Summer Months Mean Blossoming Opportunities For Real Estate Rental Scammers
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
NEW YORK (CBSMiami) – Early summer is a busy time for the real estate market.
Unfortunately, that means scam artists are trying to take advantage of people looking for a new home to rent.
Kyle Stark is selling his Indianapolis home, so he was shocked when someone stopped by and said they had made a deal to rent it.
"They wanted to meet me because they said they were moving in this weekend," Stark said.
It's a scam real estate agents are seeing nationwide.
"They're using real listings and changing the phone numbers and changing the name of the owners so that people think they are getting a really good deal in the area," said realtor Bobette Gonzalez.
Con artists lift pictures and descriptions from actual real estate listings, then create their own fake ads.
A Houston home was listed to rent for $2300 a month but a scammer posted it on Facebook for just $800.
"We really urge people to look out for this one," said Katherine Hutt with the Better Business Bureau.
Hutt says criminals try to convince potential victims they have to rent the property fast without seeing it first.
"Everything is done by phone or email and they ask for the money to be wired ahead of time," she explains "Usually they are asking for some kind of a payment that is not traceable, a wire transfer, a prepaid debit card that kind of thing, and once he money is sent, it's gone."
That Houston house with the fake Facebook ad has had so many people come by to view it, the real owners put a sign on the front door that said "Warning the $850 dollar price is a phony."
"Something that sounds too good to be true, that's a big red flag," said Hutt.
She says spotting those red flags can keep renters looking for a good deal from falling victim to this scam.