Rental scams in Queensland: the warning signs before you pay a bond

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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A person looking for a rental in Queensland is often looking in a hurry, against other applicants, sometimes from another city. That is the setting rental scams depend on. A listing appears at a good price, the advertiser is friendly and quick, and the only thing needed to secure the home is a payment today.

The Residential Tenancies Authority, the State body that holds rental bonds and administers tenancy law, publishes guidance on how these scams work and what to check. This guide sets that guidance beside the rules on bonds, rent in advance and deposits, because the rules themselves are the best test of an advertiser: a genuine property manager works inside them, and a false one usually asks for something they do not allow. It is general information, not advice about a particular listing.

Sources: Residential Tenancies Authority (bond rules); Scamwatch (repeat victims).

What a rental scam is

The RTA describes a rental scam as an advertisement for a property that is not really available to the person advertising it, usually posted by someone posing as a property manager or owner. The home may exist and be occupied by someone else. It may be for sale, or let already. It may not exist at all.

There is a second kind that reaches people who already have a tenancy. In a warning issued on 5 June 2025, the RTA said tenants were receiving letters claiming their rental property had changed ownership and directing them to pay rent to a new bank account. The letters copied the look of real agency correspondence, logos included.

Both kinds have the same aim: a transfer of money to an account that has nothing to do with the property. The first takes a bond, rent in advance or a "holding" payment. The second takes the rent itself, sometimes for several weeks before anyone notices.

How a fake listing deceives

The RTA's description of the method is short. Scammers reuse the photos and details of a legitimate rental or sale advertisement, so the listing looks real because most of it is. They place it where anyone can advertise without being checked. The Authority's 2025 warning named Facebook Marketplace as a channel where false rentals were being advertised and upfront payments requested to "secure" them.

Then come the features the RTA lists as warning signs. The rent is unusually low for the area. The advertiser applies pressure to sign and pay quickly, without the screening a real application involves. And there is always a reason the property cannot be inspected: the owner is interstate or overseas, the current tenant is unwell, the keys will be posted once the bond is paid.

Each of these is designed to answer an objection before it is raised. The low rent explains why the applicant should hurry. The owner's absence explains why nobody can open the door. The friendly speed stands in for the paperwork that is missing. People who have been caught often say the advertiser seemed more helpful than the agencies they had been dealing with.

In some cases, according to the RTA's warning, people who paid were then directed to a property that turned out to be occupied.

The warning signs, set against the rules

The clearest way to read a listing is to compare what is being asked with what Queensland law allows a lessor or agent to ask.

The bond rule is the most useful single test. The RTA states that the maximum bond for a general tenancy or rooming accommodation is four weeks' rent, that every payment taken as security counts towards that maximum whatever it is called, and that it is an offence to take more. An advertiser who asks for six weeks, or for a bond plus a separate "key deposit" or "pet bond" on top of four weeks, is asking for something a licensed property manager would not.

The second test is timing. The RTA advises prospective tenants to obtain a copy of the tenancy agreement before paying any money. In Queensland the written agreement for a house or unit is a standard form, the General tenancy agreement, and it names the lessor, the agent if there is one, the premises, the rent and the bond. A demand for money before that document exists reverses the usual order.

Checking the property and the advertiser

The RTA's guidance gives a short sequence of checks to make before any money is paid.

The licence check deserves a word. Anyone who lets property for others as a business in Queensland needs a licence under the Property Occupations Act 2014, and the Office of Fair Trading's register is public. The check has to be done properly: a scammer can borrow the name of a real agency. The register confirms that the agency exists. A call to the agency's published number confirms that the listing is theirs and that the person writing is on their staff.

Private lessors are not on that register, and many genuine rentals are let by owners directly. For those, the inspection carries more weight. An owner can show the inside of the home, on request, in real time. A person who has only photographs cannot.

Students and people moving from interstate or overseas are the most exposed, because they are the least able to inspect. The RTA accepts a video walkthrough as an alternative. A recording that is sent is not the same as a live call, in which the applicant can ask to see a particular room, the street outside or the meter box.

What can lawfully be asked for upfront

Scams often work by inventing charges. Queensland tenancy law keeps the list of permitted upfront payments short.

Bond is capped at four weeks' rent for a general tenancy. For a moveable dwelling, such as a caravan site, the RTA gives the cap as two weeks' rent, or three weeks if electricity is supplied. The bond may be paid in instalments if the parties agree in writing.

Rent in advance is limited by the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008. For a fixed term general tenancy the most that can be required before or at the start is one month's rent, and for a periodic tenancy two weeks'. A demand for three or six months "to secure" a home is outside what a lessor may require.

A holding deposit is allowed, with conditions. It reserves the premises for a short period, ordinarily 48 hours unless another period is agreed, and a receipt must be given. It is not a fee. If the tenancy goes ahead it is applied to the bond or the rent.

Fees for applying, for inspecting, or for "processing" an application are not part of the Queensland system. Nor is payment by gift card, cryptocurrency or international money transfer. A lessor or agent must also offer a way of paying rent that does not cost the tenant extra to use.

What the bond system gives a tenant

Queensland's bond system has a feature that doubles as a fraud check. A bond is not kept by the lessor or the agent. The RTA states that whoever receives it must lodge it with the Authority within 10 days, either online through RTA Web Services or by post with the Bond lodgement form, known as Form 2. The person paying is entitled to a receipt when the money is handed over.

Once the payment clears, the RTA sends the tenant an "Acknowledgement of rental bond", by email or by post. That notice comes from the State authority and not from the person who took the money. A tenant who has paid a bond and has heard nothing from the RTA after a couple of weeks has a reason to ask where it is.

The RTA also lets tenants pay a bond to the Authority directly online. Where that option is used, the money never passes through the advertiser's hands at all.

This does not help a person who paid a false landlord before any tenancy existed, since that money was never a bond in the legal sense. What it gives is a point of comparison. A genuine property manager talks about Form 2, the bond number and the RTA without prompting. An advertiser who is vague about where the bond goes, or says it will be "held safely" in their own account, is describing something the law does not permit.

Letters and emails that redirect rent

The second kind of scam targets tenants who are already settled. The RTA's June 2025 warning described unsolicited letters announcing a change of owner and a new account for rent. Its acting chief executive at the time, Kristin Spruce, advised tenants to deal with property managers and owners only through verified channels.

The check mirrors the one conveyancers recommend for settlement payments. A tenant who receives notice of new payment details does not use any phone number or email address in the notice. They ring the agency on the number they have always used, or the one on the tenancy agreement, and ask whether the change is real. If the property is managed by the owner directly, they speak to the owner.

A genuine change of ownership does happen during tenancies, and when it does the tenancy continues. The tenant is told in writing who the new lessor is. The existing agency, if it is staying on, can confirm it. Nothing about a real change requires rent to be paid to a new account the same week on the strength of one letter.

Tenants who pay rent to a false account remain in a difficult position with their real lessor, because the rent has not been received. That is a reason to raise it with the agency or owner immediately, and to keep the letter and the payment record.

If money has already been paid

The RTA's guidance on reporting names four places. The bank comes first, because a transfer that has not yet been withdrawn can sometimes be stopped. A report through ReportCyber creates a police record. Queensland Police can also be reached through Policelink on 131 444. And if a licensed real estate agent or an agency employee is involved, the complaint goes to the Office of Fair Trading.

Scamwatch adds two things. IDCARE, the national identity and cyber support service, can be called on 1800 595 160 and helps people whose identity documents have been sent to a scammer, which is common in rental scams because a false "application" asks for a licence or passport. And Scamwatch warns that one in three people who have been scammed are scammed again, so an offer to recover the money for a fee should be treated as a second attempt.

Reporting helps other applicants as well. A false listing reported to the platform that carries it can be taken down, and a report to Scamwatch adds to the information the National Anti-Scam Centre uses to warn the public. The agency whose photographs were copied will also want to know, since it is likely to be hearing from other people who answered the same advertisement.

The identity side is easy to overlook. A person who lost $800 may have also handed over copies of their licence, passport, payslips and bank statements. Those documents can be used to open accounts or apply for credit. IDCARE's role is to help work out what was exposed and what to do about each item.

What the platforms and the agencies are responsible for

A false listing is the work of the person who posted it, and the published guidance is careful not to blame applicants. The national support service IDCARE has said that losses among Queenslanders caught by rental scams have been rising, with some people left without a home after paying for one that was never theirs.

Agencies whose listings are copied are victims of the same conduct. Their photographs and descriptions are taken without consent, and they field calls from people who believe they have rented a property through them. Many agencies now watermark photographs and tell applicants in writing how payments will be requested.

Online marketplaces are starting to carry legal duties of their own. On 28 May 2026 the Assistant Treasurer designated key digital platforms, together with banks and telecommunications companies, as the first sectors under the Scams Prevention Framework. According to the Treasury release, those sectors must have systems in place by 31 March 2027 to prevent, detect and disrupt scams. The same package proposes automatic reimbursement of verified scam losses below $3,000, a range that would take in many rental scam payments. The proposal was open for consultation until 25 June 2026 and is not yet law.

The pattern to remember

Rental scams change their surface details and keep the same structure. There is a home that cannot be seen, a price that asks for speed, and a payment that has to come before the paperwork.

A real tenancy runs agreement first, then bond, then keys. A false one asks for money before the agreement and offers reasons in place of an inspection.

The Queensland system gives an applicant several fixed points to test against: a public licence register, a standard written agreement, a four-week cap on bond, and a State authority that writes to the tenant when the bond arrives. An advertiser who is comfortable with all four is behaving as a genuine lessor does. One who avoids any of them has given the applicant a reason to pause before paying.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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