Tenant Prospects Being Scammed Before they Apply!

[Drew Sygit]

In the last 3 months we've had several prospects send us proof that someone we don't know, contacted them about a property we manage. The scammer either:

Claims they work for us and our systems are down forcing them to use their cell phone

or claims they are the property owner and have terminated us because we couldn't find a tenant for them.

They ask for either half a month or a full month of rent upfront, via Venmo, to schedule a MoveIn, but don't really ask for any documentation.

These prospects aren't even in our software systems yet and all the correspondence is via text. So, somehow the scammers are getting their cell number.

The only way we can imagine this is happening is if the scammer has access to Z****w leads or similar. Prospect sees our property ad on the 3rd party wesbite, clicks on contact an agent and the scammer gets their phone number.

Any other landlords experiencing anything like this?

[Nathan Gesner]

Not that exact scam, but something similar. Two months ago a guy showed up at my office with a truck full of family and a large trailer full of belongings. He moved from Kentucky to Wyoming, pulled up in front of the house he rented online, and learned it was already occupied by one of my renters. My renter pointed him to my office. I didn't have any other properties available to move his family into, and he didn't have any money because he spent $4,000 on this fake rental. He went back to Kentucky.

The interesting part was when he showed me the pictures from online. Every picture we use is watermarked with our company name and phone number. The "landlord" on the other end of the line told him we originally listed it, but he fired us and decided to look for his own renter. The applicant never bothered to call us and verify.

It is sad to see scammers take advantage of people and steal like this. Our government pours so much money into new laws aimed at landlords, but they don't do anything to go after the real thieves.