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  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 9, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Rental scam listing stays on Zillow for a week 

    Rental scam listing stays on Zillow for a week

    By Greg Collier

    When looking for a rental property, we recommend using platforms like Zillow to help determine whether a rental listing is a scam or not. Platforms like Zillow can often give you a good idea of not only what market prices for rent are in a certain area, but they can also often tell you who is really renting the property. But what happens when the information on Zillow is wrong? One California landlady recently found out.

    The landlady from Sacramento listed her home for rent on Zillow. However, a rental scammer is said to have duplicated the ad on Zillow as well. The scam was discovered when a prospective renter showed up at the woman’s home looking to take a tour. Except, the landlady had never spoken to the person who showed up at her door.

    Not only had scammers copied the original listing, but they also listed the landlady’s name while asking for $1200 deposits.

    The fake listing stayed up on Zillow for a week after the landlady contacted them. It stayed up so long because the scammer kept arguing with Zillow that they were the legitimate landlord. That could mean that the scammer was collecting $1200 from victims all the while. The landlady is concerned that victims who may have been scammed may come after her, since the scammers used her name.

    While platforms like Zillow and Truila are good tools to use in a search for a rental property, they are not the final authority. They can have scammers like any other platform. Even if a landlord gives you a tour of the property or gives you a code to the property’s lockbox, that doesn’t necessarily make them the true landlord. The best way to find out who actually owns a property is to always check with the county’s tax office or website.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 8, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , rental scam,   

    Military family fall victim to rental scam 

    Military family fall victim to rental scam

    By Greg Collier

    U.S. service members are one of the most targeted groups when it comes to scams. They are frequently victims of identity theft, romance scams, and employment scams. Again, this shows that scammers have absolutely no conscience when it comes to finding targets. Our service members have dedicated their lives to protecting our country, but scammers only think of them as a source of loot. Even when service members are looking for housing for themselves and their families, the scammers are lurking.

    A member of the Naval Reserves was recently looking for a home to rent in the Denver, Colorado area. He used a platform designed specifically to help service members find housing near their respective bases. It should be noted that the platform in question is not run by the military itself.

    The service member was able to find a rental to his liking and paid a $2700 deposit. However, the day before he was supposed to move in, the supposed landlord cut off all communication with the service member. Like with most rental scams, the home was actually for sale and not for rent.

    Typically, in rental scams, the scammers will copy the listing of a home for sale. They’ll then repost the listing somewhere else online, claiming the property is for rent, and that the scammer is the owner. The fake listings often list the property at a lower rent than the market value to try to find desperate victims. Scammers will ask victims for security deposits and first month’s rent before disappearing on the victims.

    Rental scams do not discriminate and have taken money from victims in every education and socioeconomic level. Of course, this scam hits lower-income families harder, as they can’t afford the loss of thousands of dollars.

    If you find a rental listing that appears to be a great deal, do as much research as you can on the property. Even a quick Google search of the address can show you information about the actual listing of the property. But when in doubt, contact the county tax assessor’s office or website. They’ll be able to tell you who the actual owner of the home is.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 21, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , rental scam, , ,   

    Homeless vet taken in rental scam 

    Homeless vet taken in rental scam

    By Greg Collier

    We’ve said it many times in the past, scammers don’t care who they take advantage of. They’ll use any situation to steal money from the most vulnerable members of our society. Scammers often fleece the elderly who live alone. They would literally steal from babies if given the chance. So, it should come as no surprise that scammers would not only steal from a man who served our country, but one who has also fallen on hard times.

    A veteran from North Carolina, is currently living in a tent in the woods of Concord, a semi-rural suburb of Charlotte. He served in Iraq and has been trying to find stable housing. Unfortunately, it’s been difficult for him to find housing due to his credit history and a criminal record.

    He thought he had found an ideal place when he found an online listing for a home to rent. The supposed landlord gave the man’s brother the access code to the home, so they could actually tour the home. The man agreed to rent the home and sent the landlord $2,000 through the personal payment app Zelle. The landlord then cut off all communication with the veteran. The property was actually being rented by a rental company.

    Scammers having the access codes to rental homes is nothing new. The scammers get the code by contacting the rental company and taking a tour of the home. The code is then used by the scammers to make the scam appear more legitimate.

    And again, it should come as no surprise that Zelle was also used in the scam. Since Zelle offers little to no protection to its users, it has become a tool of choice for scammers everywhere.

    Rental scammers are constantly looking for people who are desperate for housing. Since housing is one of the most basic of needs, people who are scrambling for shelter may often overlook the warning signs of a scam.

    Again, security codes are not a sign of a legitimate property owner. To better prevent yourself from being scammed, it always pays to research a property first. Just a quick web search of the property’s address can bring up a plethora of information that can help you determine whether a listing is a scam or not. You can also find the true owner of a property by checking with the county’s tax assessor’s office.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 19, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , rental scam, ,   

    Airbnb scam sends strangers to your door 

    Airbnb scam sends strangers to your door

    By Greg Collier

    Typically, in any kind of rental scam, the scammers will copy a legitimate real estate listing before posting their scam copy online. If the home is actually for sale, scammers will list it as being for rent. They’ll do this in order to collect deposits and rent from unsuspecting victims. But, what can you do if the home you live in and own is being used in a rental scam? One woman from Detroit recently found out.

    The woman owns her own home in the Motor City, but recently, strangers started showing up at her door looking for a way in. The first time this happened, she asked the people on her porch what they were doing there through her home security camera. The people said they had rented the property off short-term rental platform Airbnb.

    This has happened to the woman multiple times, with disappointed vacationers showing up to her home, only to be told the property isn’t for rent. As we said, typically scammers use properties that have been listed online before. According to the homeowner, this property has never been listed. So, it seems like scammers may be picking homes either at random or by location to list on Airbnb.

    However, this scam does not seem very practical in terms of profit for the scammer. Airbnb processes the payments between renter and host. So, if a scam like this is detected, Airbnb can reverse the payment. They’ve even said that in this particular instance, the scammer did not get paid. It’s entirely possible that this could have been a scammer testing the Airbnb process for possible vulnerabilities.

    This doesn’t change the fact that people expecting to rent a vacation spot had to be turned away from someone’s home. It only takes one person who refuses to believe they’ve been scammed to turn this into a volatile situation.

    If people show up at your home thinking they’ve scored a vacation rental, contact the platform, in this case Airbnb, immediately to have the listing removed. If you’re a person looking for a short-term rental on platforms like Airbnb, research the host before committing. Phony hosts will often use images stolen off the internet in their profiles. A reverse image search goes a long way in weeding out scam hosts.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 12, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , rental scam, review bomb,   

    Scam Round Up: Amazon crime day and more 

    Scam Round Up: Amazon crime day and more

    By Greg Collier

    Today in the Scam Round up, we’re bringing you one scam you definitely should be aware of, a new twist on an old scam, and a kind of strange scam.

    ***

    First, we have the new twist on the old scam, the rental scam to be specific. Typically, in a rental scam, the scammers post a home or apartment for rent online they don’t own. They’ll then start collecting security deposits, or rent money, from their victims. This is usually all done without ever meeting face to face. However, a woman from Cleveland, Ohio, is accused of allegedly collecting $20,000 from dozens of victims at the apartment complex she worked at. The scammer would tell victims that their application was approved before taking their money. This included payments in money order, cash, and, of course, Cash App.

    It’s difficult to protect yourself from a scam like this when it’s being perpetrated by an employee of a legitimate apartment complex. While we imagine the odds of this scam happening again are low, if you feel like you’re not receiving enough communication from the property management as you get closer to your move-in date, consider talking to another employee at that complex. If you’ve been scammed like this, don’t hesitate to contact your local police.

    ***

    In our strange scam story, restaurants from across the country are being extorted. A rash of scammers is threatening to review-bomb the restaurants with one-star reviews on Google, if the restaurant doesn’t send a $75 Google Play gift card to the scammer electronically. We’re not just talking about your local Applebee’s, these scammers are also threatening restaurants that have been awarded the much lauded Michelin Stars.

    What makes matters worse, Google isn’t the easiest company to get a hold of when you need an issue like this resolved. Google has even refused to recognize some of the reviews as fake and have refused to remove them from their platform.

    While this scam sounds more like a viral prank than anything, the scammers are not relenting. When a restaurant adds a response to the phony complaint indicating the review is fraudulent, the scammers double down with threats like “We can keep doing this indefinitely. Is $75 worth more to you than a loss to the business?”

    While not a lot of people own restaurants compared to the rest of us, a scam like this can potentially threaten any industry and any business.

    ***

    Lastly, we have the scam that everyone should be aware of. Today starts Amazon Prime Day, one of the online retail giant’s biggest sales event. Cybersecurity experts call Prime Day the Super Bowl for scammers. The biggest threats are said to be phony websites that imitate Amazon and messages that appear to come from Amazon but don’t. If a shopper ends up going to one of these phony Amazon clones, they could be subject to malware, identity theft, and lost funds. Always check the URL, or web address, to make sure you’re on the website you want to be. Scam sites will often have a URL that is spelled like the site they’re imitating, but be one letter off or have left a letter out. They could also have the Amazon name in their URL, but have it direct you to their scam site instead.

    Consumers should also be wary of deals that sound too good to be true. That could also be the indicator of a scam. If you will be shopping online during Prime Day, try to use a credit card whenever possible because they offer more protection than a standard bank debit card.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 7, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , rental scam, ,   

    Zillow not immune to rental scams 

    Zillow not immune to rental scams

    By Greg Collier

    When we talk about rental scams, victims typically find fraudulent listings on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. These are where rental scammers frequently post rental listings that they’ve stolen from legitimate realtor listings. The scammers then claim to be the landlords of the properties while falsely collecting things like application fees, security deposits, and first month’s rent. Since neither of those platforms are regularly monitored for rental scams, it’s easy for rental scammers to find victims.

    One platform we don’t often talk about when it comes to rental scams is Zillow. As a matter of fact, we often recommend using sites like Zillow as a guideline to see whether a rental listing is fraudulent or not. While Zillow is more reliable than Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, it seems their listings shouldn’t necessarily be taken as gospel.

    A woman from New York recently moved her family to North Carolina to find somewhere more affordable to live. She had found a listing on Zillow that was perfect. She contacted the person who Zillow said was the property owner. The man she communicated with was even able to get her into the home by providing the lock box code. However, the supposed property owner kept pressuring the woman by saying there were a lot of other interested renters and if she wanted to rent the property, she needed to act now. The woman transferred a $2000 deposit to the man. She went to the home expecting the man to show up with the keys, but instead a realtor showed up with a client. It was then she found out she had been scammed.

    When asked for comment, a Zillow representative stated that they go to great lengths to monitor for scams and provide scam prevention tips for users.

    If you’re looking to rent a house or apartment anytime soon, Zillow is a good tool to use, but should not be the only one you use. The best way to find out who actually owns a property is by check with the county’s tax office. Even if a potential landlord gives you the code to a property’s lockbox, that doesn’t necessarily make them the landlord. Scammers have been posing as customers of realtors in order to get the lockbox code. Lastly, if a landlord asks for the deposit through apps like Zelle and Venmo, or wire transfer, there’s a good chance they’re a scammer.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 3, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , rental scam, , , , ,   

    It’s time for vacation scam season again 

    By Greg Collier

    Memorial Day weekend often indicates the unofficial start of the Summer season. With that, many couples and families will be planning their Summer getaways. But the one thing we may not get away from are vacation scams. While some vacation scams may be minor, there are others that could have devastating effects that could end your vacation before it even begins.

    One of the more common and expensive scams is the Summer rental scam. Many properties listed online for Summer rental are often either misrepresented or non-existent. Just like in a regular rental scam, a scammer may have copied a listing from a legitimate realtor and posted it on places like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace as if they own the property. At least in a local rental scam, a potential renter can swing by the property to look for any inconsistencies. It’s almost impossible to do that with a vacation rental, since the property is usually a large distance away. Even with vacation rentals, you should do a web search of the address to make sure the property is actually being rented and who is actually renting it.

    If you’re planning in using a short-term rental service like Airbnb or VRBO, there have been issues in the past where hosts have grossly misrepresented their properties in order to get as many renters as possible. This has included properties in states of disrepair, rooms that looked more like jail cells than a living space, and switching properties on renters altogether.

    Another common scam is the front desk scam. This is where scammers will call your hotel room in the middle of the night, posing as the front desk. The scammers will claim that there is a problem with your payment information and will ask you to verify the information. You should never give this information out over the phone. If there is an actual issue with the front desk, walk down to their office to verify any problems.

    A new scam we’re hearing about is phony rideshare drivers. They’ll claim they work for Uber or Lyft and just had a fare cancel on them. More than likely, they’ll claim there is an outage preventing them from using the service’s app for payment.

    Lastly, when at all possible, book your vacation and plan your expenses by using a credit card. Credit cards offer more protection than debit cards if you happen to fall victim to a scam. While once cash is lost, it’s lost forever.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 23, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , rental scam, resort town,   

    Rental scams in resort towns 

    Rental scams in resort towns

    By Greg Collier

    Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is an all-year resort town. In the winter, they offer the usual activities of skiing and snowboarding. During the summer months they have fishing, rafting, tubing, and kayaking thanks to the Yampa River. However, even resort towns have year-round residents, and finding a long-term place to live can become quite the challenge. It also presents quite the opportunity for rental scams to find victims.

    Recently, a man who was commuting to Steamboat Springs, wanted to live closer to his work. He found a two bedroom home that had a reasonable rent on Craigslist. He responded to the ad and was communicating with the supposed landlord through text. The landlord asked for first and last month’s rent, which amounted to $5500. The man was asked to make the payment through either Zelle or money order. The payment was made through money order. Right before the man was supposed to move into the property, all communication between him and the landlord stopped. The man went by the home to find it was already being occupied.

    The actual owner of the home was actually offering the home for short-term rentals on VRBO. VRBO is a competitor to Airbnb. According to the owner, he knew that someone was copying his VRBO listing on Craigslist. He would constantly have the listing flagged, only to have it reemerge on Craigslist a few days later. After the victim lost his money, both he and the homeowner went to the police. The police discovered that the money order was routed to an overseas account, which means it’s unlikely the victim will recover his losses.

    If someone is in the market for a new place to live and looking to rent, they should always do a web search on the property’s address. This should present them with a number of real estate websites, which should show them more information about the property. While not a guarantee of revealing a scammer, this does go a long way in helping find out the property’s true rent and availability.

    Also, if a landlord asks for payment through payment apps like Zelle and Venmo, it could be a scam. These money transfer apps should only be used between friends and family.

    Lastly, if a landlord only communicates through text without meeting in person, this could also be a red flag indicating a scam.

    While the desire for shelter is one of the most basic human needs, always try to exercise caution when looking to rent a new home.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 18, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , rental scam, , ,   

    Is Zelle siding with scammers? 

    Is Zelle siding with scammers?

    By Greg Collier

    As we’re sure you’re well aware of, Zelle is a money transfer app that’s co-owned by several large banks in America. Its primary purpose is to transfer money between friends and family directly from your bank account. The most popular example given about these apps is splitting the check at a restaurant. Rather than several different people pulling cash out of their pocket, they can instead just send their portion of the bill to one person who picks up the tab. However, since it involves sending money online, scammers are using every opportunity to use Zelle, so they can steal from their victims. The banks that own Zelle aren’t helping matters either, since they tend to tell scam victims that their money is lost forever, even if the bank is the one who noticed the scam.

    A woman in New Jersey recently fell for a rental scam. She was sending money to a phony landlord for a rental property the landlord didn’t own. At first, she was asked to send a $160 through Zelle for an application fee to someone with a Wells Fargo bank account. She was then asked to send $1000 through Zelle, to the same person as a deposit. The scammer then asked her to send $1000 as another deposit and an additional $1000 as first month’s rent. This time, the money was sent to two different Zelle users, the first one mentioned and a new one with a Chase bank account. Again, all done through Zelle.

    When sending the last $1000 through Zelle, the woman’s phone locked up, and she wasn’t sure if the payment went through. The fake landlord told her to call her bank to resolve the issue. When she called her bank, Bank of America, they notified her that this was a scam. The bank representative put in a request to have the payments stopped. The woman then did the proper thing and notified both the police and the FBI. Six weeks later, Bank of America denied the request, allegedly claiming that Chase and Wells Fargo did not want to give the money back.

    All three of the banks mentioned in this post are co-owners of Zelle. Since they all share a payment transfer system, you might think that there’s a way to get money back from scammers. Instead, the banks claim that since sending money through Zelle is like sending cash, users should be careful who they send money to. No refund was offered to the victim by any of the three banks.

    While it is true that apps like Zelle should only be used between family and friends, why are the banks so reluctant to help scam victims? The bad press they’ve been receiving over Zelle can’t be helping, so why not put in protections that help the users instead of the scammers? The more these scams get reported on, the less Zelle will end up being used. So, which one would be more costly to the banks, helping scam victims, or shuttering Zelle?

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 12, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , rental scam,   

    Scam Round Up: Homeless victim loses savings in scam and more 

    By Greg Collier

    In this week’s round up, we have an update on a recent scam, a reminder of a grim scam, and a heartbreaking story on how heartless scammers are.

    ***

    You may remember a story from our last Scam Round Up where teachers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area were being targeted in a jury duty scam. More recently, this scam moved westward and is now targeting teachers from the Cleveland, Ohio area, with at least one teacher falling victim to the scam.

    This is where scammers pose as local police and tell their victims they missed jury duty and a warrant is about to be issued for their arrest. However, a payment over the phone will supposedly resolve the matter.

    Much like in the Pittsburgh scam, scammers are calling schools in the Cleveland area asking for specific teachers and threatening them with arrest. One teacher is said to have lost $2000 to these scammers.

    Again, when it comes to jury duty, all communication is done through postal mail and not over the phone.

    ***

    In Upstate New York, police there are warning residents about a scam affecting the families of the recently deceased. Scammers are calling these families posing as an actuarial company claiming there’s been a data breach of the deceased’s information. The families are then asked for personal identifying information of the deceased.

    In this instance, scammers are likely trying to commit identity theft. They want to do things like open credit cards or take out loans in the deceased’s name before the credit companies update their record.

    If you were ever to receive a phone call like this, the best thing to do is to ask for them to send a request in writing. While not a guarantee, this does go a long way on discouraging these kinds of scammers.

    ***

    If that story wasn’t disturbing enough, a homeless woman from Florida was recently taken for over $1000 in a rental scam. After saving up enough money for her and her newborn baby to rent a home, she responded to an online real estate ad. She was texted by the supposed landlord, who asked her to pay a $75 application fee over Zelle. She was told she couldn’t see the property for a few days since it was currently occupied. Then she was asked by the supposed landlord to send $1049 for the first month’s rent. Fearing she might not get the home, she sent the money.

    Anytime a prospective landlord can’t show the property for whatever reason, there’s a good chance they’re not really the landlord.

    ***

    We hope that our readers never have to deal with scammers like this. But if you do, we hope we’ve prepared you enough to detect them.

     

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