Christies Beach 
We have just had news of a new scam that has unfortunately stung one of our customers.
A customer called today to inform us that she had paid $1800 for a bond on a property advertised with us on Gumtree. The women did not think it was that unusual to pay a bond for a property prior to inspecting, as a lot of business these days is now done online. Plus, she was moving from the country, so inspecting the property would have been difficult for her. The woman was told that she needed to pay the bond in order to secure the property.
We have not advertised on Gumtree for many years now and unfortunately, it wasn’t us she was speaking to, it was a criminal who had created a fake Gumtree account.
This is a terrible scam, this poor woman is now down $1800 and still does not have a property. She said that the ad looked very professional, but this is because they simply copied our own ad and put their details on it. It is upsetting that our brand has been used for such an act but we are grateful that we were informed so that we now have the opportunity to warn others.
I urge everyone to please be very careful. Please do not pay any money for a property before inspecting it. You can apply for a property but please do not pay a cent, if you have not physically seen it with one of our staff members.
After learning about this scam, I have spoken to a few people in the industry and have been advised that another method used to cheat you out of your money, is to pay a small deposit, of say $50, to access the key safe. House hunters unknowingly pay the fee and the scammers move on to scam the next person.
If in doubt, do some homework. Google the business and call them. All Land Agents must have a licence and we must advertise our licence number. You can visit the ‘Consumer and Business Services’ website to research the agency here. Our licence number is RLA266739. We will never mind if you call to check that you’re not being scammed.
We will continue to look into real estate scams and report our findings. For any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us on 08 8382 3773.
Follow the Professionals Christies Beach real estate blog for more interesting articles.
SCAM ALERT!
17/08/2020
Article posted by Professionals Christies Beach
