Hi all,
I've tried contacting some people here who posted ads about accommodations. There seems to be some signs of scam with the way some people talked to me thru email. So I thought I should post some warning here. By the way, I am not saying that all of the ads here are scams.
Some signs that the person you are contacting is a scammer:
Weird name in their email account.
The rent price is too cheap.
The owner is abroad and you can't view the property personally.
The owner is asking you to send him/her money in advance.
I googled the name of the owner, email, etc. They have no social media accounts. Also, someone post so many accommodation ads of DIFFERENT PROPERTIES in other informal website.
The content of the email and application form is VERY SIMILAR to other email from another suspected scammer.
DO's & DONT's
Do some background check on the owner.
Don't give too much personal information, most especially IDs and passports. They can use your identity to do their scamming activities.
More tips can be found in this website:
http://www.realestate.com.au/advice/how-to-protect-yourself-from-rental-scams/
I hope the scamming activities would stop in pinoyau.