Spike in 'sophisticated' social media scams targeting would-be renters in WA

Australia Broadcast Center

6 days ago

When Lorenzo Pietribiasi moved to Broome from Italy, he bounced around living with friends and in staff accommodation before braving the rental market.
He spent over a month trying to find a rental but said part of the problem was scammers on social media.
"It's frustrating … you have to work or do other stuff, and you're trying to sort out where you're going to sleep for the next month," Mr Pietribiasi said.
Mr Pietribiasi said he was contacted by four separate scammers while trying to secure a property in the northern WA town.
"I did the normal procedure like everyone does — I went on Facebook and in all the groups started posting that I'm looking for a place," he said.
"But no real people were contacting me, it was mainly scams."
Mr Pietribiasi said he would receive direct messages on Facebook asking him to disclose personal information before letting him view the property.
When he pushed back, they either went silent or gave "more excuses".
In other instances, "scam links" were left in comments under his posts.
The ABC spoke with the facilitator of a Broome rental page, who said they used certain technology to automatically block scam posts and comments on prospective tenants' profiles.
On some rental group pages, there are upwards of 10 third-party link comments underneath posts.
The Real Estate Institute of WA's latest quarterly report showed average weekly rents in Broome had reached $1,000 per week, representing an 11.1 per cent increase in three months.
Rental scamming is "exacerbated" in regional areas like Broome, according to lawyer Alice Pennycott from Making Renting Fair WA.
Ms Pennycott said people locked out of finding a rental through "traditional" means like a realtor often turned to online platforms, which were unregulated and "more rogue".
"New ways of scamming people have emerged … they [scams] can look quite sophisticated now. It can be hard to tell that it isn't legit," she said.
"It's alarming seeing people unable to access properties through … more traditional means."
Ms Pennycott said prospective renters were made vulnerable by a "power imbalance between tenants and landlords".
"People are often asked to give a lot of personal and confidential information to apply for a rental property, like bank statements and details of employment," she said.
Make Renting Fair WA has called for tighter regulation around tenancy applications so renters are protected regardless of what the market is doing.
Source: Consumer Protection
Kimberley-based Consumer Protection senior officer Ange Inns said the agency was trying to arm people with knowledge to help them avoid scams.
She said there had been an increase in rental scams, and the current market made it especially hard for people under financial pressure, who urgently needed a home.
"They're posting fake photos and making the property look great, and the rental price is often too good to be true — so these are red flags."
Prospective tenants should view the property before providing identification documents or transferring bank funds, according to Ms Inns.
Consumer Protection encouraged anyone who may have encountered a rental scam to report it immediately to help the state agency track fraudulent activity and prevent others from falling victim.