Analysis from the Federal Trade Commission shows that since 2020 consumers reported nearly 65,000 rental scams, many of which originated from fake listings on sites like Facebook and Craigslist, and “losses totaling about $65 million.”
Rental scams usually involve fake rental listings, which “can often look very real and copy information from legitimate listings but are posted with the scammer’s contact information on different sites,” according to the FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight.
Many of these ads are found on social media sites. In fact, the FTC found that about half of people “who reported a rental scam in the 12 months ending June 2025 said the scam originated with a fake ad on Facebook.”
People ages 18 to 29 were three times “more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam.”
Reports show these scams can take different forms including:
Scammers pressure consumers to “provide money upfront before seeing the rental property in person.”
Scammers push consumers to prove they “are creditworthy by sending screenshots of their credit scores.”
They send consumers affiliate links to websites “to sign up for a credit check for little cost, but this may enroll the consumer in a paid membership with recurring fees.”
Scammers collect personal information from consumers “such as their Social Security number, driver’s license or paystubs to steal their identity.”
Some ways to help avoid rental scams include “searching for the rental address online to see if the same property is listed with different prices, contact information, or is listed as being for sale.”
Consumers should also “avoid sharing personal information until they have agreed to rent a property.”
FTC also cautioned that if “the advertised rent of a listing is much cheaper than rents for similar rentals in the same area, that could be a sign of a scam.”
The Federal Trade Commission works “to promote competition and protect and educate consumers.”
Like all other legitimate services providers and regulatory authorities, the FTC clarified that it will “never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.”
