Rental Listing Scams

When you’re looking for an apartment or vacation rental, you’re probably considering things like price, location, and amenities. Scammers know that, so they make up fake rental listings they know will grab your attention — and money — before you discover there isn’t really a place waiting for you. Before you make a move, learn how to spot and avoid fake rental ads.

How Rental Scam Ads Work

Rental scams often happen one of two ways:

1. Scammers take over real rental listings and make them their own.

Scammers copy the pictures, description, or virtual tour from a real online rental listing, replace the agent’s contact information with their own, and then post the phony ads on a new site. So if you call or email about the rental, you’ll reach a scammer.

What happens next? The scammer will do one or more of the following:

• The scammer might try to pocket your money for the supposed application fee, deposit, first month’s rent, or vacation rental charge.
• The scammer might tell you to complete an application with information like your Social Security number, a picture of your driver’s license, paystubs, and other personal details. Then they might use this information to steal your identity.
• The scammer might say you need to show you’re creditworthy by sending screenshots of your credit scores. What they really want is to get you to enroll in a paid credit monitoring program with recurring fees.

Once the scammer gets your money or personal information, they disappear and you’re left with no place to move in to.

What to do: Search online for the rental location’s address along with the name of the property owner or rental company. If other ads come up for the same address, but with a different owner or rental company name, that’s a sign of a scam. Go to the rental company’s own website to see if the property is listed there, too. If it isn’t, the ad you found may be a scam.

2. Scammers create listings for places that aren’t for rent or don’t exist.

The fake ads might offer surprisingly low rent or amazing amenities. But when you ask to see the rental, the fake owner will usually claim to be out of the country or give another excuse for not showing the property — then rush you into making a quick decision.

The fake owner might tell you can only secure the property with a wire transfer through Western Union or MoneyGram, gift cards, or cryptocurrency to pay for an application fee, deposit, or first month’s rent. But after you pay, the person you’ve been dealing with will disappear with your money.

What to do: If anyone pressures you to make a decision quickly, walk away. And if you find the home listed for sale instead of for rent, that’s also a big red flag.  And know that if you send money by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency, it’s like sending cash. Once it’s gone, you probably can’t get it back.

How To Tell Whether a Rental Listing Is Real

• Search online for the name of the property owner or rental company with the words “complaint,” “review,” or “scam.” See what other people say about their experiences.
• Consider the price of the rental. If the rent is a lot cheaper than most rents in the area, it could be a sign of a scam. And if anyone pressures you to make a decision quickly to get a great deal, walk away.
• If you can, look at the property before you sign or pay. Visit the property in person, have a friend or someone you know visit it, or watch a video or virtual tour. But know that that’s still not a guarantee that a property is real or available for rent. While rental scammers generally won’t meet you in person, they may set you up with a self-guided tour to help convince you they’re legit by copying listings from landlords who use self-tour services. So dig a little deeper:
  • If you go in person, ask the rental agent for a business card issued by the company that owns or manages the property. Then check the agent’s ID to be sure it matches the records.
  • Dealing with a private landlord? Search city or county tax assessment websites to learn who owns a property, then check the landlord’s ID to be sure it matches the records.
  • If you’re booking a vacation rental, get a copy of the contract before you send any deposit money. Check that the address of the property really exists. And if the property is in a resort, call the front desk and confirm the location of the property and other details on the contract.

Protect Your Personal Information and Money

• Never give personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you and claims to be working with the owner or rental company. Instead, use the contact information you already have to contact the owner or company.
• Guard your personal information throughout the rental process. Until you’ve agreed to rent a place, a landlord doesn’t need your Social Security number, credit score, or other sensitive information. And most landlords normally pull your credit score themselves — they don’t tell you to get it for them.
• Listen to how they tell you to pay. If anyone insists you can only pay with wire transfers through Western Union or MoneyGram, gift cards, or cryptocurrency, it’s a scam. Wiring money, sending gift cards, or paying by cryptocurrency is the same as sending cash — once you send it, you probably can’t get it back.

Report Problems

If you notice a rental listing scam, report it to your local law enforcement agency and the website where the ad was posted. And report it to

• the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
• your state attorney general