Online housing scams target college students

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Housing scams in Provo can cost students hundreds of dollars. (Photo: Maddi Driggs)
Housing scams in Provo can cost students hundreds of dollars. (Photo illustration by Maddi Driggs)

If a Nigerian prince sent someone an email out of nowhere, most people would laugh and dismiss the email as an old trick from the 90s. However, those same scammers behind the Nigerian prince mask have evolved and have new tricks up their sleeves to fleece young couples in search of married housing.

The demand for married housing continues to increase as couples get married this summer. Searching for a place online may be easy, but those new to apartment hunting may not always be familiar with potential online scams. 

Tara Arroyo, a nursing student at UVU, was searching for an apartment on KSL.com when she came across a listing that seemed “too good to be true.” Without hesitation, Arroyo sent an email to the supposed homeowner.

“When they emailed (me) back later, it seemed super sketchy,” Arroyo said. “They said they were living in Arizona, and that I needed to send them money so they could send the keys and I could go (view) the apartment. I got weirded out by the email, so I just deleted it and didn’t respond.”

Although Arroyo didn’t take the bait, there are many instances where students do, sending money only to find that the listing was fake and that they’ve lost hundreds of dollars.

Even though websites like KSL.com, Craigslist, and Renter have user guides on how to avoid scams, it is easy to get caught up in the dream home or apartment that is just “too good to be true.”

KSL.com is one of many housing websites that BYU students use to find single or married housing (Mariana Chrisney).

The FTC’s website states the first signs of a scam are the really good deals that are “hard to pass up.”

Scammers know finding the right apartment can be hard work, so they “hijack a real rental or real estate listing by changing the email address or other contact information, and placing the modified ad on another site.”

Once they hijack the ad, the first thing scammers usually change is the price to make it more enticing for students.

BYU English major Lindsey Hansen, has noticed how scammers take ads and spread them throughout different websites.

“I have seen a few scams on Renter and KSL,” Hansen said. “There was one place that was listed as $600 and then another listing with the same pictures and different contact info for $650.”

Hansen then explained how she found the legitimate listing with the real owner’s full contact information. But because of the rental scams, she was told she’d be unable to even look at the apartment before complying with a credit and background check.

Mariana Chrisney
Many scammers provide a generic email with an “application” for their victims to fill out. Many tend to explain that they are working with charity or missionary work among other things (Mariana Chrisney).

A common thread among online scams is requesting money before allowing potential renters to see the apartment. 

Sariah Gomez, who attends BYU—Hawaii, encountered two housing scams through KSL.com. She noted that in both instances, she only had contact with the scammers via email.

Joel Lee from makeuseof.com noted that the poor English in some of the scammers’ emails is something to watch out for. Rampant spelling and grammatical errors can indicate the emails are “computer-generated, similar to the way spam emails are, or posted by someone overseas, like a scammer from a third-world region.” 

Amanda Anderson, an English major at BYU did notice the poor grammar when she contacted someone about a listing she saw. However, the most notable thing for her was when she decided to do a Google search on the landlord’s name and found the woman was claiming to be someone who had died the previous year.

Clark Lewis, a member of the Married BYU/UVU Provo and Orem Housing Facebook page, said he encountered at least three scams while trying to find his first apartment. Lewis noticed a pattern in regards to how online scammers work.

“They all basically responded the same way — they moved out of state/country, but were looking for someone trustworthy to take care of their home. Usually religious people, on mission trips or some non-profit organization,” Lewis said.

Lewis began seeing red flags when he saw the people who claimed to be the landlords were asking for the deposit immediately. Lewis did some investigating on his own by talking to the neighbors of the house listed for rent, only to discover that the owners were completely different people.

Lewis admitted he got so tied up into the scam that he contacted the fake landlords, hoping to expose them.

“(Instead) they responded with a general email asking for a (deposit) and how excited they were for me to move in,” Lewis said.

Now Lewis is more cautious about searching for apartments online, having discovered how these scammers work.

“Overall, it was a very frustrating experience,” Lewis said. “More than anything, (it wasted) my time when I (sent) these people emails. (I was) genuinely interested in renting their homes.”

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