Melbourne gumtree fake house scam leaves Edwards family homeless
An angry mother-of-three claims she has been left “destitute” by an alleged serial con artist accused of fleecing thousands of dollars from budding renters around Cranbourne, with her family’s situation so dire they don’t have any place to live next week.
South East
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A devastated family with three small children has been forced into crisis accommodation with her three kids after falling victim to a house rental scam.
Tarnie Edwards claims her family, including husband Robbie and children Sienna, 3, Isabella, 2, and Sandra, 1, has been left “destitute” by alleged serial rental con artist Samantha Khat, who has been accused of fleecing tens of thousands of dollars from her victims.
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The Leader last month revealed allegations that Samantha Khat targeted several renters in Casey on Gumtree, taking money for properties she didn’t own.
The elaborate alleged scam involves Ms Khat placing an advertisement – using multiple aliases including Samantha Khat, Taylor Wong, Stacey Wu and Reantha Kat – for rental properties in suburbs, including Hampton Park and Cranbourne.
She allegedly meets with prospective renters to show properties, taking deposits, bonds and advance rent disappearing with the money.
Mum-of-three Ms Edwards, the latest person to come forward, said her family had been forced to live in crisis accommodation in Doveton after being allegedly handing over $1700 to Ms Khat last month for a house they believed they would rent from her.
Ms Edwards has shown Leader a series of text messages from Ms Khat that she claims reveal the elaborate scam and said the whole ordeal had left her family “angry” and “devastated”.
“Every time I look at my family – I just start crying because of all this,” she said.
She said she saw one of Ms Khat’s properties on Leopold Crescent in Hampton Park advertised on Gumtree and began speaking to her about it.
“I fell in love with the property and she said she needed $1600 for the bond, so I transferred her the money and she then said she needed an additional $100 for the keys.
“I then tried calling her several times after that but I couldn’t get through to her. She then told me she was in the hospital on the day I was meant to pick up the keys.”
Ms Edwards said she then received a text message from Ms Khat saying the property wouldn’t be ready until November 2.
“I questioned why I couldn’t get in touch with her and I expressed how upset I was as we had to be out of our property by October 28,” Ms Edwards said.
She said she checked social media the next day and was horrified to see allegations Ms Khat was a scammer.
Ms Edwards said by the end of that week she and her family had nowhere to go but the Doveton crisis accommodation.
“My husband also lost his job as we had to move so fast. We only had two nights of crisis accommodation for free now we have to pay $480 for the rest of the week,” she said.
“The whole ordeal has really taken a toll on all of us and I hope that some justice comes soon.”
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The Leader has attempted to call at least five of Ms Khat’s phone numbers, but they all go to message bank.
Late last month police arrested a 28-year-old woman and are urged other victims to come forward. A Victoria Police spokesman said investigations were still ongoing.
Investigators are appealing for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.