Is this rental listing genuine?

Rental scams target people who are new to a city or still overseas. They follow a familiar pattern, so they are easy to avoid once you know it.

How rental scams work

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US consumer protection agency, describes the usual pattern:

1. The scammer copies photos from a real listing and advertises the home for rent, often below the going rate
2. They say they are the owner but are out of the country, or give another excuse for not showing you inside
3. They push you to decide quickly and ask for an application fee, deposit or first month’s rent to “hold” it
4. They ask you to pay by wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency or a payment app, which are hard or impossible to reverse

The FTC says about half of people who reported a rental scam in the year to June 2025 said it started with a fake ad on Facebook, and another 16% with a fake listing on Craigslist. People aged 18 to 29 were three times as likely as other adults to report losing money. Most scams are never reported, so the real numbers are higher.

Warning signs

• Rent well below similar homes nearby
• Excuses for why you can’t see inside or meet in person
• Pressure to pay quickly to beat other applicants
• Payment only by wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency or a payment app
• Other ads for the same address with a different owner or company name. Search the address together with the owner’s or company’s name
• The home isn’t on the rental company’s own website
• Requests for your Social Security number or bank details before you’ve seen the home

Check who you’re dealing with

Real estate agents and brokers need a state licence, and every state has a free online search. A landlord renting their own home doesn’t need one, so also check who owns the property: many counties publish property ownership records online.

Then call the agency or management company on a number from its own website, not the one in the ad or message, and ask whether the listing and the person are real.

Pay the right way

• See inside first, in person or by live video with someone you’ve checked. If you can’t, ask a friend to go for you, or keep looking
• Read and sign a written lease before paying a deposit or rent
• Pay by credit card if you can: the FTC says it gives you the most protection. Otherwise use the management company’s own payment portal or a cheque, and get a receipt
• Check the deposit is within your state’s limit: see Deposits, leases and bills
• Keep copies of the ad, every message and every receipt

Booking from the UK

Scammers target people who can’t see a home in person. If you must arrange something before you fly, book a short let through a platform with payment protection, or corporate housing arranged by your employer. Search for your long-term home once you land: see Finding a place to rent. If a friend or a relocation agent views a home for you, have them meet the agent and see inside.

If you’ve been scammed

1. Call your bank, card company or payment app straight away and ask them to stop or reverse the payment
2. If you shared your Social Security number, ID or bank details, use IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC’s identity theft site, and see Building a credit score on protecting your credit file
3. Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general
4. Report it to your local police and to the website that ran the ad. Online fraud can also be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)