Fake landlord scams Bay Area family out of $4,500 after remotely granting entry to the house
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- A Peninsula family was lured into a brutal rental scam. The scammer even knew when the unit would be vacant and how to get in.
"I was bawling my eyes out because we just had the baby. And we were already in a terrible living situation, and this guy totally took advantage of us," the victim said.
The young couple lost their deposit -- until they reached out to 7 On Your Side.
We're seeing this type of scam more frequently these days, with scammers impersonating landlords.
The couple went through many of the steps you typically take as a renter: submitted an application, verified their income and even toured the unit in person, only to realize it was all fake.
Deserae (last name withheld) and her young family were renting a home infested with rats.
"I was like, 'We got to move!'" she said.
Desperate to get out, her husband found an ad on Craigslist for a three-bedroom home in Redwood City going for $2,500 per month.
They contacted a man named "Kenneth" and submitted pay stubs and an application.
"He was really nice and very responsive," she said. "We have a huge dog, and he's like, 'The dog's fine.' I was like, 'OK,'" Deserae said.
Kenneth wrote: "All I want is for you to take good care of the house like you own it."
The couple sent a total of $4,500 to secure the spot. It was sent over a series of payments on various platforms.
After trouble sending one of the payments, Kenneth asked her to go to a specific ATM next to a liquor store in Redwood City to get the cash.
Deserae read the text she received: "Good morning, the ATM store opens at 9."
She showed up and saw the liquor store was burned down.
"So then, I had to do it a different way," Deserae said.
He asked her to do the Zelle again. And again.
Then they agreed to meet on July 25.
"When we got to the house, he was able to get us into the house with the keypad and everything. So that's what made it very believable. And we toured it, and he was really nice," Deserae said.
She said the man claimed to live in Arizona, so he wasn't there.
"And somehow he had the key code?" 7 On Your Side's Stephanie Sierra asked.
"Yeah, to the house. I mean, I don't even know how you can do that," Deserae said.
The text messages show the scammer sent her a link from Rently, a U.S.-based technology company that provides self-guided rental home tours for property managers and renters.
They got the code, walked right in and signed the lease later that day, thinking this was their new home.
It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that she noticed the house listed on different sites with different prices.
"And then I was like, 'OK, was this a scam?'" Deserae said.
Deserae called the rental agency number posted on the Zillow listing.
"And they're like, 'Oh, no, that's not us,'" she said.
Then reality sank in.
"We almost thought we had to separate, me and my husband, because we thought we were going to be homeless," Deserae said. "I thought I was going to have to stay in my car with my baby."
She confronted the scammer via text, asking for her money back.
The scammer claimed to have refunded her, even going as far as creating a fake bank statement showing the money removed from his account.
But she never got it.
"I was just a mess, and my husband was just a mess," Deserae said.
Property management company RentWise said the scammer impersonated the company by setting up an account on a third-party listing platform using its name.
The company added: "RentWise did not create or post the Craigslist listing you describe, and we have no employee, agent or vendor named Kenneth. RentWise was itself a target of this scheme. Scammers copied our listings onto multiple sites at prices well below market."
The company also added: "As soon as we identified the fraud, we worked with the platform to have the fake account and ads removed, and they were. Since then, we've taken additional steps, including engaging a third-party service that monitors for duplicate listings around the clock and flags them for removal."
"RentWise does not accept deposits or rent through online ads or private payment apps. Applications and payments go through its online portal."
"If a rental price looks too good to be true, please verify it with the company directly. We encourage anyone who has been targeted to report the listing to Craigslist and to file reports with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov and local police."
Rently, the rental listing platform, told 7 On Your Side that "Kenneth" appeared to have shared a link to the property's legitimate Rently listing, which may have made the fraudulent offer seem more credible.
"Before renters can access a property, they must complete identity verification and other security checks. Our system also identifies the legitimate property management company, displays the actual rental price and provides warnings about common rental scams," Rently told 7 On Your Side.
The company added that being able to tour a property through Rently does not mean the person advertising it is authorized to rent the property or collect payments. It provides the technology for prospective renters to tour properties, while rental agreements and payments should be handled through the legitimate property management company.
Shortly after she confronted Kenneth, the couple happened to be watching 7 On Your Side's report on a similar situation involving a San Francisco renter. They called us for help.
We reached out to Wells Fargo, and Deserae was refunded $3,800.
Deserae was grateful it didn't end the way she feared.
"It would've been really bad. Sorry, I'm going to cry," she said in tears. "Then his aunt said we were able to stay at her house, so we were able to get back on our feet."
Before calling 7 On Your Side, she was persistent and reached out to Wells Fargo numerous times to no avail.
"That experience was very frustrating," Deserae said.
Wells Fargo told 7 On Your Side: "We are pleased we were able to work with our customer to resolve this matter."
Deserae eventually went to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to file a complaint.
If you've been scammed, you should file a report with your local police department, notify your financial institutions such as your bank and credit card companies, and report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.
7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. If we are able to assist you, we will reach back out.
