How to Protect Yourself From Rental Scams

Rental scams are surging across the United States, and the numbers are staggering. According to the FTC, nearly 65,000 rental scams have been reported since 2020, costing victims a collective $65 million -- with a median loss of $1,000 per person. The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report puts total real estate fraud at $275 million. Young adults aged 18 to 29 are three times more likely to lose money to these schemes, often because they are searching for their first apartment and may not recognize the warning signs. Here is how to protect yourself.

How Rental Scams Work

Rental scams exploit the urgency of today's housing market. The basic formula: create a convincing fake listing, collect money or personal information, and disappear. Roughly half of all rental scams originate on Facebook Marketplace, with another 16% starting on Craigslist. Scammers copy real photos from Zillow, Realtor.com, and other legitimate listing sites, then repost them at below-market prices. The listing looks real because the photos are real -- they just belong to a different property or a different owner.

The Most Common Types of Rental Scams

Fake Listings

Scammers create listings for properties they do not own or that do not exist, using stolen photos and convincing descriptions. When you express interest, they pressure you to send a deposit or first month's rent before you can tour the property.

Wire Fraud and Untraceable Payments

Once a scammer has your interest, they demand payment through methods that are nearly impossible to reverse: wire transfers, gift cards, Zelle, Venmo, or cryptocurrency. Legitimate landlords accept checks or standard payment platforms that offer buyer protections. If someone insists on an untraceable payment method, walk away immediately.

Identity Theft Through Fake Applications

Some scammers are not after your rent money -- they want your identity. They create professional-looking rental applications that ask for your Social Security number, date of birth, bank account information, and copies of your ID. With this data, they can open credit accounts in your name or sell your identity on the dark web.

Credit Check Scams

A scammer posing as a landlord asks you to run a credit check through a specific website they control. You pay for the "credit check," and the scammer collects both your money and your personal information.

Lockbox Scams

The scammer tells you the property is available for a self-guided tour using a lockbox code. You arrive, tour the home (which may be vacant, for sale, or between tenants), and believe it is a legitimate rental. The scammer then collects a deposit for a property they have no authority to rent.

Red Flags That a Rental Listing Is a Scam

• Below-market pricing: If the rent is significantly lower than comparable units in the same area, treat it as a warning sign, not a lucky find.
• Pressure to pay before viewing: Any landlord who asks for a deposit, application fee, or first month's rent before you have seen the property in person is almost certainly running a scam.
• Refusal to meet in person: The "landlord" claims to be out of town, overseas, or otherwise unavailable to show the property. They may offer excuses like military deployment, missionary work, or a family emergency.
• Wire transfer or gift card demands: Legitimate landlords do not ask for payment via wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or peer-to-peer apps with no buyer protection.
• Poor grammar and generic communication: Many scam messages still contain awkward phrasing, inconsistent details, or copy-paste language that does not match the listing.
• No lease or a suspicious lease: The landlord avoids providing a formal lease, or the lease contains vague terms and details that do not match the listing.
• Request for sensitive information upfront: Asking for your Social Security number or bank account details before you have verified the property and the landlord is a major red flag.

How to Verify a Rental Listing Is Legitimate

1. Check county assessor records: Look up the property on your county assessor's website to confirm who actually owns it. If the person you are dealing with is not the owner and cannot provide proof of authorization to rent the property, do not proceed.
2. Verify the landlord's identity: If they claim to be a licensed real estate agent or property manager, verify their license through your state's real estate licensing board.
3. Reverse image search the photos: Right-click on listing photos and search Google Images or use TinEye to see if those photos appear on other listing sites under a different address or owner. This is one of the fastest ways to catch a fake listing.
4. Insist on an in-person tour: Never rent a property sight unseen. During the tour, confirm the address matches, the unit is as described, and the person showing it can demonstrate legitimate access.
5. Never share your SSN before confirming legitimacy: A legitimate landlord will not need your Social Security number until you have toured the property and are working with a verified entity.
6. Cross-reference the listing: Search for the property address on multiple platforms. If it appears on Zillow as a for-sale listing but someone is advertising it as a rental on Facebook, that is a strong indicator of fraud.

How Data Brokers Help Scammers Target You

Scammers do not pick their victims at random. Before contacting you, a scammer can visit sites like Spokeo, Whitepages, and BeenVerified and build a detailed profile of you in under 10 minutes -- your full name, age, address, phone number, email, estimated income, and family members. Armed with this information, they craft targeted pitches that reference your neighborhood, employer, or family situation to build trust. The more personal data available about you online, the more convincing the scam becomes.

PrivacyOn removes your personal information from over 100 data broker sites, cutting off the pipeline of data that scammers rely on to research and target their victims. With continuous monitoring and re-removal, PrivacyOn ensures your information stays off these sites even as brokers re-collect it. When scammers cannot find your details, they move on to easier targets.

What to Do If You Have Been Scammed

If you have already sent money or shared personal information with a rental scammer, act immediately:

1. Contact your bank or payment provider: Request a recall or dispute immediately. Some banks can freeze funds if you act within hours.
2. Report to the FTC: File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. This helps federal agencies track scam patterns and take enforcement action.
3. File a complaint with the FBI's IC3: Report the fraud at ic3.gov, especially if the scam involved wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or significant financial loss.
4. Report to local police: File a police report. You may need this documentation for insurance claims or to dispute fraudulent accounts.
5. Place fraud alerts on your credit reports: Contact Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to place fraud alerts or credit freezes. This prevents scammers from opening new accounts using your stolen information.
6. Monitor your accounts: Watch your bank statements and credit reports closely for unauthorized activity in the following weeks and months.

The Bottom Line

Rental scams succeed because they exploit urgency, trust, and the sheer volume of legitimate listings that people sift through every day. The best defense is a combination of skepticism and verification: never send money before seeing a property in person, always confirm ownership through public records, and protect your personal information from the data brokers that help scammers find and target you. A few minutes of due diligence can save you thousands of dollars and months of headache recovering from fraud.