South African tenants should consider renting their properties through reputable letting agencies, says Andrew Collins, owner of the City Bowl franchise of Just Letting in Cape Town.

His advice comes after the news that numerous tenants have been scammed out of thousands of rands by dubious landlords who advertise fake rental properties on popular online classifieds and community websites.

“We were alerted to the situation by tenants who came into our offices looking for rental properties. They came across the adverts on websites and fortunately recognised them for what they were,” says Collins.

He says the confidence tricksters advertise properties for rent at incredibly low prices. The advertisements are very specific – they name actual buildings and even post pictures. When prospective tenants respond they are told that the landlord is out of the country and can only courier the keys to the tenant once the deposit has been paid in full.

“You won’t believe the audacity of some of these scammers,” says Collins. “Some of the tenants are told the reason the rent is so low is because the landlord is a Christian and does not want to rip people off. If tenants do pay the deposits or rents upfront, they will never hear from the landlord again,” says Collins.

Although it seems ridiculous for anyone to fall for such a ruse, Collins believes its success works in the same way as that of the infamous 419 scam.

“Out of the thousands who realise the truth, there will be one or two people who will fall for it. And even this makes it worthwhile for the fraudsters,” says Collins.

Collins advises tenants to be very careful when dealing with private individuals on the internet.

“The chances of being scammed are very good. Also, when dealing with rental agents, make sure they have valid fidelity fund certificates and audited trust accounts, and are registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB).

“Remember, anything that sounds too good to be true generally is,” he says.

He says there are numerous advantages to renting residential property through reputable rental agents, but the biggest plus for tenants is that they are covered by the EAAB. This means tenants have a legal body to turn to if they feel they are being treated unfairly.