How To Avoid Subletting Scams

By Allie Mitchell on May 27, 2016

When the end of the semester comes and you are living off campus, depending on what your plans are you decide that you won’t live in that apartment for the time being. You are trying to decide what to do, and then you strike up a common idea among students: subletting your apartment!

This is an ideal situation that is helpful for both parties involved. You don’t want to lose your apartment (especially if you signed that year-long lease) and the person you sublet it to has a place to stay for a short amount of time. But what is subletting, you ask?

Sublet: leasing a property to another person or a subtenant.

In retrospect this is a great opportunity, but just like all things, there is a downside to doing this, especially if you are subletting to someone via the internet. Just like all things with the internet, being wary is always suggested. Be wary of scams, subletting scams to be exact. They are out there more and more.

huffingtonpost.com

You may not know you are being scammed until it is too late and you are going through your head trying to figure out where you went wrong or if there were any signs that you missed to let you know that you were getting scammed. Here is how subletting scams usually operate:

The Scam

1. Scammer pretends to be an interested renter.
2. They contact you and send you a check for more than you asked for.
3. The scammer tells you they have to cancel their plans and cannot be your subtenant.
4. You are asked to wire back the difference or pay a third party.
5. The original check you deposited into the bank returns unpaid, therefore you have lost all the money you wired.

After reading this, you are probably thinking, man that sucks. But that very situation happens every day to everyday people. Usually subletting scammers have the same way of operating so reading the above description should give you decent insight on what to look for.

Below are a few tips on how to hopefully help you avoid being the victim of a subletting scam and maybe help you gain more knowledge.

 •Spot scam emails: Check the spelling and grammar errors in emails; if there are more than maybe two or three then there is a very high possibility that it is a scam. Any mention of money, money orders, cashier’s checks, wire transfers, or bank accounts in the initial email you sent is very suspicious and most likely a scam. Be aware. Also make sure to communicate with people via the phone and not just emails.

Stay local: Only use known websites and newspapers to advertise. First and foremost, I’d advertise around people you know first before you decide to go to the internet for help. If you do end up with looking for subtenants on the internet, look for local people and make sure to identify the person you are talking to before making any sort of offer.

Never accept a check/money order or wire money to a stranger: If you ever receive a suspicious check or money order, immediately take it to a bank branch or call the Fraud Prevention Department to get that check/money order verified. There is never any legit reason for someone to send you money and then ask you to wire them money in return. It is a scam for one and it just doesn’t sound logical in the first place.

https://pbs.twimg.com

Quick Tips

These tips are small tidbits on what else you can do to better understand how to help yourself avoid being a victim.

Check the individual’s references. Do a Google search on the person’s name and email, and run it to see if it has been used in past scams.

Refuse any sort of overpayment. Ideally, why would anyone give you MORE money than you are asking for with no specific reason why they are doing it?

Never share your personal information with anyone, unless you have confirmed the other individual’s name and personal information: If the individual refuses to give you information about themselves or becomes hostile about your simply asking for a couple of things, it is probably a scam. Stop all communication with this individual immediately.

If you do get caught in one of these scams, in the first few minutes of realizing that it happened you will be immediately saying how could you be so stupid? Sometimes scammers can be well-trained and very sneaky about what they do, whereas at other times you just blatantly ignored red flags.

Whether you fall into one category or the other, you aren’t the only person that has been scammed. There are plenty of articles of stories to read where people explain the stories of how they were duped by online scammers:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-gates/craigslist-rental-scam-apartment-sublet_b_4943972.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/realestate/28cov.html?_r=0

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thelostboy/a_cautionary_tale_for_those_of_you_ever_renting_apartments_off_craigslist

Know that strangers aren’t the only people that will scam you. Friends can also scam you. This isn’t said to make you paranoid about everyone and everything, but it is said to make you aware of things, especially when it involves money.

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