He thought he was renting from a landlord, but lost $18.6K to an impostor on Craigslist — now he's sounding the alarm about an emerging rental scam

According to Realtor.com and his own Reddit thread, the product designer wired $18,600 to a scammer who was posing as the landlord. It was an elaborate scheme that highlights just how difficult rental fraud can be to spot.

“I’ve been in San Francisco for five years, and I’ve moved around a few different apartments. I’ve actually found two apartments in San Francisco from Craigslist, so that’s why I thought that Craigslist is pretty legit and why I was OK looking up apartments on there this time around,” Tran told Realtor.com.

The scam continued even after the real open house

Tran found identical listings for the apartment on Zillow and Craigslist and contacted both. The Craigslist contact replied first and invited him to an open house that same day.

When Tran arrived, the actual owner showed him the vacant apartment, and the owner’s name matched the name being used by the person emailing him.

Tran assumed everything checked out.

After touring the apartment, Tran continued communicating through the Craigslist email thread, thinking that he was dealing with the owner he had just met. He submitted an application with additional documents, was approved and signed a lease.

He didn’t experience any of the urgency that’s often associated with scams.

“They were pretty legit. They were not moving fast; they were not pushy. They even asked me to submit a letter expressing my interest,” Tran said. “They took their time, and there were multiple steps in between. So I couldn’t really think of any red flag.”

On July 27, Tran wired $18,600 to cover his first and last months’ rent and security deposit.

The scammer didn’t immediately disappear. Over the next several days, they continued discussing typical move-in details, including utilities, internet, cleaning and mailbox access. They arranged to meet Thursday evening to hand over the keys.

Unfortunately, when Tran arrived, there was nobody there to meet him. His calls, texts and emails went unanswered.

The next morning, he contacted the person behind the Zillow listing. That’s when he learned the owner had never posted the Craigslist ad, communicated with him after the open house, signed his lease or received his money.

Tran reported the fraud to Bank of America, the receiving bank, San Francisco police, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, the Federal Trade Commission and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit. But in an Aug. 7 update to his Reddit post, Tran said Bank of America had informed him its attempts to recover the funds were unsuccessful and his claim had been closed.

Renting a home? Here’s what to watch out for

The case highlights an important weakness: seeing a property in person doesn’t necessarily mean the person you’re communicating with online is authorized to rent it.

“A real open house proves that the property exists. It does not prove that the person texting you has the authority to rent or sell it,” real estate broker Adriana Montes told Realtor.com.

Before sending any money or documentation, the Federal Trade Commission advises that you independently verify who you’re dealing with.

If a brokerage or property management company is involved, look up its contact information yourself and confirm the agent or listing. With a private landlord, check property ownership through local public records and make sure the name matches the person receiving your payment.