Craigslist isn’t the only place for rental scams

Craigslist isn't the only place for rental scams

We’ve documented the rental scams that have proliferated on craigslist a number of times. In case you’re unfamiliar with the scam, someone posing as a landlord will post a phony ad for a rental property on craigslist. Then they’ll either try to get you to wire them money as a deposit, and even in some cases will collect the money in person. However, in each case, the phony landlord doesn’t own the property. In many instances, families have been left broke and homeless. Now, there’s a new place online where this scam has propagated.

Roomster is a website/app that allows you to look for rooms to rent. Recently, a woman who left Puerto Rico after the devastating Hurricane Maria was looking for a place to live in the Miami area. She found a place on Roomster and was told by the supposed landlord to wire the deposit and the first and last month’s rent. That was all the money the victim had. Also, it seems that this isn’t the only scam taking place on Roomster.

Roomster itself has been accused of not only deceptive billing practices but also hijacking other sites in order to push users into their paid subscription service. A casual Google search found a number of complaints regarding not only the alleged hidden subscription fees but fraudulent listings as well. The last thing the online classifieds industry needs is yet another site or app that puts profits ahead of protecting its users.