fully furnished, $250 a week, and was available on the 24th of November,’ Aven* claimed.
‘I said I was interested and would like to rent the place.’
Then, the con artist sent photos of the passport, ID and Medicare card of a man named Greg as proof of legitimacy. The scammer also sent Aven* some videos of the available apartment at Napier Street, Fitzroy, to make the story look more believable.
Aven* said: ‘After I agreed I wanted the place he asked me to sign a rental agreement, provide my identification documents and pay $2,000 for bond and first-month rent.’
The scammer also mentioned that there was a time limit to the application and that there were other tenants who were interested in the place.
‘I sent him the money on that day,’ they stated.
Once the money had been sent, however, Aven’s* communication with Greg started to take longer. ‘It would take days, if not weeks, to respond to my questions about the place,’ Aven* claimed.
According to Aven*, they had recently moved to Melbourne from New South Wales and was working as a part-timer in a bar away from their family. They admitted that they had little experience in renting their own place.
On the day that Aven* was set to move in, ‘Greg’ told them that there was a ‘mould issue’ and asked them for more money.
It was then Aven* realised that they had been scammed.
The scammer swindled $400 from Aven*, who claimed that the amount was the last of their savings.
‘I only had around $400 in my bank account left, making me feel extremely unsafe and financially unstable,’ they shared.
Aven* added: ‘I kept thinking “how could I be so stupid to fall for this web of lies?” I really beat myself internally for a while. I wasn’t even angry at the scammer at first – just myself for being so thoughtless.’
In a similar instance, Cihan Kenar, a prospective renter, revealed how a scammer tried to make him pay a deposit for a rental property that wasn’t on the market. He said that the three-bedroom, free-standing property he found was being advertised for $400 a week – which is significantly lower than the current market.
‘I asked some questions about the house and said I can come and see it,’ Mr Kenar shared before adding that the address given was only seven minutes away from where he was currently staying.
However, the ‘landlord’ began to change their tune and stated they had been ‘flooded with messages’ about the property and were extremely busy.
‘They asked if I could put a deposit down to secure the property.’
Although the scammer said that the deposit would be refundable, Mr Kenar was not convinced and confronted the con artist.
‘This really made me realise it was a scam,’ he stated.
After the confrontation, the scammer blocked Mr Kenar’s calls and messages.
A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that Australia’s national rental vacancy rate sits below 2 per cent. And this crisis affected one pensioner to the point that she had to uproot her life and relocate somewhere else to find a rental accommodation.
The pensioner, Karren Warren, had been living in NSW for twelve years. However, after her two-bedroom rental was sold last October, the 71-year-old grandmother had no choice but to set off to the town of Batehaven. You can read her full story here.
According to Russell Adams, Managing Director at Ray White Bundoora, the rental scam that Aven* fell victim to has allegedly been ‘running for around two years’.
Mr Adams was the one who legitimately managed the property.
‘It’s happened around five times that I know of. Apparently, it’s a video of a unit that is similar. Everyone pays the rent in advance. He just scams and keeps going,’ Mr Adams explained.
A spokesperson for Scamwatch indicated that more people lost money to rental and accommodation scams in 2022 than in 2021.
The Chief Executive of the NSW Tenants Union, Leo Patterson Ross, stated that their group was seeing an increase in renters who had been scammed.
‘We are seeing an increase of people putting in applications for places [that haven’t been] listed. They have to apply for anything that moves and that enables this sort of scam to thrive,’ Mr Ross said before adding that this will continue to be an issue.
‘Ultimately, the best fix is a landlord registration system, which means when you see an advert the landlord has to show their verification, and you can check if they are legitimate.’
Some of the most common rental scams involve getting victims to send a deposit before inspecting the property, while another involves scammers asking individuals to fill out tenancy applications, complete with IDs, so the criminals can impersonate the victims.
Joel Dignam, Executive Director of Better Renting, shared that rental scams are now becoming more sophisticated.
‘They find real advertisements and copy the photos, or they can hire an Airbnb and take their own photos. It’s going to keep happening is the sad answer, and it’s happening more as people are more desperate,’ Mr Dignam said.
If you have any further tips on how to avoid rental scams or have a similar story you’d like to share, please let us know in the comments below!
As the rental crisis escalates in Australia, those desperately looking for housing are being targeted by shady scammers hoping to take advantage of their situation.
In 2022, the ACCC received more than 658 reports of rental and accommodation scams, with a reported loss of $544,846.
Last October, Aven* was frantically applying for dozens of rental properties, attending inspections, and putting in applications – all in the hopes of finding a new home. However, the 21-year-old ended up becoming increasingly stressed by the string of rejections they received.
When a landlord reached out to say that they knew someone was looking for a tenant, Aven* immediately jumped at the offer.
‘The message stated that it was a nice place, fully furnished, $250 a week, and was available on the 24th of November,’ Aven* claimed.
‘I said I was interested and would like to rent the place.’
The scammer took all of Aven*’s savings. Credit: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels
Then, the con artist sent photos of the passport, ID and Medicare card of a man named Greg as proof of legitimacy. The scammer also sent Aven* some videos of the available apartment at Napier Street, Fitzroy, to make the story look more believable.
Aven* said: ‘After I agreed I wanted the place he asked me to sign a rental agreement, provide my identification documents and pay $2,000 for bond and first-month rent.’
The scammer also mentioned that there was a time limit to the application and that there were other tenants who were interested in the place.
‘I sent him the money on that day,’ they stated.
Once the money had been sent, however, Aven’s* communication with Greg started to take longer. ‘It would take days, if not weeks, to respond to my questions about the place,’ Aven* claimed.
According to Aven*, they had recently moved to Melbourne from New South Wales and was working as a part-timer in a bar away from their family. They admitted that they had little experience in renting their own place.
On the day that Aven* was set to move in, ‘Greg’ told them that there was a ‘mould issue’ and asked them for more money.
It was then Aven* realised that they had been scammed.
The scammer sent an ID and videos of the rental property as ‘proof’ to gain the trust of their victim. Credit: Tara Winstead/Pexels
The scammer swindled $400 from Aven*, who claimed that the amount was the last of their savings.
‘I only had around $400 in my bank account left, making me feel extremely unsafe and financially unstable,’ they shared.
Aven* added: ‘I kept thinking “how could I be so stupid to fall for this web of lies?” I really beat myself internally for a while. I wasn’t even angry at the scammer at first – just myself for being so thoughtless.’
In a similar instance, Cihan Kenar, a prospective renter, revealed how a scammer tried to make him pay a deposit for a rental property that wasn’t on the market. He said that the three-bedroom, free-standing property he found was being advertised for $400 a week – which is significantly lower than the current market.
‘I asked some questions about the house and said I can come and see it,’ Mr Kenar shared before adding that the address given was only seven minutes away from where he was currently staying.
However, the ‘landlord’ began to change their tune and stated they had been ‘flooded with messages’ about the property and were extremely busy.
‘They asked if I could put a deposit down to secure the property.’
The scammer tried to ask Mr Kenar for more money. Credit: Facebook
Although the scammer said that the deposit would be refundable, Mr Kenar was not convinced and confronted the con artist.
‘This really made me realise it was a scam,’ he stated.
After the confrontation, the scammer blocked Mr Kenar’s calls and messages.
A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that Australia’s national rental vacancy rate sits below 2 per cent. And this crisis affected one pensioner to the point that she had to uproot her life and relocate somewhere else to find a rental accommodation.
The pensioner, Karren Warren, had been living in NSW for twelve years. However, after her two-bedroom rental was sold last October, the 71-year-old grandmother had no choice but to set off to the town of Batehaven. You can read her full story here.
According to Russell Adams, Managing Director at Ray White Bundoora, the rental scam that Aven* fell victim to has allegedly been ‘running for around two years’.
Mr Adams was the one who legitimately managed the property.
‘It’s happened around five times that I know of. Apparently, it’s a video of a unit that is similar. Everyone pays the rent in advance. He just scams and keeps going,’ Mr Adams explained.
A spokesperson for Scamwatch indicated that more people lost money to rental and accommodation scams in 2022 than in 2021.
Here's how to protect yourself against rental scams. Image credit: The Seniors Discount Club
The Chief Executive of the NSW Tenants Union, Leo Patterson Ross, stated that their group was seeing an increase in renters who had been scammed.
‘We are seeing an increase of people putting in applications for places [that haven’t been] listed. They have to apply for anything that moves and that enables this sort of scam to thrive,’ Mr Ross said before adding that this will continue to be an issue.
‘Ultimately, the best fix is a landlord registration system, which means when you see an advert the landlord has to show their verification, and you can check if they are legitimate.’
Some of the most common rental scams involve getting victims to send a deposit before inspecting the property, while another involves scammers asking individuals to fill out tenancy applications, complete with IDs, so the criminals can impersonate the victims.
Joel Dignam, Executive Director of Better Renting, shared that rental scams are now becoming more sophisticated.
‘They find real advertisements and copy the photos, or they can hire an Airbnb and take their own photos. It’s going to keep happening is the sad answer, and it’s happening more as people are more desperate,’ Mr Dignam said.
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