Nearly eight in 10 rental listings on TikTok are likely scams.
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“We have literally seen people show up with a U-Haul at a property, ready to move in, expecting to get the key, only to find the homeowners still in the house,” Brett Williford, office manager at Irongate Realtors.
It’s a growing problem in the Miami Valley.
Earlier this year, News Center 7 spoke about Irongate Realtors.
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They were sounding the alarm on rental scams in Greene County, using their property listing.
“A lot of times we would find that the address had another listing from someone completely different,” Matthew Stern, CEO of CNC Investigations, said.
CNC Investigators looked at rental listings on TikTok.
In Ohio, they found that eight in 10 listings on the social media app were likely scams.
“We saw a two-bedroom in Oakley, Cincinnati that was advertised for $500 a month, when the same property was on the rental market listed elsewhere for $2,195 a month,” Stern said.
Just last month, Bellbrook police shared a warning of a fake rental.
Officers said it was listed for a very attractive price and went away after they started investigating.
“They see something that looks great, and the scammers are trying to take advantage of that,” Stern said.
Stern said price is one of the biggest red flags.
They also found one listing that charged people to set up a viewing.
“That’s not normal. That’s not okay. And those people are just looking to take that money,” Stern said.
Stern points out that while their study looked at TikTok specifically, this can happen on any platform.
“Bad actors will take advantage of any platform they can or any tool they can,” he said.
Bellbrook police also recommend you verify the landlord’s identity with the county’s property tax records.
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