Look (and verify) before you rent

People seeking long-term rentals are now being targeted by scammers presenting fake contracts and giving them unauthorised tours of properties before fleeing with their deposits and leaving them in the cold, to the chagrin of the legitimate homeowners.

The situation has led to the renewal of calls for potential tenants to be vigilant, months after The Gleaner reported other cases of scammers fleecing people of tidy sums after asking them to deposit funds before being allowed to view properties then disappearing.

Last month, St Andrew businessman Kevin* lost $150,000 in one of the latest scams.

After almost five months of trying to find an apartment to rent, he thought he had lucked out when he was offered a modern, centrally located and affordable accommodation on the outskirts of Half-Way Tree. In hindsight, he told The Sunday Gleaner that there were some things he found “strange” about the transaction, but he was optimistic at the time.

On the Sunday he went to look at the apartment, he said he found it peculiar that the “landlord” was decked out in a business suit when showing the home unit. He was also a bit taken aback when she asked him to wait outside in the parking lot while she showed the place to another client.

But it was after he gave her the required documentation, signed what he now knows to be a bogus contract, paid the first month’s rent and deposit, and was getting ready to move in that she disappeared and his fears were justified.

“I noticed she was not answering and I was like, ‘Oh, this is strange because I sent the last payment on Friday and today is Monday,” he said.

After more futile attempts to contact the scammer, Kevin said he decided to go to the apartment with the moving van, but when he arrived, he noticed that it was occupied.

“We go up there and I am knocking on the door ‘cause I am like, ‘Somebody is here, so I don’t know what’s happening [or] if she’s still doing last-minute things’,” he recalled.

But it was a male’s voice that came booming, enquiring what Kevin was doing at his house.

He hastily explained that he rented the place, signed a contract, and paid his deposit and was supposed to move in that day.

The man, who was the legitimate owner of the apartment, informed Kevin that this was not the first time that the apartment he uses for Airbnb rentals had been listed as a long-term rental by the woman. However, he said this time around, she made someone else rent the property via the Airbnb platform. It was only after noticing increased traffic at his property that he recognised her through his security cameras.

According to Kevin, the owner of the property said she had first committed fraud using his property a few months ago, and he had reported the matter to the police. It was during his conversation with the property’s owner that he realised the scammer had given him a fake name and identification card.

“I realised the country I was in because when you think about crime, you have an idea of what a typical criminal looks like and she was not what I thought a criminal was,” he said. “It’s shocking that even simple things like renting somewhere you have to be so careful.”

WARNING TO POTENTIAL TENANTS

Kevin told The Sunday Gleaner that he saw the listing on a popular listing website of an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment, but was surprised to learn that the scammers cleared out all the furniture after renting the property before listing it.

A message on the classifieds site cautions potential tenants not to send money without viewing a property and confirming that payment is being made to the property owner or an authorised person. It further warns that personal identification should not be shared until confirmation is made, and warns interested tenants to report any listing that is asking them to pay before viewing.

Kevin said he attempted to report the crime, but was discouraged by what he described as the long and laborious process the police outlined. This includes, among other things, going to the bank to get a statement of the transaction and making the report at the downtown Kingston-based Fraud Squad that was out of his way.

“But it’s not like any encouragement that anything would come out of it,” he stated. “My account was already drained, so me a think ‘bout how I am going to do all these things? And then also, where am I going to live?”

The experience left him frustrated and embarrassed.

“When you move, it is a grand thing; you pack up everything and everybody a watch you, so it’s really embarrassing to be packing up yuh things and going back, begging yuh landlord if you can come back after you’ve said your goodbyes,” he said. “It puts you in a state of just negative feelings overall. You almost want to get revenge.”

He vows to be more vigilant and is encouraging other people looking for places to rent to do the same.

Furniture also being stolen; bargain hunters at risk

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Anthony McLaughlin, who heads the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Division (C-TOC), also shares similar sentiments as he told The Sunday Gleaner that while he could not provide a specific figure, his unit has been receiving numerous reports of persons using Airbnb rentals for scams.

“We have had quite a number of reports about Airbnb scams. And it’s not only Airbnbs, person just go on the Internet, post some houses, advertise them for rent, and they rent one property that is not theirs to up to two or three different persons. There are instances when up to five persons they collect money from,” he said.

“But in Airbnb, you don’t sublet, unless that’s part of the contract in the initial stages. So what they do, they rent it, they advertise it for rent, and then once you get in there, once they collect your money, then you don’t see them again, and then the rightful owner or owners of those properties will not give you access to it because they haven’t received any money and they didn’t have a contract with you,” McLaughlin said.

He told The Sunday Gleaner that the police have also received reports of scammers renting Airbnb properties and stealing the furniture.

“So they rent the property, then all the pots and pans and refrigerators and other items of furniture are taken out. It’s a big problem,” he said.

RIGOROUS VERIFICATION PROCESS

However, Sherie-Ann Anderson, head of the Homesharing Association of Jamaica, told The Sunday Gleaner that the association has not “observed any significant trends in scammers targeting Airbnb properties”.

“In the rare event that a host suspects or encounters a fraudulent guest, the Airbnb safety team is readily available to assist,” she said, noting that there are more than 5,000 Airbnb hosts in Jamaica.

Anderson said the US-based company has implemented rigorous guest and host verification procedures to maintain a secure and trustworthy platform, which includes the verification of identity and payment details.

“These measures help maintain a trusted community by ensuring that users’ profiles are authentic, and their payment information is legitimate,” she said.

“Additionally, hosts have the freedom to decline guests who do not have previous reviews from other hosts. This feature gives hosts the opportunity to assess the reliability of potential guests based on their interactions and experiences with previous hosts. Hosts can also establish strict house rules that guests must agree to when booking, prohibiting any illegal activities and promoting a respectful environment,” she added.

‘GET A DEAL’ CULTURE

In the meantime, McLaughlin lamented the prevalence of scams in Jamaica, which he said include educational, job, motor vehicle and lottery scamming-related plots, which he noted are more likely to succeed when people are “looking a deal”.

“Persons need to do their due diligence before they enter into transactional activities,” the senior cop warned.

According to police data, on average there has been at least one incidence of major fraud every day over the last five years with losses amounting to millions.

With the exception of 2020, the number of reported scam cases has been increasing yearly, growing from 551 in 2018 to 789 last year – a 43 per cent increase.

To combat this, McLaughlin said the police have embarked on a robust public education campaign.

“We go to the different areas, we have community meetings, we go to the churches, we go into schools, we go to business places who invite us to come in and have a talk with their staff,” he said.

However, he said the effectiveness of this campaign is being affected by what he described as “the whole culture of wanting something free, something cheap, and to get a deal”.

“Very often, these messages will fall on deaf ears because persons are looking for what they call deals. So if they can get things that cost less, then that is what they go for. When we do educate these persons, then they, many times, ignore the warnings, and just go for the cheapest, and probably ease of doing the transaction, which, in the end, prove very costly to them because they would have lost their money without the service,” he said.

[*Name changed to protect identity]

sashana@small@gleanerjm.com