Finding an apartment or house to rent that’s safe, affordable, and near amenities you want can be hard for anyone. Folks in the LGBTQ+ community often use community groups on social media to find housing rentals, and people often assume that what’s posted is vetted and safe for community members. But scammers post in these groups, too. Here are ways to spot and avoid rental scams.
We’ve heard about these rental scams happening two ways: scammers use legitimate rental listings but claim to be the landlord (but they’re not), or they make up listings for places that either aren’t for rent or don’t actually exist. Whether they use a real address with real pictures or make something up, it can be hard to spot a scam listing — especially if you’re coming from outside the area. In both cases, the scammer will rush you into paying an application fee, deposit, and/or first month’s rent, and promise to get you the keys right away — but instead, they’ll disappear. And you’ll be left without your money and with no place to move into.
To avoid rental scams:
Also, nobody legit will ever say you can only pay by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. That’s a sure sign of a scam.
Spot a rental scam? Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
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