BELLBROOK — Looking for a home or apartment to rent in part of Greene County?
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The Bellbrook Police Department posted on social media that scammers are looking to take advantage of residents.
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An ad listed on TikTok showed an apartment on Dane Lane for an attractive price.
“After the ‘listing agent’ was contacted, we were directed to another website, which would have collected personal as well as bank account information to collect a security deposit and 1st month’s rent,” said Bellbrook Police.
TikTok deleted the fake ad after an investigation.
Bellbrook Police have these tips for renters:
- Use only established rental service agents or hire a professional real estate agent to help find your new home or apartment.
- Always drive by to look at the property when renting, if possible. In the ad below, the “apartment” doesn’t exist on Dane Lane!
- Never pay for a security deposit or 1st month rent with cash or gift cards, or other untraceable means.
- Confirm the identity of your landlord through county tax records. The Greene County GIS website is available for your use: https://gis.greenecountyohio.gov/gims/
- Review the lease agreement before paying any fees or rent.
- Scammers are counting on you to act quickly—slow down, verify the listing, and protect your money and personal information.
- Use a reverse-image search tool, such as TinEye or Google, to verify that the image of the property is an actual listing and not copied from another website.
“If a rental deal seems too good to be true, it probably is!” the department said.
They encouraged people to share this information and report suspicious rental listings.
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