Looking for a place to rent? Beware of this common scam
A Bellingham resident searching for a place to live nearly got caught in a rental scam and reported it to police, who said it’s a common kind of fraud and apartment-hunters should learn to be wary.
A potential tenant sought to rent a house in the 4600 block of Bedford Avenue in the Cordata neighborhood, according to the Bellingham Police Department’s online activity reports from Thursday, Dec. 8.
An ad for the apartment required a cash deposit, payable through an online app, simply to see the unit for rent, Police Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald.
“If the cash is sent (usually requested via a cash app) the potential renter never hears back, and the cash is gone. When the potential renter investigates the matter (they) usually find that the specified apartment/house was not even for rent,” Murphy said.
“Folks are desperate to get into apartments and will provide the ‘deposit’ just to be on a list to be shown the apartment, which is ultimately not even for rent. It is a variation on the vacation rental scam, where people try to book a vacation week, only to discover the apartment is not an Airbnb or VRBO, but an occupied residence,” she said in an email.
In this case, the would-be tenant’s bank stopped the transaction because of a fraud alert, Murphy said.
This story was originally published December 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
