Realtors: Beware of online scams

LYNN – Real estate agents and a state regulator warned apartment hunters to stay away from online rental offerings that look like bargains in today?s tight and expensive housing market.?If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” warned Lynn real estate agent Gene Clements.Clements and Massachusetts Association of Realtors spokesman Eric Berman said the scammers prey on people searching online sites for apartments by posting pictures of homes or other property they say they are renting and offering a bargain monthly rent.A call to his Eastern Avenue office in mid-February urged Clements to check an online rental search site, where he was surprised and angry to find a picture of a house he had listed for sale – but not for rent.He said the online listing included an electronic mail address and a rental amount well under the average $1,100 a month rent for a local two-bedroom apartment.Clements is no stranger to online rental scams but previous ones he encountered offered low rents and urged anyone who fell for them to send a check in return for a promise to receive a key to the apartment in the mail.He said the scam involving his house listing “looked much more legitimate.”?They were putting the ad up for a few days, then taking it down. I got two more calls the next day asking about a house for rent. I told them, ?Please don?t send any money,?” Clements said.He filed a police report detailing the scam, but the chances of rent swindlers getting caught are slim, said state Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony.?It?s a crime of opportunity. The biggest problem is the online service does not have the means to verify legitimacy: It falls on the individual,” Anthony said.Clements said rental scammers hope people who are having trouble finding apartments because they have bad credit or can?t find landlords interested in renting to families with children or pets will answer “too-good-to-be-true” online postings.?This happens a lot,” said Berman.He said some scams spice up their postings with stories about the apartment owner traveling and needing to rent an apartment immediately or claiming to have a special connection with the individual who responds to the posting.?We?re so seduced these days by going online and thinking we?re going to get a good deal,” added Anthony.