Scammers come in all shapes and sizes and tackle a range of industries, including the rental market and share houses
Unfortunately there are people out there who want to rip people off. We strongly advise the following-
- Ask potential flatmates for an identification, police or tenancy check. We recommend CV Check
- Do not hand over any money or personal details until you can absolutely verify the identification of the person you are dealing with
- Under no circumstances should you hand over any money to anyone until you are able to 100% verify that the person you are dealing with is legit
- Avoid scams where the person may request you pay courier costs to deliver the keys to you
- Spelling mistakes and badly written ads could indicate a scammer
- If it looks too good, then it probably is
- Always be sure to contact the Real Estate agent, and always ask for work references before handing over any personal details
- Always log in to your flatmate.com account to check messages that you have been notified
- Always meet first in a public area, and with a friend or fellow flatmate
- Do a search on any email addresses or contact info, as the person may have struck before (this person was on our site, but we searched the email address, and they had a record online-
We do our best to filter, and delete any ads that we feel are suspicious. If you suspect an ad on our site is suspect, or you have had suspect dealings with someone via our website, please do let us know, and don’t be afraid to call the police.
8 ways to avoid rental scams and share house scammers
Here are some further tips
- http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/741233
- http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0079-rental-listing-scams
Here is a great page of known rental scammers
Thanks for dropping by.
