We’ve had a lot of our listings copied by scammers and turned into fake rental advertisements, so we thought we would tell you about it.
The scam starts like this:
This came from an actual rental listing available from our sister company KSN Property Management, LLC. KSN had this property available for rent – but the rent was $1,550, not $750. You won’t find a nice 3 bed, 2 bath home with a garage and fenced in yard for rent at $750 a month in Savannah, unless something is very wrong!
Here’s how the scam works:
- The hackers find a legitimate real estate advertisement for sale or rent. They copy the pictures and description and use that material to create a fake rental advertisement on a free site such as CraigsList, or Facebook Marketplace.
- The hackers set the rent at a very attractive price point. In this case, they advertised the property at a rent of $750 instead of $1,550. (That’s the bait.)
- When someone calls or texts, the hackers say something like: “Oh yes, that’s a hot property. The owners are eager to get it rented as soon as possible, which is why the rent is so attractive. I must have shown it 5 or 6 times yesterday. It’s going to be snapped up any time. But, I just left town on a business trip for the rest of this week, so I can’t meet you to show it to you. But if you send me the deposit so I know you’re serious, I’ll hold it for you. Then we can go see it and sign the lease next week.” (That’s the hook.)
- Once the sucker sends the fake “security deposit”, the hacker swaps out his SIM card and moves on. The person looking for a place to live never hears another word and never gets the money back.
The best way to avoid such a scam is to never send money or sign anything on a property you haven’t actually seen. A legitimate Realtor or Landlord can get you inside to see the property. If you are out of town, the Realtor or Landlord can show you the property virtually on Zoom or Facetime. In many cases, you can drive by the property and see if the number on the sign matches the number on the advertisement. (This doesn’t always work, since some neighborhoods have restrictions on sign placement.)
At Daniels Real Estate, and KSN Property Management, we are more than happy to show you properties in person or virtually. As always, if you have any questions about this, or any other real estate matter, don’t hesitate to give us call.