I was amazed to hear of yet another online property scam that is doing the rounds this week. The scheme targets tenants looking for rental accommodation.

I have only heard of it happening in Western Australia at this point in time. I say ‘at this point in time’ because unfortunately it isonly a matter of time before we see it more widespread.

What amazes me is that people will actually fall for it. Here is how it works.

In online portals offering everything from artichokes to accommodation, scammers posing as landlords offer property at below market rent. They say they can’t meet the prospective tenant at the property because they are overseas (clue number1) but because of a tight rental market the would be tenant isasked to deposit a sum of money – in some cases over $1,000 – inan overseas bank account (clue number 2).

That is the last the victim sees of the money and hears from the scammer. Of course there never was a rental property.

In this day and age and with so much publicity given to how these scammers work, I am staggered that so many people fall for these tricks.

As the ACCC warns on their website - if it looks too good it probably is. Use your common sense; the offer may be a scam.

Never send money to an offshore bank account unless you personally know the person who operates the account and neverpay money for a property to rent or buy (even a deposit) unless itis going into a trust account.

Unfortunately some people who get stung are so embarrassed when they realize what has happened that they don’t tell anyone. My advice is to report the scammers and at least that might prevent others from being caught.