How to avoid rental scams

A rental ad can look finished and still be a copy of someone else's place. The Federal Trade Commission describes two common patterns on its rental listing scams page.

One pattern is a copied listing. Someone takes the photos and the description from a real ad, swaps in their own contact details, and posts it somewhere else. You think you are writing to the landlord. You are writing to the copier.

The other pattern is a place that is not for rent, or that does not exist. The FTC says the pitch is often a low rent or a rush. The person may say they are out of the country. They may say the only way to hold the place is a wire transfer, a gift card, or cryptocurrency.

Checks that come from the FTC page

Search the address together with the owner or the company name. If other ads use the same address and a different owner, treat that as a warning. Open the rental company's own site and see whether the unit is listed there.

Search the owner or company name with the words complaint, review, or scam.

If the rent is far below other rents nearby, slow down. The FTC tells people to walk away when someone pushes a fast decision to lock a deal.

See the place before you pay. A friend can visit if you are not in town. The FTC also says a video is not proof the home is available. A copier can point you at a self-guided tour that a real landlord already set up. Ask for a business card from the company that owns or manages the building, and compare the person's ID with that card. For a private landlord, the FTC says to look up the owner on the city or county tax assessment site and compare that name with the ID.

Until you have agreed to rent, the FTC says a landlord does not need your Social Security number or a screenshot of a credit score. Many landlords pull a credit report themselves. They do not send you a link and tell you to buy the report.

If the only payment they will take is a wire through Western Union or MoneyGram, a gift card, or cryptocurrency, the FTC says that is a scam. That kind of payment is hard to get back.

Report a fake ad to the site that hosted it, to local police, and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

What verification on CraneBoard adds

A CraneBoard poster can earn an ID verified badge only after Stripe Identity sends a verified result for a document and a matching selfie. The steps are on How CraneBoard verification works.

That badge means the account passed that check. It does not mean the apartment is real, vacant, or priced fairly. Read the listing, run the FTC checks, and see the place. Use Report if the ad is bait.

Start with the city where you actually want to live: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Houston, or Miami.