I’m seeing a lot of real estate scams, posted to TikTok this month. Check out the following screenshot and other details:
If I needed an affordable place to stay, $950/mo would be a great deal in my zip code. Most 3BR rentals around here are going for twice that price! And that should be your first tell that this is illegitimate.
Some Due Diligence
First, I started by focusing on the address. Yes, it exists, and satellite imagery appeared to match the photos shown in the TikTok video. I looked up the owner through public records and found it to be owned by a male with a fairly unique name. I also could find that address listed for rent on many different big-name rental-websites, like Apartments.com and Zillow. All of those websites were consistent in stating that the property was listed with a professional real estate company, and ready to rent at $1950/mo.
I don’t need to share details about that real estate firm, but they are legitimate, with a different, local phone number and full-fledged website. And I was able to find their licensing on the DPOR website.
Googling the TikTok post’s phone number, I could see that it was a South Carolina area code, and that it correlated to at least a dozen different names and accounts on TikTok. Some accounts were dead and couldn’t be loaded. But the ones that still existed, each showed a person claiming to be a real estate pro or individual looking to rent properties. Properties in VA, TX, AL, all over the USA…
I could’ve stopped here, as all of this fairly well confirms that the TikTok post is a fraud. But I took it a bit further. Don’t do this yourself, but please consider:
I Contacted the Scammer
Using a burner Google Voice number, I started texting the number in the TT video. And someone named Robing (sic) responded promptly.
And I used a junk Google account to review the “application”:
If you skimmed past all of those graphics, the TL;DR of all of this is: The scammer is trying to attract hopeful renters by copying an existing real estate listing. The ruse is to collect a $50 “application fee” (and maybe even a deposit!) from as many people as possible before ghosting and blocking them. And hey, maybe there’s a chance of identity theft, if someone submits a lot of PII through the Google form…
What You Can Do
- Report the post to TikTok. We can hope that, if enough people report on a post, they will take it down and/or remove the posting account.
- On the mobile TikTok app, tap the arrow-icon to the lower-right, and look for the Report button to the lower-left. Select “More reasons” and then select “Frauds and Scams”.
- In a browser on a computer, find the 3-dots button in the upper-right corner of the video. Click that and then click “Report” and then click “Frauds and Scams”.
- Report the post to the FBI. They have the Internet Crime Complaint Center that collects info on cybercrime. If you’ve lost money to any online scheme, consider giving the details to the FBI.
- Report the Google Form. If you’ve found yourself at a Google Form or Doc and figured out that it is a scam, scroll all the way to the bottom for the chance to Report it to Google. In my experience, Google acts quickly on such reports and will kill that form so no one else can view it.
