Make sure the landlord or agent actually has keys to the property and takes you on a tour. Picture: Kindel Media
When Tommy Stella and his cousin found an affordable house for rent in their area of Upstate New York, it felt like they'd hit the jackpot.
Their imaginations ran wild: They'd have enough space for a dedicated work-from-home office, they could have a video game room and even dinner parties, 28-year-old Stella said.
Stella contacted the landlord named on the listing and quickly got an email back. "I am very new in this landlord business," the person wrote, according to emails Stella shared with The Washington Post. "We are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours."
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The purported landlord, who identified himself as a Catholic missionary, sent over a list of "application questions," including whether Stella agreed to send a $1 000 security deposit before moving in. No problem, Stella responded, but could they tour the house first?
Then he got suspicious. He Googled the house's address and found it for sale on Zillow. His "landlord" was a scammer that had pulled the home's photos and details from a legitimate listing.
It wasn't the only fake listing Stella came across in his hunt for an affordable place to live, he said.
Today, navigating real estate scams is part of the process for prospective renters looking for homes online. And the sustained spike in housing prices amid inflation and supply problems makes people more vulnerable as they scramble to find something within their budgets, fraud experts say.
Average rent in the United States grew 9.2% during the three months ended June 30, compared with the same period last year, according to data from commercial real estate company CoStar. In large metropolitan areas, the pop in rent prices is even more pronounced: The average rent in Manhattan broke $5,000 a month this year. When potential renters come across an apartment listed for a good price, they might feel like the clock is ticking - and that works in a scammer’s favour, says Kelly Merryman, president and chief operating officer of digital safety company Aura.
"Scammers are feeding on people who are anxious and want a better deal," Merryman said.
Take Kate Coley, who in summer of 2020 was desperate to find a place of her own after hunkering down at her parents' house during the early months of the pandemic. The new college graduate found an apartment in the exact Chicago neighbourhood she wanted listed on a real estate rental site for a good price. When the "landlord" said she'd need to send her deposit and the first month's rent right away because demand for the unit was so high, her excitement won out.
She lost around $2 000.
"I thought I was smart enough to know the difference between a real apartment and a scam apartment," Coley said.
Nobody's safe from real estate scams. But with a few safeguards, you can sidestep online fraudsters as you look for your next place to live.
"You have rights, too," Merryman said. "You don't have to just follow what they're asking. You can ask questions back, and you should."
"Scammers are willing to spend quite a bit of effort in many cases to make the scam very convincing, going so far as meeting you at the property in some cases," says Kevin Roundy, a fraud researcher at the cybersecurity company NortonLifeLock.
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