From The Better Business Bureau of Central Virginia:
The place seems like a dream come true: the right space, the right location, the right price. But does the rental actually exist? A new in-depth investigative study by the International Association of Better Business Bureaus (IABBB) finds that fraud is widespread in the online rental home and vacation rental market, with 43% of online shoppers encountering a fake listing and millions of consumers losing money to such scam.
“Is That Rental Listing Real? A BBB Study of Rental Scams Involving Apartments, Houses and Vacation Properties,” notes that 15% of consumers encountering fake rental listings fall for them. These figures suggest that the volume of rental scams lurking on the internet is staggering. Read the full study here.
The most common form of rental scam is when fraudsters simply copy the photo and description of a property, post it online with their own contact information, and try to get a deposit and first month’s rent from the victim. The fraudster may communicate only by email or text message and will offer excuses as to why he/she is unavailable to show the property. Once the victim sends money, the fraudster disappears.
“An advertised rental at a great price might be tempting, but it may be a scam,” said Barry N. Moore, President of BBB serving Central Virginia. “Consumers shouldn’t be rushed into paying upfront fees without first seeing the property. Take time to verify,” Moore added.
BBB Scam Tracker has received more than 1,300 reports of rental fraud from 2016 to 2019. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that through the first 10 months of 2019, $37 million has been identified in “rent” losses.
For more information go to BBB.org to view a business’ BBB Business Profile, including complaints and reviews, or to file a complaint or report a scam on Scam Tracker. You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint or by calling 877-FTC-HELP and/or file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
BBB serving Central Virginia serves Richmond, the Tri-Cities, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg, as well as 42 surrounding counties from Fauquier to Mecklenburg and Northumberland to Amherst. The nonprofit organization was established in 1954 to advance responsible, honest, and ethical business practices and to promote customer confidence through self-regulation of business. Core services of BBB include business profiles, dispute resolution, truth-in advertising, consumer and business education, and charity review.
