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My cousin fell for a fake Zillow listing and almost lost a security deposit
I was at a family barbecue last weekend when my cousin pulled out her phone to show me the 'amazing house' she found to rent in Austin for only $800 a month. I looked closer and spotted the photos were stolen from a real estate site in Florida, and the landlord wanted a wire transfer before even showing the place. Have you ever caught a rental scam before someone sent money, and what tipped you off?
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miam7515d ago
@hunt.quinn caught my cousin too with the price being way too good to be true.
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tara_jones9414d ago
Oh man, that totally sucks for your cousin. It's wild how these scammers keep recycling the same tricks. Tell them to run a reverse image search on the photos next time because 9 times out of 10 they're stolen from a legit listing in another state. Also, if the person refuses to show the property in person or over a video call, that's a huge red flag. They need to report it to the FTC and the local police so maybe they can shut it down before it hooks someone else.
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Wait, were those real estate photos actually from a Florida listing? I saw a similar thing happen to my neighbor where the scammer used a house that had been sold years ago, but the photos were still floating around on some random site. It was the price that tipped him off too, like nobody's renting a 3 bedroom house for $800 in this market lol. Have you checked if the address actually exists in Austin or if it's just a vacant lot or something?
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