Never send a deposit to someone you have not met.
Rental scams are the easiest fraud to run and among the hardest to recover from, because the money usually goes by a method that cannot be reversed. The good news is that they follow a pattern, and one check stops most of them before anything is lost.
How a rental scam actually runs.
Almost every one follows these five steps. If you recognize your own situation partway down this list, stop before you send anything.
Photos, description, and address are lifted from a genuine listing somewhere else, often one that is actually for sale rather than for rent.
What to watch for: the same photos appearing elsewhere online at a different price or under a different name.
Usually twenty percent or more under comparable units. The low price is the bait and it is what makes people move quickly.
What to watch for: a rent that seems like a lucky break for a property in that condition.
Out of state for work, overseas on a mission, recently relocated, dealing with a family emergency. The reason changes and the effect does not.
What to watch for: any story that ends with the keys being mailed to you.
Other applicants are interested, the deposit holds it, they need an answer today. You are asked to decide before you can check anything.
What to watch for: pressure to pay before you have seen the inside or read a lease.
Wire transfer, cash app, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or cash. These are chosen specifically because there is no reversal.
What to watch for: any payment method that is not a check or ACH from an account you control.
Find out who actually owns the property.
Ownership is public record in every county in the country. If the person collecting your deposit has no connection to the owner on record, you have found the scam before it cost you anything.
- Look up the address with the county assessor or recorder where the property sits. It is free and takes a couple of minutes.
- Compare the owner name on record to the name of the person you are dealing with.
- If they say they manage it for the owner, ask for the owner's name before you look. Then check whether it matches.
- A property management company should be findable, licensed where your state requires it, and reachable at a number you looked up yourself.
A name that does not match is not proof of fraud on its own, since properties change hands and are held in trusts and companies. It is a reason to slow down and ask questions before any money moves.
Seven things to confirm before you pay.
Tick each one as you go. The first four are the ones that matter most. When you are done, generate a Rental Verification Record — a record you keep for yourself of the steps you took.
Step 1 · Property details
These appear on your printed Rental Verification Record. Only the address is required.
Step 2 · Your checklist
Tick each item as you confirm it.
This is a checklist you fill in yourself. It is a record of the steps you took, not a background check on the landlord and not legal advice. Consider consulting a HUD-approved housing counselor before paying a large deposit.
Paste what they sent you.
Our free Message Scanner describes, in plain language, what looks wrong with it. No account required.
This describes what it observes. It does not determine whether a message is fraudulent, and a clean result is not a reason to skip the checks above.
You have already sent money.
Do this today. Some of it only works in the first day or two, and none of it requires you to understand what happened first.
- 1Call your bank or the payment provider now. Say the payment was obtained by fraud and ask what can be stopped or reversed. Write down who you spoke to and any reference number.
- 2Do not send anything else. Not a smaller amount, not a fee to release the keys, not a payment to a new account. A second request is the same scheme continuing.
- 3Keep everything. The listing, the messages, the phone number, the payment confirmation, and any name or address you were given. Screenshot the listing before it disappears.
- 4File with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and with the FBI at ic3.gov. Both are free and take a few minutes.
- 5File a local police report. They rarely recover the money, but the report number is often required by banks and payment providers.
- 6Report the listing to the site it appeared on, so it comes down before it catches someone else.
- 7Contact your state attorney general's consumer protection office. Rental fraud is squarely within what they handle.
If a deposit for housing has left you unable to make rent or a mortgage payment, a HUD-approved housing counselor can help at no cost. They are listed by state on hud.gov.