A Bunbury woman is one of many who have found themselves without a home and scammed out of hundreds of dollars.
WA Consumer Protection released a warning last week after some tenants have lost thousands of dollars.
Tenants who are desperate to secure a rental property in the current tight market are being targeted by scammers with 18 reports of rental scams and five people losing a total of $7,200.
Mother of two Lyra Woodyard told the Mail she had been looking for a new rental ever since her landlord of notified her of selling the property.
Ms Woodyard said she has had eight applications rejected and waiting to hear back about four other potential homes.
Just before Easter, the 27-year-old decided to go on Facebook to see if there were private rentals on offer.
"Everything looked ok, I couldn't notice any red flags," she said.
She applied for one property and received a email from who she thought was the homeowner with a lease agreement form for her to sign.
The scammer asked her to send through two weeks rent and pet bond, which totalled to $880.
This was a lot of money for Ms Woodyard, so she was receiving help from Homes West and they told her that it was a scam. It wasn't long after she found about that she saw other post on Facebook about the same problem.
She said scammers would create a new identity and steal someone's photos, set up a new account and use a property that is legitimately up for rent.
Ms Woodyard is now petrified of going online and looking for a rental because she thought the scam looked legitimate.
"I don't know what to trust anymore," she said.
She said she would only go through real estate agents now but with so many others doing the same, it was a waiting game.
WA Consumer Protection Commissioner Lanie Chopping warned people not to send money for a property that hasn't been inspected.
"Responding to online classified ads or social media posts is very risky, so prospective tenants need to at least view the property and meet the landlord or their agent before handing over any money," she said.
"Often the scammers will say that they are overseas or interstate so they can't physically meet or show them the property, but will leave the keys hidden outside for them to gain access after a bond and rent in advance are paid.
"These heartless scammers are exploiting the desperation of tenants who may face being homeless unless they can secure a rental and the victims can least afford to lose money to fraudsters."
If in doubt - contact WA ScamNet on 1300 30 40 54.