Warning: Rental Scams

antiscammer · November 2016

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:
1. Weird name in their email account.
2. The rent price is too cheap.
3. The owner is abroad and you can't view the property personally.
4. The owner is asking you to send him/her money in advance.
5. 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.
6. The content of the email and application form is VERY SIMILAR to other email from another suspected scammer.

DO's & DONT's
1. Do some background check on the owner.
2. 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.

champ17 · November 2016

that is just utterly distasteful when a pinoy tries to scam a fellow pinoy overseas!!

antiscammer · November 2016

@champ17 Honestly. I'm not really sure if all of them are Filipinos. I googled 1 email address they used to contact me and I saw accommodation ads of different properties in Chinese websites.

therealaids · November 2016

Send a pm to admin.

Admin · November 2016

Hi @antiscammer thanks for sharing your experience. I believe this is happening too kahit sa mga popular rental site like domain.com.au or flatmates, probably the best way to keep our forum safe from scammers is by reporting scammers directly to me or flagging the post. I will deal with them. If you have any transaction with them, I advise Do it via private message here in the forum. Bec everything is kept tracked. So incase investigation is needed you can have proof and we can ban the scammer right away.

therealaids · November 2016

@Admin please post an announcement regarding this issue para maeducate ang iba.

Admin · November 2016

salamat @therealaids will definitely do that.

Admin · November 2016

btw just a note I have posted a warning about rental scam last March. Please exercise extra care when dealing with rental

http://pinoyau.info/discussion/6267/becareful-when-looking-for-accomodation

kittykate · November 2016

naku may nangyayari pala po na ganyan dito sa pinoyau? nagpost pa naman ako na naghahanap ng magrerent sa room dito sa bahay. pati matino maaapektuhan hay. sana matigil na yung ganyan. Be vigilant nalang mga kabayan.

Admin · November 2016

@kittykate unfortunately yes kahit pa facebook na rooms or saan man. Kahit kilalang housing site maraming manloloko. Please extra careful kahit san site may mga scammers. But in pinoyau mas mabilis ang action sa mga scammers

bait0211 · November 2016

@Admin: I've read this scam about rental. I just want to share din about a scam regarding job offering. Maybe we could warn others as well. I received an email in my email address which I'm using for applying for work. He is offering a great deal and using a travel agency from Philippines. I tried to search the company and they are legit and they are advising there na mag-open daw sila ng branch dito sa Australia, they are just polishing the papers as well as the email address is the same from that company however when they have requested for personal information na without even interview and so on. I started to doubt na. I tried to forward the email to the company's email address that I've found in the net however wayang reply. SO the company itself maybe a bogus even though you can find their website online. They have even send me their business permit and address in Manila. Well to make the short story short hindi na ako nag reply sa email and no personal details has been provided. Buti na lang hindi ako kumagat agad. So be cautious land din tayo mga kapatid. God bless!

marybwillison · November 2016

oh.. thanks for sharing the information... i will remember that..

Admin · November 2016

@bait0211 Thanks the info. I will post that as well. Tough days lately. Quite a lot of scammers around, even on other social media. take extra precaution when dealing with Buy and Sell, Rental, or job Offers.

inhinyero_sg · November 2016

question lang po guys. Pag nakahanap ka na ng palce to stay, do you have to pay immediately for deposit even if you're still outside Australia? What's the common practice po if you are hunting for temporary accommodation when you're still outside Au? TIA

kaussiel · December 2016

inhinyero_sg said:
question lang po guys. Pag nakahanap ka na ng palce to stay, do you have to pay immediately for deposit even if you're still outside Australia? What's the common practice po if you are hunting for temporary accommodation when you're still outside Au? TIA

Same question here as well, please advice sa mga may experience na po dyan sa Australia. Salamat kabayans!