Online Housing Scams Target Renters
By: Brittney Johnson, KARK 4 News
Updated: August 3, 2011
Many people are looking to rent instead of buying a house in this economy, but some are finding online deals that could end up costing them a lot of money.
Online house-hunting can be get pretty complicated, just ask Amy Darling, she's moving to Little Rock from Texas.
Darling said, "It's hard to look at places when you're not here so it's good if there's pictures but it's better to see it in person."
She's relied on the website Craigslist for years but it hasn't always turned up gems, like this one on Ash Street.
"I've looked at a lot of places in this area and I've actually encountered the same person on two occasions who claim to be in Africa and leasing a house that seemed too good to be true and it was," said Darling.
Among normal listings are scams. People copy and paste information from real listings, offer a low, enticing price, and wait for eager renters to click.
Jane and David Dunn from Missouri came across one while looking to move to Little Rock to be closer to their granddaughter.
In a phone interview, Jane Dunn said, "I guess I'm a little gullible. The woman, she sounded like a nice christian person. She was working for a mission and we're christian people."
Dunn says she emailed and received a response from a woman claiming she was renting a cozy three bedroom house for $600 a month. The problem is, the home is for sale by Crye-Leike. The Crye-Leike regional office manager was unaware of the fake of posting.
The same photos were used for fake listings in Florida and the same language used in the email response is posted onto websites alerting the public to scams.
Remax Rental Property manager Heather Massey says she's seen people copy her rental listings.
Massey said "We had a lady not too long ago call and say she was at Western Union and she was sending money for property, but I told her that the property was no longer available it was already rented."
She says scammers even pose as fake renters interested in learning more about a listing, so they can beef up their fake advertisement, another reason people on both sides should be aware.
"People just need to look at it and go back to the old saying, if it looks too good to be true it probably is," said Massey.
Rental managers say people should make sure the prices offered online fit with the rest of the area. Also, if people aren't willing to speak to you over the phone or in-person, that should be a red flag and you can flag scams on Craigslist.
The Dunn family is thankful they noticed before it was too late.
Online house-hunting can be get pretty complicated, just ask Amy Darling, she's moving to Little Rock from Texas.
Darling said, "It's hard to look at places when you're not here so it's good if there's pictures but it's better to see it in person."
She's relied on the website Craigslist for years but it hasn't always turned up gems, like this one on Ash Street.
"I've looked at a lot of places in this area and I've actually encountered the same person on two occasions who claim to be in Africa and leasing a house that seemed too good to be true and it was," said Darling.
Among normal listings are scams. People copy and paste information from real listings, offer a low, enticing price, and wait for eager renters to click.
Jane and David Dunn from Missouri came across one while looking to move to Little Rock to be closer to their granddaughter.
In a phone interview, Jane Dunn said, "I guess I'm a little gullible. The woman, she sounded like a nice christian person. She was working for a mission and we're christian people."
Dunn says she emailed and received a response from a woman claiming she was renting a cozy three bedroom house for $600 a month. The problem is, the home is for sale by Crye-Leike. The Crye-Leike regional office manager was unaware of the fake of posting.
The same photos were used for fake listings in Florida and the same language used in the email response is posted onto websites alerting the public to scams.
Remax Rental Property manager Heather Massey says she's seen people copy her rental listings.
Massey said "We had a lady not too long ago call and say she was at Western Union and she was sending money for property, but I told her that the property was no longer available it was already rented."
She says scammers even pose as fake renters interested in learning more about a listing, so they can beef up their fake advertisement, another reason people on both sides should be aware.
"People just need to look at it and go back to the old saying, if it looks too good to be true it probably is," said Massey.
Rental managers say people should make sure the prices offered online fit with the rest of the area. Also, if people aren't willing to speak to you over the phone or in-person, that should be a red flag and you can flag scams on Craigslist.
The Dunn family is thankful they noticed before it was too late.
