KETTERING — A Dayton woman lost $1,070 in a rental scam after responding to a fraudulent Facebook listing for a home in Kettering, Ohio.
The scammer provided a lockbox code that allowed the woman to tour the house before she submitted a deposit and signed a digital lease.
Rental scams are frequently reported across Ohio, but cases where victims gain physical access to a home are less common.
The woman discovered the fraud only after contacting the official property management company to confirm her lease.
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The victim found the rental property advertised on Facebook and set up a viewing for the Kettering home. She said initial interactions did not indicate fraud. “Nothing that seemed out of the ordinary at all whatsoever,” she said.
The person posing as the landlord provided a lockbox code, allowing the mother to go inside and show the home to her children.
Pleased with the location, she decided to apply. “Outside amazing, beautiful, beautiful big backyard. Everything is a one so far,” she said.
After submitting her application, the woman received an approval notification and signed a digital lease agreement. “I send them the $1,000 deposit with the $70 application fee. I get my approval letter. Excited,” she said, describing the home as “everything I was hoping for in a new place, new beginning, new start.”
The scheme unravelled when the woman contacted the property management company directly to confirm the details.
Company representatives informed her that the listing was fake. The fraudulent ad offered the house for $1,000 a month, but the actual rental price was $2,100 per month.
The victim expressed shock at falling for the scheme. “Asking myself how I even get in this place or in this space, because I’ve always took every measure that you can possibly think of to not get scammed,” she said.
Melissa Smith, assistant consumer protection section chief at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, warned that rental schemes continue to adapt.
“These scams are always out there, always existing, transforming in one way or another,” Smith said. She encouraged prospective tenants to thoroughly research listings before transferring money or paying fees. “Because unfortunately, sometimes once the money’s gone, the money is gone,” Smith added.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, significantly lower pricing compared to market value is one of the primary warning signs of a rental scam.
The woman is now working to recover her lost funds while continuing her search for housing. “I have to make it back, and that’s just what it is,” she said.
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