Rental scams
What is a hijacked or cloned rental listing?
Updated By the Housing Rocket moderators
Short answer
It's a real listing that a scammer has copied, usually with the same photos and description, then reposted at a lower price with their own contact details. The apartment exists and may genuinely be for rent, which makes the scam convincing, but the person you're talking to has no connection to it.
Scammers copy listings from rental sites and real estate sites, because photos of a clean, staged home look perfect. Some copy homes that are for sale rather than for rent, so the real owner has no idea.
- Reverse image search two or three of the photos with Google Lens or a similar tool.
- Search the full address along with "for rent" and "for sale".
- If a brokerage or management company has the same home listed, contact it through its own website and ask whether the post you saw is theirs.
- Compare the prices. The copy is usually cheaper than the original.
Landlords get caught up in this too. If you advertise a rental, search your own address from time to time. If you find a copy, report it to the site, keep a screenshot, and add a line to your real listing saying you never ask for money before a showing.
Want the whole picture? Read How To Avoid Housing Scams.