Rental scams are making renting even harder. What should NSW do?

It might look like a perfect (or good enough) rental! Location ticks the box, actually renovated... and surprisingly affordable. A few messages back and forth, a sense of urgency from the landlord who is unable to attend with you, and a deposit sent. And then... silence. The listing disappears. The money’s gone. So is the scammer.

Sadly, this isn’t a rare story. It’s becoming alarmingly common with low vacancy rates and the scramble for a new home.

In May the ABC reported on a nursing student on the Sunshine Coast who lost his bond payment and rent to a scam listing he found online, and not for the first time. This followed the stories in Sydney like the scammer arrested after taking tens of thousands from more than a dozen renters, and students being fleeced trying to secure accommodation online.

Scams like these succeed because our rental system makes it far too easy to impersonate a landlord and far too hard for renters to protect themselves.

That’s why we’ve just released a new resource to help renters stay safe:

Our new scam resource includes clear tips like

• Always inspect a property before paying.
• Never pay via gift cards or crypto.
• Ask for ID and confirm the person is a licensed agent or genuine landlord.
• Use trusted rental websites.
• Get receipts and a copy of the tenancy agreement.
• Ask for help if something doesn’t feel right.

But while renters can take steps to protect themselves, the government must take action too.

Renters are vulnerable by design

Most scams follow a similar pattern: an attractive listing is posted – often on a less-regulated platform like Facebook Marketplace or international websites. The “landlord” initially seems helpful and professional, but unable to meet you face to face for some understandable reason. Sometimes they send fake identity documents. They urge you to pay quickly, after all there is such a low vacancy rate and other people will rent it! Sometimes it’s only after starting moving in that tenants realise they’ve been duped.

These scams succeed because there is no easy way to check who is legally allowed to lease out a property, and people seeking a new home aren't always in a position to be picky. Whether posing as the owner directly, or a head tenant subletting - anyone can create an ad for any property, using photos and information gathered from legitimate listings or entirely made up.

In almost every other consumer setting, we can expect to know who we’re dealing with and have checks to make sure they are trustworthy. You can verify the identity of tens of thousands of traders, organisations on Service NSW. Some of these are licences requiring particular expertise, others are more simply a registration of the accountable person of a business.

A food truck requires a driver's licence, real estate agents must be licenced.

Even charities are registered!

We do this for a number of reasons. It builds trust in an industry, so that consumers know they are dealing with someone legitimately in that industry. We do it because consumers are often at a disadvantage because of some imbalance in the relationship. That might be in the supply of a good or service that allows unscrupulous behaviour, like in renting, or in some other aspect like an information gap where the regular person can't really test whether a trader is sufficiently expert to take on the role.

Registration systems also give governments communication channels directly to the industry participant, sharing information, support materials or updates to law or practice.

But in Australia, there is no central register of landlords. Nothing that confirms whether someone is entitled to lease out a home or collect your money. Real estate agents aren't ultimately responsible for an owner, or required to rent a property out particularly in more informal ways. Scammers are able to exploit this gap.

A basic consumer protection: landlord registration

We’ve long argued that NSW needs a public, searchable landlord register. As we wrote in our earlier piece, “Getting your LL Plates”, this would be a simple, powerful reform.

Landlord registration would:

• Confirm who is legally letting out a property.
• Support better enforcement and accountability.
• Help online platforms verify legitimate listings.
• Deter scammers who rely on anonymity and low risk of being caught.

This is not a radical idea. It’s already the norm across many councils in England. Scotland maintains a comprehensive landlord register. And in NSW and Australia we already register holiday lets, boarding houses, and many other accommodation provider types. That's not to mention that all businesses are registered, and traders in dozens of industries have some form of register or licence.

Why should renting a home, almost always someone’s biggest expense, be treated with less care?

A missing piece in reform

We've seen this year a huge shift in the way tenancies can be ended - now with a reason, with evidence and accountability. We also have to address the way tenancies start.

We acknowledge and support the NSW Government’s current work to improve how rental applications are handled and we look forward to seeing legislation on this soon which should include stronger data protections and a consistent and safer process for submitting renter information. These will be welcome changes.

But landlord registration helps complete this picture. Renters shouldn’t just be protected during the application process. They should be protected from the very first interaction. Knowing who you’re dealing with shouldn’t be optional.

It's time to stop scam rentals at the source

What renters can do:

Share our new scam prevention resource.

Report suspicious listings to NSW Fair Trading or Scamwatch.

Stay cautious, especially when listings seem too good to be true.

What the NSW Government can do:

Introduce mandatory landlord registration with a public lookup.

Require registration details on online rental listings.

This will build a system where trust is built-in, not outsourced to renters.

Renting a new home should be exciting – not risky. With just a few smart reforms, we can make it harder for scammers to operate and easier for renters to feel safe. Let’s make the rental system work for the people who actually live in it.