Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Crime

Scammers Exploit Home Rental Listings With 'Let Yourself In' Link (cbs46.com) 76

"American Homes For Rent is a publicly traded company that owns more than 50,000 properties," writes Slashdot reader McGruber -- calling our attention to a glaring security error. "Its website has a tab on its listings that says 'Let Yourself In.' If you click it, you are taken to Rently.com, a website that sells the lockbox codes to anyone for only $0.99." And those lockboxes contain a key to the vacant home being advertised.

But what's to stop a scammer from pretending that they're the home-owner, and then sending you the code for that same lockbox so you can tour "their" home -- before they then ask you to wire a deposit?

Ciarra McConnell was one of the scam's "several" unsuspecting victims, reports CBS46 in Atlanta: "The lockbox is what made it seem legitimate, and he gave me the key," said Ciarra. Once she got the key, the scammer emailed a phony lease. Ciarra then wired a $1,900 deposit and moved in. The next morning an American Homes For Rent employee was at her door. "They were just like yup, nope sorry we can't do anything for you but you need to get out," she explained.
The scammers post duplicates of real home listings on Craigslist -- and then ask to be paid through a bitcoin ATM.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Scammers Exploit Home Rental Listings With 'Let Yourself In' Link

Comments Filter:
  • by b0s0z0ku ( 752509 ) on Saturday May 04, 2019 @04:46PM (#58539346)
    American Homes for Rent seem like the kind of parasites who bought up thousands of homes after 2008, driving up rental prices. Someone should be buying up the codes for $0.99, then giving them to homeless people for free, giving them a roof over their head for however long it takes them to be evicted. Repeat as needed -- give them a dry place to sleep at Wall Street's expense.
    • by MrBrklyn ( 4775 )

      You have no idea who they are or even understand that article. Your just trolling the internet with hatred and spite.

      • I do know what they are -- the banks/FHFA gave REIT'ards like them a sweetheart deal on bulk foreclosed homes instead of just writing down the original occupants' debt. They're basically beneficiaries of large-scale corruption, and Ed DeMarco/Mel Watt should rot in prison for allowing it. Looking on the bright side, looks like good old Skelly is being hit with harassment charges...

        https://www.newsobserver.com/n... [newsobserver.com]

    • needed to use the codes. I suppose if you got the key for them, but pretty quickly they'd put cameras to catch you and you'd go to prison. You do not fuck with the ruling elite in this country. At least not yet [berniesanders.com].
      • Many do. A cell phone is considered a pretty vital resource among the homeless, and it's one of the last contacts they'll surrender, and one of the things their families will help them preserve if they can.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          Got to have a way to call the drug dealer after you make your $400 on the freeway exit.

          *Disclaimer: I grew up with an uncle who was homeless most of my life by choice. I grew up knowing all of the homeless in downtown Las Vegas.

          • your Uncle was mentally ill. That said, I'm guessing he did a lot of bad in his life. Crazy people do that. I've known a lot of them. Your Uncle wasn't making $400 down at the freeway unless he was dealing. Homeless folks make a little less than minimum wage. Seems like a good deal until you see what living homeless does to people.
            • Here this idiot comes telling me about my family. No, when he would pull his head out of his ass he could easily hold a job, and do damn well. He just DIDN'T WANT TO WORK... Are you really too stupid to understand that there are people in this world that would rather live poor and beg from people and mooch off of family than support their self? Then there are fucking morons like you who would probably give him 10 bucks every time you saw him. Want to know whats real funny. He was a bleeding heart liberal mu

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by mysidia ( 191772 )

      giving them to homeless people for free, giving them a roof over their head for however long it takes them to be evicted

      That's probably about 20min to remove the trespasser, and just a bit more time to get the person who "gave them the key" on a felony count per key.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      A better solution would be to hunt the homeless for sport. There is an entire industry there just waiting to be exploited. With the right management we could alleviate the homeless issue on the streets and create a very important revenue stream for communities. Win-Win.

  • A clue. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BitterOak ( 537666 ) on Saturday May 04, 2019 @04:48PM (#58539354)

    The scammers post duplicates of real home listings on Craigslist -- and then ask to be paid through a bitcoin ATM.

    Hint: When someone offers you a service and requires that you pay using bitcoin, that's a strong clue that something might be wrong and you should investigate more carefully before sending money.

    • Also, who the hell shows a rental property without a broker being present (or at least meeting with you once to see if you're not a scumbag)?
      • by Anonymous Coward

        If you have any doubt, ask a broker to meet you, heck ANY broker. I'm almost surprised brokers don't wait outside houses during the week when it's slow. It's how brokers get paid and not by the buyer/tenant.

      • Renting without a broker includes many sublets, especially summer sublets, who don't care to pay agent fees. The fake ads are mostly "I have to be out of the country", and their ads are often simply too good to pass up unless you're pre-warned and suspicious. Also, most of the ads on Craigslist are these frauds or ads for homes that never actually existed, but the ad links to a web-based subscription service for advertising homes. Someone responds pleasantly to the ad, but catfishes you to sign in on the we

      • by Ambvai ( 1106941 )

        I work as a real estate agent (among my many hats) and I don't think I've ever met the other party's broker in almost ten years of being in the field. Hell, I've never even met my broker, and she's only about twenty minutes away.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Inquire about a rental online? Sure
      Get lockbox code online? Sure
      Go open lockbox? Sure
      Tour obviously empty house? Sure
      Wire Bitcoin, gift cards, or cash to ghostly person? No, that's where sensible people don't go

    • Real sellers will always accept Target or iTunes gift cards as payment.

  • But I'm not sure I understand how this scheme actually works. Are they saying I (or any random person) can go to this rently.com, pay 99 cents and actually get an entry code for any of their properties? I don't have a lot of faith in people's intelligence but I guess even I have a hard time believing anyone could design a system quite that badly.

    • Maybe it was deliberate -- after all, a lot of homeless people need access to a roof over their heads for $30 per month ... think of it as karmic payback for Wall Streeters like American Homes taking advantage of the 2008 crisis.
    • My guess is the scheme involves putting your own lockbox on a house that you know is vacant. You can then "list" it on Rently.

    • Scamming the scammer (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Instead of sending a real person out to show you the property they give you the key to let yourself in. So far so good, the property is empty anyway.

      But how do you know the person who sent you the passcode to get to the is actually the owner? Well, you could verify it. But this scam (like almost all scams) depends on people acting hastily when they think they're getting a deal that's too good to be true.

      The bitcoin angle is also typical of a scam. It makes you suspect the landlord is cheating somehow, may

    • If you watch the video in the linked article, it explains it very well.

      • If you watch the video in the linked article, it explains it very well.

        Okay, I watched the video... and basically the system really is that stupid. You pay 99 cents, they'll give you the lockbox code.

        Holy crap, even given my very low expectations I was overestimating them!

  • by Anonymous Coward

    General rule of them, if someone asks for bitcoin or gift cards, especially for a transaction that almost always uses a check or credit card, then it’s for nefarious reasons.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    "The scammers post duplicates of real home listings on Craigslist -- and then ask to be paid through a bitcoin ATM."

    Greatest applications of bitcoin:
    Helping all kinds of scams & ransomware!!!
    Helping all kinds of Dark Web transactions!!!
    Helping money laundering!!!

    Maybe its because bitcoin itself is the greatest global financial scam???

  • by Dereck1701 ( 1922824 ) on Saturday May 04, 2019 @07:11PM (#58539742)

    Why is this still a thing? I thought it was common knowledge that pretty much any stranger asking you to wire money to them was a scam/fraud. Meet them in person, ask for ID and pay with a certified check. If you want to cover yourselves more the owner/renter should take the rental/lease agreement down to their recorders/register of deeds office and get it notarized and recorded. These steps won't stop all scams/fraud, but they do make them a lot more difficult for the scammer.

    • (In the US.) In Europe, paying for things like property rental with a bank wire or instant transfer is normal.
      • But I'm still guessing signing a lease and sending that money still doesn't happen before the property is examined, any pre-existing damage is noted, etc.

  • by vlad30 ( 44644 ) on Saturday May 04, 2019 @08:10PM (#58539944)
    the person doing this is connected to "American Homes For Rent" in some way
  • You've got a signed lease, make them prove it's a fraud. The cops may well refuse to remove you from the property without going through eviction proceedings. If enough people do this, then there will be repercussions for these assholes. Otherwise, it will just go on forever.

    • You've got a signed lease, make them prove it's a fraud.

      That's actually pretty simple - if the other party on the lease is not the owner of the property or his agent, then it's not a valid lease. In the U.S. anyway, finding the actual property owners is pretty easy (for the vast majority of states I can do it from my phone while standing outside the front door), and even if an agent's name is on the lease, the cop can almost certainly find out from the comfort of his car if he actually gives a damn about

Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.

Working...