Avoiding Scams & Fraud
This post, "Don’t Get Catfished: How to Avoid Rental Scams," was originally published on the Apartments.com Renterverse in 2019.
The Internet is known for many great things. However, it’s also paved the way for an array of digital crimes, including rental scams.
When you’re sifting through listing after listing months into your apartment search, you may be tempted to go for the post with the most—everything you’ve ever wanted in an apartment (dream location, every amenity imaginable, etc.) for hundreds of dollars under your budget. In that scenario, you would likely be falling right into a sneaky rental scammer’s trap.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there are two major kinds of rental scams:
Stolen Ads
Some scammers steal real rental listings outright, and switch the real contact information with their own phone number or email address. To combat this kind of scam, search the address online to see if the listing is posted on other sites. Verify that the contact info is the same as the one you’ve been checking out.
Fake Ads
Some scammers completely fabricate (the dark side of creativity) listings for units that either aren’t available or don’t exist altogether. To make sure your dream listing isn’t a fake, reverse search the images in the ad. It’s the quickest way to find out if the images are actually stock photos or belong to a real, different listing (see number one above).
Luckily for renters, scams have plenty of tells. Rental scams are easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for. And once you know what you’re looking for, you can avoid losing money, time, patience, your sanity...
How to Avoid Rental Scams
Do some digging.
Before contacting anyone about a rental listing, search the property’s address online. Confirm that this place exists, and is actually located in a residential area. See if there are any other online listings for the property in question – does the contact information match up on all of the listings?
Be suspicious of rent prices listed below market value.
If it seems too good to be true, it’s probably (definitely) a scam. Are similar listings (in the same area, with the same features) charging roughly the same amount in rent? If you aren’t already, become extremely familiar with the city or neighborhood where you’re searching for an apartment.
Beware of a pushy landlord/contact.
You know you’re dealing with a pushy landlord if:
- They give you an urgent deadline to pay a deposit
- They don’t want to run a background or credit check
- They are overeager to collect payment from you
A legitimate landlord wants to protect their investment. They will want to make sure they are trusting their property with a reliable renter. Ultimately, a scammer just wants to make a quick buck.
Never send money without seeing the rental first.
This is especially true if the landlord/contact insists on dealing in cash or wire transfer (the surest sign of a scam, according to the FTC). If you can’t visit a rental in person yourself, send someone you trust to visit it for you to make sure it checks out. Ask this (available) someone you trust to video chat with you while they’re touring the rental on your behalf.
Stay vigilant in your search and look out for the above warning signs of a scam. If you do come across a rental scam, be sure to report it to the listing site you found it on, your local law enforcement agency, and/or the FTC. Scammers don’t stand a chance against empowered renters.
Published February 21, 2019
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hello, I'm Shannon Jones. I write about renter issues and various cities for Apartments.com. I am almost always reading. Send me your renter problems and triumphs (and book recommendations) on Twitter @ShanJonesin