When you’re looking at apartment rental listings online – whether it’s a vacation rental or something more long-term – being scammed is everyone’s worst nightmare. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s a tough reminder to always be cautious when putting your trust and your money in the hands of a stranger.



Most of us know how to protect ourselves from being scammed, but as long as there are scam artists online, there will always be victims.



Just a few days ago, I found myself in the middle of an apartment rental scam. My boyfriend is an architect and landed a -month job placement in Stuttgart, Germany. I decided to join him, and will be moving to Stuttgart next week.



We needed to find a place to live, so I started looking at listings on a German website called ImmobilienScout24 - using Google Chrome’s translate function to read the website in English. I found a relatively cheap apartment located in my desired neighbourhood and wrote a message to the owner. The “owner,” Pedro Alvaro, wrote back and explained that since he was currently living in London, we would have to complete the transaction by wire transfer. He would then mail me the keys and paperwork. Red flags went off, and I didn’t reply.



Meanwhile, I had contacted two other owners about apartment listings on the same website. But to my surprise, they both replied with the same introductory e-mail as Pedro had. I immediately blocked their e-mail addresses from my Gmail account and reported their listings and e-mail addresses to the ImmobilienScout24 website.



I consider myself to be a smart and cautious online shopper, but I can see how easy it would be for a scam like this to succeed.

Here are a few things to keep in mind in order to avoid becoming a victim of a rental scam:



Make sure the apartment exists. I cringe every time I read a horror story of travelers who have paid in advance for a place to stay, only to get to their destination to find that the apartment doesn’t even exist. Make sure to get the exact address of the apartment, and check Google street view to make sure the building matches the photos advertised.



Conduct a thorough online search. It’s a good idea to do a Google search for the renter’s name, e-mail address, phone number, and address of the apartment listing. Even if you don’t suspect anything, it’s better to take a few minutes to be completely sure, than to find out the hard way. A good resource to start with is ScamWarners.com’s rental scam forum.



Find a realtor or broker. In many cities, it is common for real estate companies to also handle apartment rentals – in exchange for a commission, paid for by the renter. Go online and research reputable real estate companies in the city you’re interested in. See what people are saying about the company on websites, forums, and travel review blogs. Be extremely wary of realtors or brokers who use web-based e-mail addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo.



Go see the apartment. Before you sign any papers or hand over your money, make sure you see the apartment. You will need to check the neighbourhood, features, amenities, and condition of the apartment. If you are moving from out of town, ask a friend or family member, your employer, or an acquaintance to check out the apartment for you. If the landlord cannot show the apartment, stating that they’re out of the country, it might be a scam.



Never wire transfer money. There is no reason to wire money to pay a security deposit, commission amount, or first and last month’s rent. Sending money by wire transfer is exactly like sending cash – once you’ve sent it, you can’t get it back. The same can be said for a cashier’s cheque or money order.



And like the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.



Have you ever been a victim of an online rental scam?



Also read:

Should you rent a spare room to tourists?

Some condos have rental restrictions



Krystal Yee lives in Vancouver and blogs at Give Me Back My Five Bucks. You can reach her on Twitter (@krystalatwork), or by e-mail at krystalatwork@gmail.com.