Please use caution and use the "report post" feature at the bottom of a suspicious post.
www.usa.gov
The listing details are vague.
They don't want to show you the place first.
They're ready to make a deal with no background info.
They're out of the country.
They want you to sign before seeing anything.
The asking rent doesn’t match up.
They instruct you to wire money.
Where to report scams | USAGov
Use USA.gov’s scam reporting tool to identify a scam and help you find the right government agency or consumer organization to report it.
How to Protect Yourself from Scams Targeting Renters
Be suspicious that the property or transaction could be a scam if:- The advertised price is much lower than that of similar properties.
- Ads for the property have grammatical and spelling errors, or overuse capital letters.
- The ad uses uncommon spellings of words, like "favour" instead of "favor."
- You can only work with an agent. The agent says that the owner is too busy, out of the country, or otherwise unavailable to handle the rental.
- The owner or agent requires you to sign the lease before you see the rental property.
- The owner or agent isn't able to let you enter the home or apartment or charges you a fee to view it.
- The owner or agent uses high-pressure sales tactics. They may urge you to rent quickly before someone else gets the property.
Do
- Learn the basics of how rental listing scams work.
- Get the terms of your rental in writing, including fees, rent, and maintenance.
- Get a copy of the lease, signed by both you and the property owner/manager.
- Do a search on the owner, real estate management company, and listing. If you find the same ad listed under a different name, that’s a clue it may be a scam.
- Visit real estate websites. See if the home you want to rent is also listed in another city. A scammer could have copied the photo or description of another rental to use in their ad.
- Learn how military families can avoid rental scams (PDF, Download Adobe Reader).
Don’t
- Don’t wire money as a deposit or payment for the first and last month's rent. Wiring money is the same as giving cash; you can't get a refund, even if you find out the offer was a fraud.
- Don’t give in to high-pressure sales tactics.
- Don’t pay a security deposit, fee, or first month’s rent before you’ve signed a lease.
- Don’t rent a property that you are unable to see before signing the agreement.
- Don’t send money for a rental overseas.
- Don’t give your personal information or Social Security number to a property owner without verifying their identity.
The listing details are vague.
They don't want to show you the place first.
They're ready to make a deal with no background info.
They're out of the country.
They want you to sign before seeing anything.
The asking rent doesn’t match up.
They instruct you to wire money.