This guide will help all travelers protect themselves from online housing scams. Whether you travel for work, study, or need to temporarily relocate, it’s important to stay alert and informed when searching for housing online. Scammers target anyone looking for rentals by creating fake listings or pretending to be legitimate landlords. The risks are real, but with the right information and habits, you can keep your money and personal information safe. Online housing fraud may never completely go away, but when we work together, we can take steps to ensure our site is as safe as possible.
Not a traveler?... See how to protect yourself from online housing scams as a landlord (opens in new tab).
There are a variety of scams, but the three most used are 1. the fake ad, 2. the spoof ad, and 3. the identity-theft ad. The fake ad is easier to spot than others, but can still be dangerously effective. A spoof ad is a copy of a legitimate ad, except they lower the price and change the contact information. Even harder to spot, the identity-theft ad is where the scammer assumes the identity of the property's real owner. No matter the scam, they all have one thing in common: they want you to send money to secure the unit.
An initial property sweep to check on the status of the property with the county.
Encourage property owners to go through an additional optional verification process (extra cost). If verified, their listing displays an 'owner verification' badge.
Warn users to never wire money.
Immediately review reported listings and remove them if deemed inappropriate.
Monitor internal communication for common words and phrases used by scammers.
Report known bad actors and fully support law enforcement investigations of fraud.
Conduct independent investigations of suspicious listings and pursue legal action when possible.
Educate yourself and your colleagues about common scams and recognize the red flags.
If something feels off or you suspect a scam, report the listing (opens in new tab) right away. Include screenshots of any messages or emails so we can review and take action.
Is the price better than anything else on the market?
This is almost always used by scammers to entice more people to their ad, and then they prey on your fear of losing out on a seemingly great deal.
Never Ever Wire Funds.
Scammers will always ask you for money to secure the unit, and they prefer wires because you have absolutely no way to get the money back after you send it.
Dramatic story time.
They're managing it for an ill family member who had to travel abroad to seek medical care... or something like that. Don't engage. Just ghost them.
Weird communication hours.
The reason a lot of their stories involve them overseas is because they are. If you see a lot of their communication happening in the middle of the night, it could be a red flag.
Can't meet in person.
They may schedule a showing, but a scammer will never show up. Most of the time, they just lay on the excuses why they can't show it (out of town saving babies, going to seminary school, or the ill-father routine).
Frequent misspellings.
This should be self-explanatory, but one thing is if they spell words the European way such as "Centre", "Colour", "Labour", "Honour". One more thing we've seen is the use of the word, "revert" for the word "reply". ex. "I'll revert after I receive a confirmation from the bank." Likewise, if they put the +1 country code in front of their local phone number, this may also be something to be suspicious of.
Claim that they're "with Furnished Finder".
Short story...They're not. We're never part of any booking or lease between traveler and property owner.
Double-check who owns the property using public records, if available. If names or details don’t match what the landlord or agent provides, investigate further. Sometimes records are out of date or the property is managed by a company, but always look for logical explanations.
Scammers create urgency by pricing a ‘really good deal’ under market value, which does something to your brain...and depending on how urgently you need to secure housing, some are willing to do almost anything to protect this ‘great deal’ before anyone else gets it. They count on this response and will exploit your situation to use it against you. Don’t let it happen to you.
They want to be in competitive markets so they can attract a lot of people to their ad, stand out in a crowd (as they’re typically $500-1000 less than other comparable properties), and have a high enough price point to get the highest possible deposit out of you.
Use Google Image Search (images.google.com (opens in new tab)) to check if listing photos appear elsewhere online. If you find the same photos on unrelated websites, it’s likely a scam.