Rental scams usually involve fake rental listings

Source: Rental Housing Journal

FTC Says Consumers Have Lost Millions to Rental Scams

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says consumers have lost millions to rental scams and that people ages 18-29 were three times more likely to report losing money than other adults, according to a release.

The analysis from the FTC shows that since 2020, consumers reported nearly 65,000 rental scams, many of which originated from fake listings on sites such as Facebook and Craigslist, and with losses totaling about $65 million.

Rental scams usually involve fake rental listings, which can often look very real and copy information from legitimate listings but are posted with the scammer’s contact information on different sites, according to the FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight.

Many of these ads are found on social media sites. In fact, the FTC found that about half of people who reported a rental scam in the 12 months ending June 2025 said the scam originated with a fake ad on Facebook.

People ages 18 to 29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam.

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Reports show these rental scams can take different forms including:

• Scammers pressure consumers to provide money upfront before seeing the rental property in person.
• Scammers push consumers to prove they are creditworthy by sending screenshots of their credit scores. They send consumers affiliate links to websites to sign up for a credit check for little cost, but this may enroll the consumer in a paid membership with recurring fees.
• Scammers collect personal information from consumers such as their Social Security number, driver’s license or pay stubs to steal their identity.

Some ways to help avoid rental scams include searching for the rental address online to see if the same property is listed with different prices, contact information, or is listed as being for sale. Consumers should also avoid sharing personal information until they have agreed to rent a property.

In addition, consumers should check out typical rents. If the advertised rent of a listing is much cheaper than rents for similar rentals in the same area, that could be a sign of a scam.

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