NORTH PORT – Several victims are out thousands of dollars, as a result of rental scams in North Port.
“If it sounds too good to be true it probably is,” said North Port Police PIO, Josh Taylor.
Crime analysts in North Port are finding a number of rental scams online as many search for a home in a desperate housing market
“There are a number of commercial rental sites out there that post properties that are managed by legitimate companies being a house or an apartment for sale, but what thieves will do is they will cannibalize the information, including the pictures and make a fraudulent posting, a lot of where we see the fraudulent posting is craigslist and Facebook market place,” said NPPD Crime Analyst, Bill Myers.
Within the past year, North Port PD has identified 15 victims of the scams
“Some who have lost thousands of dollars in these rental scams,” said Myers.
To make sure you don’t fall a victim to a rental scam, it is recommended to take those extra steps
“You really want to meet people in person and have that conversation with them, make sure they’re legit and go to the property appraiser’s website and see who actually owns that property, and if that’s who is renting it to you,” said Taylor.
Never send money through third party apps
“PayPal, Zelle, cCashapp is being used, a lot of times people are being asked to transfer money through western union or one of those services,” said Myers.
Overall, taking the time to research will save you from a headache and save you money
“To be defrauded out of 2, 3 or 7 thousand dollars, like we’ve seen in these incidents, we don’t want people to lose that kind of money if they don’t have to,” said Myers.
If you feel you are a victim of a rental scam you can call North Port PD at 941-429-7300.
