Like your parents used to say, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Although Craigslist is a great place to find almost anything, it is also a fertile breeding ground for scams.
And make no mistake, nowhere on Craigslist is that more true than the Homes for Rent section. As you are scrolling down the many (legitimate) listings for rentals, your eye catches the surprisingly inexpensive four-bedroom home in a that chic neighborhood. It gets even better: “No tenant credit check required!” It’s probably a scam.
There are a lot of rental scams out there, and most are surprisingly simple.
Consider a common identity theft scam: You click to contact the landlord to get more information. You receive a reply email asking you to complete an attached rental application (which includes your social security number and birthdate, no less) and send the file back. Because the file is simply a Word or PDF attachment, and not an online rental application through a legitimate web service, there are no protections in place for the renter.
Or perhaps a deposit scam: the landlord lets you know that the apartment is not available. “You will be the first notified should it become available.” A serving of disappointment with a dash of desperation. After a few hours, you get the email – that last applicant decided not to take the apartment. If you still want it, complete the application online and send a holding deposit of $X.
If those scams sound like something only a sucker would fall for, consider this more sinister fake-landlord scam. The scammer somehow obtains a copy of the key; perhaps by signing a lease themselves with a landlord foolish enough not to verify their tenant’s identity. Regardless, the scammer posts rental listings online, featuring a low asking rent. They dress respectably and show prospective renters around the property, and sign as many leases as they can within a three-week period, with a move-in date scheduled for the first of the next month. They collect the first month’s rent and security deposit from each prospective renter.
Then they disappear, and on the first of the next month a dozen people all show up to move in.
Looking for a vacation cottage at the beach? In my best Elmer Fudd impersonation: Be vewy, vewy careful. Perhaps you live in New York and would like to vacation on the West Coast. It would be expensive to travel and look at vacation rentals in person. So you look at some pictures, read the description and voila! You are ready to plunk down a hefty deposit to reserve it from afar. Enter, scam.
You respond and kick off several email exchanges. You are so excited; you send the money order deposit or perhaps transfer the funds through an anonymous service like Bitcoin exchanges or adding money to a prepaid debit card. Now you wait for the days, weeks or even months to pass before you go on vacation.
When you get to your beautiful beachfront cottage in California, you find that it is already rented or worse: it doesn’t even exist.
These are real scenarios, and happen more often than you think. What is a person to do to ensure that they are not dealing with a scammer?
First, you can check public records on the Internet (where available) to be sure that the person claiming to own the property actually does. Second, you can use a specialty site for vacationers like Airbnb or VRBO, which add transparency through renter reviews and verifications. Third, never send money to anyone without evidence of whom they are. Ask for proof that they do own or manage the property you are considering.
You can also consider using a Realtor. They will help you avoid being scammed; it’s part of their job.
I’ve actually seen suspicious listings vanish when pressed. I have asked for proof for a vacation rental and sure enough, stopped hearing from the alleged owner. I am a Realtor in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area where my specialty is rentals. I have personally encountered many of these scams and have been able to steer clients clear.
If it looks like a duck, on Craigslist it may be a pig. So, be vewy, vewy, careful!♦
Had any nasty experiences with property scams? Any tips for renters or landlords, to help them avoid being scammed? Share the wealth!
Passive Income & Personal Finance
I believe it was Malcolm Gladwell who explained how many of these rental agreement scammers actively look for gullible targets, by not making their initial contact perfect. It takes time and resources to groom prospects into scam victims, so they only want people who are likely to fall for it. So, instead of making their email perfectly believable, they leave it a little sketchy intentionally. Ingenious.
Yeah some of these rental agreement scammers are much cleverer than people give them credit for… scary stuff.
Unfortunately people today need to be much more skeptical than they did 100 years ago – not that confidence artists are a new thing, but there are just so many more opportunities for con artists to reach people today, with the internet. But hey, a healthy dose of skepticism isn’t the end of the world, I suppose.
While technology does open the doors to more intricate deceptions, it also provides a great communication tool. So, yes if being skeptic creates caution, not so bad… and the more we open lines of communication about these tricks of the trade, if you will, the better for the public.
Wow, it’s truly amazing and sad how people are constantly finding new ways to try to scam others. It’s so important to practice safety and skepticism when dealing with anyone online, and particularly on Craigslist!
So true Rhianon! The nice thing as well, it is easier to check people out on the net by checking online public records that may be available or even use social media like Facebook to verify ownership of properties or to see if anyone else happened to run into a specific scam or scheme.
Thank you for making those unaware of such scams, very very aware. It is unfortunate that people out there scam the system and take advantage of both landlords trying to lease their legitimate rental homes, and tenants just looking for a place to live or vacation in. For those looking for the perfect vacation home, consider getting the help of an experienced property management company to help you find one. With plenty of resources to find you just what you are looking for, you will no longer have the need to scour Craiglist come your next vacation. Thanks again for sharing!