Take caution before buying properties online. Photo / Thinkstock
Police have warned tenants searching for accommodation to beware of an international property scam as more attempts to dupe renters came to light yesterday.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard, Auckland City District's field crime manager, said police had received complaints and he warned people to be on the lookout, but said
there was little police here could do.
"The issue is generally that this is all online and the money goes overseas. The message has to be put out there that people need to check the bona fides of anyone seeking money from them before they pay into any account and it's as simple as that. It has to be buyer beware," he said.
Mr Beard was responding to the Herald's report revealing that Nigerian-based scammers using the internet had made money offering homes for rent that were already tenanted.
Yesterday, Courtney Telfer told of receiving email responses to her inquiries about a place she saw advertised on the website Gumtree, at 22 Pakenham St East on Auckland's Viaduct Harbour, available for only $200 a week.
