Para Hills mother turns tables on would-be property scammer as police warn of rental crisis rorts

Vulnerable renters caught up in crisis have been warned to remain vigilant after a northern suburbs mum had some fun with a would-be scammer.

A northern suburbs mother has warned renters to be wary after turning the tables on a would-be property scammer.

Angie Jaschinski, 42, was contacted by a man claiming to be the landlord of a northern suburbs property after posting a Gumtree ad on Wednesday.

With the rental crisis leaving properties in short supply, Ms Jaschinski decided to bolster her chances by seeking properties for herself and her 11-year-old daughter both through agents and online.

Within 10 minutes of posting the ad, she said a man claiming to be a landlord offered her a property in the northern suburbs, alongside images and a description of the home, and asked her to pay a deposit.

Para Hills mum Angie Jaschinski says an online scammer attempted to dupe her out of money by demanding a deposit for this house, despite having no connection with the property. Picture: Dean Martin

After a quick search, Ms Jaschinski found the property on realestate.com.au, where it was listed for rent by Century 21 with an opening the following day.

“I’m not silly, I told him I’d need to look at it first before handing over any money,” Ms Jaschinski said.

“I attended (the open) and spoke to the lovely agent and advised her of my situation, but realistically I knew this guy was a scammer.”

Not wanting anyone else to fall victim to the rental scam, Ms Jaschinski decided to turn the tables on the would-be “landlord”.

“I continued playing dumb with the scammer just to see how far things would go … I’m easily entertained and figured this person deserved to be played with,” she said.

“I let him think I’d paid the money into his account by providing him with a bank transaction receipt, which took all of 10 minutes to make, and thanked him profusely for the wonderful opportunity.”

Ms Jaschinski handed over screenshots of her conversation with the scammer, alongside account details he provided to her, to the Century 21 agent and police.

“It’s absolutely disgusting how these people are taking advantage of people who are struggling in life already,” she said.

“How many others are out there that may have actually handed over money to these people, and then had to start from scratch.”

Minister for Consumer Affairs Andrea Michaels urged renters to remain vigilant and ensure they verified the legitimacy of a property listing before sending money.

“At a time when rental properties are scarce, it’s a sad reality that unscrupulous scammers will seek to take advantage of people at a time when they’re especially vulnerable,” Ms Michaels said.

“Often, these people will encourage their victims to transfer money in exchange for keys while the property in question remains sight unseen.”

SA Police said ScamWatch had received 560 reports of rental scams so far this year, with a 2020 report revealing more than $300,000 had been lost to accommodation rorts in 12 months.

Rental scam: Angie Jaschinski turned the tables on the would-be scammer, claiming to send a deposit. Picture: Supplied

Rental scam: Angie Jaschinski turned the tables on the would-be scammer, claiming to send a deposit. Picture: Supplied

A police spokeswoman said there were a number of signs that a rental listing could be fraudulent, including a comparatively low rental price and short deadline for application.

She said these techniques were used to rush people into parting with their money before they had an opportunity to take a step back and realise it was a scam.

Scammers will often make excuses to avoid meeting in person, often citing medical grounds, family issues and Covid-19.

Househunters are urged to use reputable real estate websites when looking for properties to rent and where possible, view the property in person before parting ways with any money.

“It is important that if someone suspects they may be a victim to a scam such as this they act swiftly to minimise damages,” an SA Police spokeswoman said.

“As soon as possible, contact your banking institution to advise them of the incident to monitor or close accounts as required.”

Anyone who believes they have fallen victim to a scam can contact IDCARE (www.idcare.org), a free service which works with victims of identity theft to develop a specific response plan and support them throughout the process.