RentalHouses.com Fraud Alert

 

Attention Renters

Please be aware of an internet scam that some renters have encountered. When you reply to a rental listing, you will be contacted asking you to send a deposit. We recommend that you do not send any money without first viewing the rental property and meeting the landlord in person. This is good practice whenever pursuing rental property. We do not and cannot verify the legitimacy of rental listings placed on RentalHouses.com.

Attention Landlords and Property Managers

Please be aware of an internet scam that some of our customers have encountered. A potential tenant will overpay you a large sum of money in the form of a cashier's check, and ask for the difference back. Do not send any money; the check is fake. If you have any questions about this or other questionable activities, please call our customer service center at 1-888-501-7368.

Information about "Check Overpayment" Scams

• FTC article regarding cashiers check overpayment:
  http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/12/checkoverpayment.htm
• File a complaint with the FTC:
  https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
• "Citizens are warned that fraudulent cashier's checks are not limited to Nigerian scams, but are used in a variety of transactions. Victims of a cashier's check scam should contact their local law enforcement agency. Victims of the Nigerian cashier's check scam should also contact their local Secret Service Field Office by phone."

Other Courses of Action

• The United States Secret Service continues to be tasked as the primary US law enforcement agency in dealing with Advance Fee Fraud (419) matters. US Citizens or Residents with no financial loss may email 419er documents to the United States Secret Service at 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov where they are archived for future datamining. Only No Loss reports are to be sent to this email address. Due to the sheer volume of materials received, USSS does not respond to submissions to this address.
• United States Citizens and Residents who have suffered a financial loss are instructed to contact the nearest Field Office of the United States Secret Service (USSS) by telephone.
• You may also file a Financial Loss complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). This organization is a partnership of the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Tips in Dealing with Cashiers Checks

• Never accept a cashier's check for an amount greater than the purchase price.
• Call the bank that issued the cashier's check when you receive it. Do not rely on the phone number that the buyer gives you. Locate the bank's number from a reliable source, such as a phone book.
• When calling a bank, verify the following information: the check number, the name of the person to whom the check was issued, and the amount of the check.
• Be sure to wait until you can verify the authenticity of the check prior to giving the buyer the goods. Sometimes these "buyers" wait to give the seller a check on the weekend or when banks are closed, and the check cannot be verified right away.