PHOTO: The scammer claimed to be away in the Defence Force but was renting a property out. Supplied

A couple looking to make a fresh start in Tasmania have fallen victim to a scam leaving them $2,000 out of pocket, a real estate agent says.

Key points:

  • A Launceston real estate agent says scammers have used a property his firm handles to rip off renters
  • The scammers used a fake lease to extract bond money from the victims, for whom English is a second language
  • The Tenants’ Union of Tasmania says a bond should never be paid to a property owner

Scammers posing as Australian Defence Force officers contacted the couple on popular buy-and-sell site Gumtree, offering them a property for rent and asking for $2,000 as a bond to secure the property.

Launceston real estate agent Tim Saunders said the scammers replicated a property his agency had for rent, but at a cheaper price.

“They ghost properties and put them on sites that are outside the regular real estate portals,” Mr Saunders told Leon Compton on ABC Radio Hobart.

READ MORE VIA ABC