The term "red flag" is now only used by the lazy, so we decided to draw your attention to this relevant phrase. Red flags can apply not only to the behavior of your potential partner or friend, but also to the real estate market. We offer to consider the most vivid examples of alarm bells and find out how to deal with them.
How to spot a fraudulent ad and protect yourself from it
Exactly one month ago we told you about fraudulent schemes when renting real estate One of these schemes is posting false ads. It is not always possible to recognize them at first glance, because insidious criminals know how to write an ad so that it looks professional and attracts the attention of even experienced home seekers. Fake ads appear quite often on popular sites. Also, particularly brazen fraudsters can send them directly to their potential victims in the form of phishing emails. Carefully examine each object to reveal hidden red flags:
- Don't trust phishing emails. Doubtful companies can hide behind the names of proven brands. We advise you not to follow the links, not to open the sent files and not to provide your contact information in response. If you are interested in the company and want to cooperate with it, visit its official website and call, send a message or leave a request in a special form. Then you will be sure that the same agency will contact you, and not its fake copy.
- Protect yourself and your data. Do not share photos of documents, bank card details, phone number and address with people you do not know. When you sign the rental agreement, the owner has every right to look at your passport to make sure that you are not fooling him, but before that no personal details should be made public, because they are simply not important.
- Doubtful links in the ads themselves are not worth your attention. It is obvious that criminals may be hiding behind them.
- Critically evaluate the content of the ad. Discrepancies between photos and text and too low prices should scare you. To make sure that the object really exists, check it in the Google search engine. It often happens that the apartment has either already been rented or does not exist at all, and they just decided to show you an attractive photo from a magazine.
- In no case do not hand over money before signing lease agreement. Also, do not agree to pay a deposit. Any monetary transactions should be accompanied by documents in which they are clearly recorded, and not by empty words and useless promises.
Use these simple tips to avoid becoming a victim of scammers. If you want to find quickly real estate for rent, do not hesitate to ask for help from those who ate the dog on this.
