Steve Castle thought he’d lastly discovered the house he’d been desperately looking for – however the actuality was crushing.
“It all looked real, same as all these other houses on Facebook,” he mentioned.
The 60-year-old father discovered a South Perth dwelling on Facebook Marketplace final month.
Castle messaged a girl who claimed to be an actual property agent and he transferred her $2000 for six weeks’ hire – however he by no means obtained the keys.
“Too good to be true,” he mentioned.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake mentioned con artists are capitalising on the rental disaster via social media.
“They’ll take a photo from a legitimate listing and they’ll post it onto a different site but with their own details and then they’ll come up with all sorts of excuses why not to be there and show you the property,” Blake mentioned.
Consumer Protection obtained 64 studies of rental scams final yr for a lack of greater than $63,000.
In simply the primary three months this yr, 19 individuals have been scammed out of $38,000.
“They are preying on much more vulnerable people in our community because these are people desperate to get a house,” Blake mentioned.
It is not simply potential renters being scammed out of hundreds of {dollars} and the security of a safe dwelling – realtors are additionally being caught out.
Hopeful renters referred to as Rebecca Gulvin about her Yokine unit after scammers copied her itemizing onto Facebook.
“I felt dreadful for her, I couldn’t help her,” Gulvin mentioned.
If you are being requested to pay greater than 4 weeks hire for bond and two weeks upfront, Consumer Protection says that is unlawful and it is attainable you are being scammed.
Castle had one bit of recommendation.
“All I can say is go through the real estate,” he mentioned.
The textual content message to look out for that would trick virtually anybody
Source: www.9news.com.au
