A PREGNANT mother in desperate need of a rental property is "absolutely gutted" after she put her trust in the wrong person and lost more than $3000 for a home that was never actually on the market.
Jessie Bryen is among several Townsville renters who are being ripped off by sophisticated scammers tricking them into handing over cash for properties.
The 22-year-old has been searching for a rental property for about four months, so when she received a reply to a social media call-out for a rental, she thought she'd struck gold.
The advertisement for the Railway Estate home looked legitimate, with the fake agent even sending Ms Bryen what looked like real paperwork for a lease and 'security deposit'.