BROOKINGS – Brookings Police are warning people to be aware of rental scams after receiving a report of one.
The scam was reported around noon Wednesday, Assistant Police Chief Joe Fishbaugher said.
“Anything online, you gotta be very cautious,” he said.
Scammers will visit sites with residential listings for rent or sale, and “they’ll take pictures off the Realtor website and put them on Craigslist” advertising the house for rent with their contact information, Fishbaugher said.
An unsuspecting victim will contact them about the property.
“They’ll email each other contracts, sign it, and then (the scammer will) say, ‘I need a $1,000 deposit.’ Then they’ll mail it to them and never hear from them again,” Fishbaugher said.
He advised people to do research, since scammers set up their websites to look real, even going so far as to come up with names that are similar to an actual real estate company.
The first thing to do is ask questions.
“I would be very, very careful and check their credentials, if you can,” he said.
“Who they are, what’s their phone number, how long have they lived at the house (or owned it), what problems does the house have. Just a lot of questions that they would maybe stumble around, trying to answer,” Fishbaugher said.
Another thing to do is visit the site of the property, he said.
“Most of these ..., there is a Realtor sign in the yard,” Fishbaugher said. That sign gives the pitch an authentic vibe. “They try to say, ‘I’m trying to sell it, but I can’t get it sold right now. I’m willing to rent it.’”
The signs will have a name and number for the Realtor who’s in charge of the property, and that’s who people should be calling, Fishbaugher said.
“I think one person actually did that. They saw something was fishy, and they checked with a Realtor in town and the Realtor (said), ‘That’s my property; it’s not for rent, it’s for sale,’” Fishbaugher said.
