CHICAGO – A homeowner on the city’s north side fell victim to an online rental scam when people showed up at her house asking to tour it.
Last fall, Rosaleen McSwiney moved into her home in the Sauganash neighborhood, and until last week, things were relatively quiet.
“A man came to the door and asked me through the screen if the house was for rent,” McSwiney said. “Then on Saturday, a few days ago, someone else showed up.”
When several potential tenants showed up at her door, she realized that a scammer was at work.
“About half an hour later, another couple showed up. They told me the person was asking for a $50 registration fee for each person living in the household,” McSwiney recalled.
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The person behind the scam created a fake rental listing on Facebook Marketplace, pretending to be the owner of the property and asking for $1,700 per month.
“I bought this house in November. He took the pictures from the listing and made a post out of them and also did a virtual tour,” McSwiney said. “It looked so authentic. I think it’s horrible.”
A prospective tenant asked the alleged scammer if he could view the property in person. The scammer, who posed as “Diego” and used a New Jersey phone number, told them that the current residents would not be moving out until August 15.
“Diego” then instructed the potential tenant to look at the property from the outside to “get a feel for the neighborhood.”
“I felt scared and hurt, and I feel so sorry for the people who fell for it because when they came to my house and found it wasn’t for rent, they were really disappointed,” McSwiney said.
Real estate experts provide warning signs and tips to prevent other potential renters from falling for similar scams.
Potential renters should first look for grammatical errors in posts. In the case of McSwiney’s house, which was falsely offered for rent, the post contained several errors.
Second, beware of newly created Facebook profiles that either have no photos or few friends.
Also, be wary of low prices that seem too good to be true, and never provide personal banking or social security information in a rental application without meeting the owner or property manager in person.
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In this case, the scammer asked potential renters to send him the $50 application fee via Zelle or PayPal.
Meanwhile, McSwiney reported the post on Facebook as a scam and it was soon removed, but resurfaced twice. She also reported it to Chicago police and the Federal Trade Commission.
You can find more warnings and tips from real estate experts here.
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