A woman, calling herself Jacinta Tanner, is posing on the Houses for Rent/Buy In Echuca Area Facebook page as the owner of various properties in town that she claims to be renting out privately.
Her most recent victims include an Echuca man grieving the loss of his 85-year-old mother, and a young woman searching for a home to live in.
On Wednesday, April 21, John Greiner was at the house of his mother Dorothy, who died on Monday, to clean the Hovell St property and prepare for her funeral when he was approached by a mother and daughter.
‘‘The woman asked me whether I was the owner of the property as she said she had been speaking to the owner over Facebook who told her to come and have a look at the house,’’ Mr Greiner said.
That woman was Liz Critcher, whose daughter was almost scammed out of $2800.
Her daughter, who does not wish to be named, was sent a message by ‘Jacinta’ telling her she was living in New Zealand and the property could only be inspected from the outside, not inside.
‘‘She told my daughter to send her the bond money and rent in advance, sent her photos of the inside of the property and told her once she’d paid the keys would be sent alongside a rental agreement,’’ Ms Critcher said.
‘‘She gave us the address so we went to look outside, only to discover the actual owner of the property, who does not know this woman.’’
Mr Greiner said the incident had made him extremely uncomfortable.
‘‘This is the last thing I needed,’’ he said.
‘‘Mum only died on Monday and I am trying to deal with that and her funeral and then this happens.’’
He also felt for the young woman, who was just trying to find a home.
‘‘Obviously it’s a really tough time to find rentals at the moment, because so many people are looking and there are not enough properties,’’ he said.
‘‘If you’re looking at houses on Facebook, be wary. And if you can’t inspect the inside, don’t bother.’’
Century 21 Rich River Real Estate leasing manager Tara Kerr said the agency was aware of the scam.
“It's a shame to see this kind of behaviour within our community and I can only hope people have their wits about themselves when searching their next potential home via an online platform such as Facebook,” she said.
“There are a number of landlords/rental providers who choose to manage their own investment properties; however, this comes with risks to a potential tenant/renter.
“There are a number of ways tenants/renters can protect themselves from getting caught up in online scams and false or misleading adverts of rental properties. This could be as simple as seeing a rates notice for the property along with forms of identification from the rental provider, understanding tenancy laws, having tenant insurance, ensuring you undertake physical pre-occupancy inspections, having a rental agreement in place prior to occupancy and understanding notices etc.”
The incident has been reported to police.
People who have had similar experiences are encouraged to do the same.
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