{"id":68800,"date":"2020-11-16T09:52:59","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T14:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=68800"},"modified":"2020-11-16T09:52:59","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T14:52:59","slug":"pandemic-boosts-the-popularity-of-online-rental-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=68800","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Boosts the Popularity of Online Rental Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More crooks scrape your for-sale or for-rent ads, change contact info and try to scam renters out of money \u2013 a crime tactic that works even better during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The number of online rental scams has increased since the pandemic started, largely because the inability to see an apartment or home before moving in raises fewer red flags in the era of social distancing.<\/p>\n

Local authorities, Better Business Bureau\u2019s local offices, and real estate companies warn renters looking for apartments to be extra diligent in their search and educate themselves on how to protect against rental scams \u2013 but the scammers still sometimes succeed.<\/p>\n

The scam isn\u2019t difficult to pull off. Criminals find active listings for homes either for sale or for rent and copy them. They then re-post the ads as rentals and change a few details, such as a contact name for more information. In general, they post a rental price notably below comparable area rentals to create angst in excited renters who want to move quickly. In fact, a price that\u2019s too good to be true is the first red flag renters should consider.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Signs that an ad might be a scam include: typos or excessive punctuation, a request to wire money up-front without signing a contract and\/or the absence of any type of screening process. In some cases, the scammers aren\u2019t trying to get a deposit or rent upfront; instead, they require money for a pre-payment credit check, which should raise suspicion if it gets paid through a referral link.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To avoid scams, renters should look for verified listings, which come directly from property managers or owners. Additionally, renters can do a reverse Google search using one of the photos from the listing. The search results should show any other websites where that image appears.<\/p>\n

Even during the pandemic, it\u2019s important to visit the apartment in-person, which can be a self-guided tour. Many property managers will also conduct virtual apartment tours for prospective renters, but even then, it\u2019s still advisable to visit the apartment and community in person.<\/p>\n

To help other renters and the community, renters who discover fraudulent listings should report them to the proper authorities who can investigate and resolve the issue, including the\u00a0Federal Trade Commission<\/a>, the\u00a0Internet Crime Complaint Center<\/a>, as well as local law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

RentCafe.com also created a\u00a0guide for renters<\/a>\u00a0navigating the sea of online real estate ads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concerns renters have when navigating through rental ads \u2013 especially now as apartment-hunting is largely conducted online \u2013 prompted us to create this comprehensive guide with all they need to know about scams,\u201d says Esther Bonardi, vice president of marketing at Yardi.<\/p>\n

By Kerry Smith<\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More crooks scrape your for-sale or for-rent ads, change contact info and try to scam renters out of money \u2013 a crime tactic that works even better during the pandemic. The number of online rental scams has increased since the pandemic started, largely because the inability to see an apartment or home before moving in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68800"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68803,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68800\/revisions\/68803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}