‘Scammers are cashing in on renters’
As college students scramble to find off-campus housing at the last minute, FBI Boston and local police are sounding the alarm about too-good-to-be-true rental scams in the region’s highly competitive real estate market.
Authorities are urging renters to be vigilant while responding to rental properties and real-estate online, stressing that this is a peak season for rental scams — which last year cost 290 reported victims in Massachusetts a total of nearly $9 million.
Just recently in Cambridge, for example, police reported that they helped take down a fraudulent rental property listing from Craigslist.
The rental was listed as a brand new one-bedroom apartment with a balcony in Central Square for $1,800 a month. However, with rental rates climbing, the average rate for a one-bedroom rental in Cambridge is about $3,000 a month.
A Cambridge Police detective investigated the posting, determined that it was a scam, and notified Craigslist and the actual leasing office of the fraud. The resident did not end up transferring any money over to the scammer.
“We have seen a significant increase in the amount of money being lost by people who are desperate for a good deal,” said Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston division. “Scammers are cashing in on renters who need to act quickly for fear of missing out, and it’s costing consumers thousands of dollars, and in some cases, leaving them stranded.”
Nationwide last year, 11,578 people reported losing more than $350 million due to these types of scams, a 64% increase from the previous year. In the FBI Boston division — including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine — 415 victims reported more than $13 million in losses, a 27% jump.
One of those victims was a Rhode Island man who had responded to an online ad for a Cambridge apartment requiring the first and last month’s rent, along with a security deposit. The man was told that he would not be given the keys and could not access the apartment until the $6,000 check cleared the bank.
As soon as that happened, he made an appointment to collect the keys but no one answered the door. After calling and texting the purported owner, the victim received a text that stated, “You got scammed, do not text this phone anymore.”
Residents and students who are looking for apartments should think twice before they send money to someone they don’t know, police warn.
“If possible, potential residents should call and verify the property is available if the property is owned by a company, check their sources, drive by the property, and meet the property manager at the property,” Cambridge Police said in a statement.
The vacancy rate for residential rental properties in the U.S. is at its lowest point in 38 years. A new report from HelpAdvisor found that only 2.8% of all Boston rental units are vacant, which is the ninth lowest percentage out of 75 major cities.
