JonnyLeake t1_je1h6n4 wrote on March 28, 2023 at 6:54 PM

How do you know they are scams? I see a lot of rental listings right now and just curious, want to avoid the scams!

Matchaasuka t1_je1mrt5 wrote on March 28, 2023 at 7:29 PM

Often times the exact same listing posted by multiple people, usually for different prices or you reach out and never hear anything back.

Hot-Consequence OP t1_je1rsi1 wrote on March 28, 2023 at 8:00 PM

The first one, we paid an application fee to someone other than the person i was texting. (which i did get refunded btw), we get to the place for a tour, the person i was texting isn't there. he wants me to VENMO him $1800 BEFORE i even see the place. NOPE. We left immediately.

The 2nd one, we saw it on a bunch of sites, and it was the same number and name on all the ads...We get to the place at the time we were supposed to meet and the house still has someone living in it.

FecesThrowingMonkey t1_je4mpzv wrote on March 29, 2023 at 11:48 AM

If it's a house with lots of pictures, especially if the price seems really good, do an image search and see if the house was recently listed for sale on a real estate site.

I nearly got scammed by two of these when I moved here three years ago... The scammers took pics from houses that had recently been sold, then listed them on Craigslist for rent.

I found a bunch of other fake listings once I realized what was up. The scammers aren't even local - one wanted me to send money to a residential address in Houston, TX. I can only imagine this has gotten worse in the last couple years.