5 ways you can report a fake rental listing found on social media
- The FBI and FTC have dedicated websites where you can report apartment scams
- You can also report internet rental scams to the NYPD and two state agencies
- Hold on to evidence like screenshots of texts and receipts of your bank transactions
Does that apartment look too good to be true? It might be a rental scam.
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Finding an apartment in New York City has never been easy, but con artists on social media are making it that much harder to separate real apartments—and real brokers—from fakes.
In these online cons, a scammer will pose as a real estate agent and ask for money to tour an apartment or for a security deposit on a fictional unit. If you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you just lost some money to an online scammer.
There’s a lot of embarrassment that comes with getting scammed. But it’s important to know that you’re not alone. Last year, 537 victims lost a combined $5.7 million to investment and rental scams in New York, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Those losses may be even higher, because victims are often hesitant to report getting scammed, according to the FBI. It’s crucial to report these online scams not just to try to get your money back, but to hopefully stop these con artists from stealing from other New Yorkers.
Before you make a report, make sure you have as much information as possible. Take screenshots of your conversations with the scammer over social media and download any email correspondence. Hold onto your bank transaction history so you know exactly how much money you lost, when, and over what platform, such as Zelle, Venmo, or Cashapp. Now’s the time to dig into the details.
Read on for five city, state, and federal agencies where you can report a social media rental apartment scam.
[Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series about rental scams on social media, including how con artists impersonate brokers and how to recognize an Instagram apartment scam. Have you been the victim of a rental scam on social media? Email us here. We may contact you for future stories.]
Contact the NYPD
The NYPD advises victims of rental apartment scams to call 911 or make a report at a precinct, according to a spokesperson.
You can find your precinct using the NYPD’s map online here, or if you already know your precinct, its address and phone number will be listed here.
Make a report to New York state agencies
There are two state agencies where you can make a complaint: the Office of the New York State Attorney General (OAG) and the Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection (DCP).
You can make a complaint about a social media apartment scam with the OAG through the office’s technology and information privacy complaint form. Make sure you include any evidence—such as screenshots of your conversation with the scammer, payment, and other supporting documents. If you’re not sure how to fill out the form, you can contact the AG’s helpline at 1-800-771-7755.
You can also report online rental scams to the DCP, though a spokesperson noted that the DCP often refers these complaints to the FBI or the Federal Trade Commission.
To make a complaint with the DCP, fill out this online form or print, fill out, sign, and mail this complaint form to the DCP at 99 Washington Ave. in Albany. If you have questions about making a complaint, you can call the DOS Consumer Assistance Helpline at 1-800-697-1220 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding state holidays.
Get the Feds involved
The FBI and FTC have dedicated complaint centers where you can report a social media rental scam.
To contact the FBI, you can head to the bureau’s online Internet Crime Complaint Center, where it collects reports on all kinds of online crimes and works with local law enforcement agencies to take action.
You’ll need to include your name, address, phone number, and email address, as well as the information you have on the scammer. Be prepared to include information about the money you lost as well, including the date of the transaction, who received the money, and the amount.
You can also report to the FTC through its dedicated webpage, ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC can’t accept uploaded documents, but you can paste relevant information into the report’s comments section (and hold on to your evidence in case the FTC requests it at a later date).
While the FTC can’t resolve individual complaints, reporting your scam means the commission could use your report to bring a case against a scammer, and the commission will share your report with 2,800 law enforcement partners.
