Beware Red Flags of Apartment Rental Scams

People legitimately listing properties for rent can become victims, too. In a July 12 alert, the FBI’s Boston division noted that some rental scams start with an interested party responding to a genuine ad and agreeing to send a deposit. 

What follows is a classic fake check scam: The would-be renter sends a check for more than the deposit amount and asks for the excess back, or backs out of the deal and demands a full refund. When the check turns out to be bogus, the renter is out whatever money he or she sent to the scammer.

Inflation, pandemic drive spike in cases

The FBI warning links a recent surge in rental and real estate scams to soaring housing costs.

“We have seen a significant increase in the amount of money being lost by people who are desperate for a good deal,” Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the bureau’s Boston office, said in a statement. “Scammers are cashing in on renters who need to act quickly for fear of missing out, and it’s costing consumers thousands of dollars, and in some cases, leaving them stranded.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has also played a part, triggering an increase in rental scams reported to AARP's toll-free Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360. A few examples:

• A woman in New York found a rental apartment in Los Angeles on Craigslist and lined up a friend to give it a once-over in person. But before the inspection, the New Yorker wired $2,000 in “rental fees” to a person who turned out to be a con artist. The sad truth: The apartment — a phantom rental — didn't exist.
• A California woman found a “fantastic” place on Craigslist. The person behind the listing demanded $500 via Zelle's instant payment app and the would-be renter complied. It dawned on her after she sent the money that it all was a sham.
• A Texas couple saw a rental sign for a house they loved and were asked to send a security deposit using Zelle, and did; later they were asked for more cash for “rental fees” — and only then smelled a scam.

AARP's Amy Nofziger, who oversees the helpline, says scammers have leveraged the pandemic by touting online properties for rent “sight unseen,” telling prospective tenants they couldn't enter the premises due to COVID-19.

That's not exactly true, says Kelsey Blakely, senior director of online security for Apartments.com, which dates to 1995 and touts more than 1 million rental listings in the U.S.

Before the pandemic, "I would say you always want to make sure that someone [offering a rental] will meet you in person,” Blakely says. But COVID-19 triggered a “huge increase” in virtual tours, such as 360-degree tours, prerecorded video tours and live, remote tours via FaceTime, Zoom and other platforms, she says. And many places offer self-guided tours.

Still, con artists, some of them actually pursuing their schemes overseas, have been inventing “sob stories” to excuse not meeting face-to-face, Blakely says. “They'll say things like, ‘I have COVID, my wife has COVID, so I can't meet you. I can't videoconference with you.’ They really prefer to communicate by email and text."

Kelsey Blakely is senior director of online security for Apartments.com.

Courtesy of Kelsey Blakely

Even if you are allowed to visit a unit in advance, don't let your guard down, she adds: "We have had cases where people have physically toured a property, and then sent a security deposit to a fake landlord."

Renters beware

Apartments.com does not divulge how often it finds fraudulent listings on its site, but uses security protocols to ferret them out and tells users to exercise caution. Blakely says the frauds comprise “quite a small percentage” of all listings, but acknowledges that no system is foolproof, as reflected in an Apartments.com disclaimer saying that it “cannot guarantee that our sites are 100 percent free from false or fraudulent listings."

Scammers, she notes, zero in on people who are vulnerable or have an urgent need to move fast, such as divorcees, single parents or students.

At Airbnb, a spokesperson urged travelers to “help keep themselves, their payments, and their personal information protected by staying on Airbnb's secure platform throughout the entire process — from communication to booking and payment."

Airbnb will never ask travelers to pay for anything outside its website, such as via email or a third-party booker, the spokesperson added. Here's more of its advice on security and scams.

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9 Red Flags of Rental Scams

Want to avoid a rental-listing scam? There is no one, easy thing to do. But industry experts say it’s critical to know the red flags.

1. A monthly rental payment below the market rate.
2. A listing with grammar or punctuation mistakes.
3. A landlord with a “dramatic” story. You might be told to drive by the building — but you can’t go in, because the owner is working abroad or is in a faraway place serving in the military or doing missionary work.
4. A refusal to speak or video chat, communicating only by text or email.
5. A request to wire money, send it via Western Union or MoneyGram or pay with gift cards or bitcoin. The funds requested may be called a security deposit, move-in fee or rent.
6. A check for the wrong amount. Do not accept overpayment from a would-be tenant for a property you list. If you get such a check, return it. Do not deposit it.
7. A sense of urgency. Scammers want you to act fast and move in immediately, even if you haven’t seen the premises. Some dangle the prospect of heavy interest from other prospective tenants.
8. A claim of affiliation with Apartments.com or another established site, which could be just another falsehood.
9. A hard sell. “Fraudsters are very persistent ... they just tend to be a little more aggressive,” says Kelsey Blakely, senior director of online security for Apartments.com. “Once they get a hold of your number, they’ll just be texting you all the time. And it’s like, ‘Hey, what do you think? Want to get this deal going?’”

Craigslist did not respond to AARP's request for comment, but its site has this guidance about scams.