According to the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center, Americans lost more than $145 million to real estate scams last year. One component of those is rental scams, where legitimate listings are pulled from property management websites and reposted to sites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for a lower price. Prospective tenants are sometimes even able to tour a unit before signing a bogus lease and paying a security deposit and fees to the scammer. 

Rental scams have been on the rise in recent years, thanks in part to the popularity of self-guided and remote tours in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The nationwide shortage of affordable housing has also pushed many renters to move quickly on listings that promise a good deal – making them a prime target for scams. 

Alexis Weisend covers affordable housing and homelessness for The Columbian. She recently wrote about this trend in Southwest Washington and joins us with more details.