Emilie Lauer 
A prospective tenant in Western Australia has been the target of a rental scam through a third-party property search platform.
Through the platform, a woman who had been looking for her next home was contacted by someone pretending to be a property owner offering a discounted rent of nearly $500.
The scammer had sent the woman the agency’s advertisement, photos, and property details, using listing information and photos to make the approach look legitimate.
Additionally, the fake landlord offered to reduce the weekly rent from $1,290 to $800 per week.
The person then sent the traditional tenant a Form 18 – Application to rent residential premises and asked her to return it directly to them.
To ensure the deal would happen, the scammer also told the prospective tenant not to mention the favour to anyone at the upcoming open home.
However, during the visit, the tenant spoke to the property manager and shared her concern.
While no money was given in this case, Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) president Suzanne Brown said these types of scams often involve attempts to obtain personal information, bond payments, or rent in advance.
“Sadly, this is not an unusual occurrence,” Brown told Real Estate Business (REB).
“Over the past few years, unscrupulous people have consistently targeted vulnerable tenants desperately seeking a property in Western Australia’s tight rental market.”
She said that scammers have been luring tenants in by advertising fake listings on platforms like Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, which can be pulled into other platforms and apps and distributed further.
Scammer, then contact prospective renters, sends pictures and asks them to pay a deposit, bond, or rent in advance to secure the lease.
Additionally, Brown said scammers also target tenants directly through Facebook groups where the tenant posts that they are seeking a property.
She said that as the rental market tightened, fraudsters had become ingenious.
“A significant challenge in dealing with scammers is that they can use legitimate rental forms as these are easily downloaded from WA’s Consumer Protection site,” she said.
According to the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety, rental scams impacted 20 victims in 2025 for a value of $51,875, exceeding the 16 victims and $39,935 in losses reported in 2024.
“REIWA understands the market is challenging, and people looking for a property will try all avenues to find one,” Brown said.
“We don’t want scammers taking advantage of people, and we recommend potential tenants look out for the red flags.”
Brown said tenants should only search their next properties through safe rental platforms as property managers won’t list on social media, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, or WhatsApp.
Similarly, she said that if advertising prices were too good to be true, it would usually signal a scam.
Tenants were also urged to verify rental listings by checking addresses on trusted sites like reiwa.com, doing reverse image searches, and contacting property managers directly rather than responding to ads or unsolicited contacts.
Additionally, Brown said that renters should never send deposits or personal information before a lease is confirmed, always inspect properties in person, and independently verify payment details to avoid impersonation and payment redirection scams.
“At the end of the day, if you feel something is misleading or seems too good to be true, don’t follow through with the property and cease all interaction with the ’property manager’ or ’landlord’,” she said.
While it would be very challenging for owners and property managers to monitor whether properties are being used by scammers, Brown said a regular scouting of their homes on the internet could be a first step.
“However, owners and property managers should act if they become aware of a scam,” she said.
She said that fake listings and the profiles behind them should be reported directly to the platform with exact links and screenshots of the listings so they can be taken down and monitored by WA ScamNet.
“This is an important part of their role, and they rely on members of the public and the real estate industry to share this information so the community can be made aware of the most recent scams,” Brown said.
“Rental scams can have devastating consequences, including financial loss, being without a home, and emotional distress. They can even lead to identity theft.”
This story originally appeared on Cyber Daily’s sister brand, Real Estate Business.
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