Scammers and your security in various real estate transactions
Your safety
Scammers sellers of real estate
Real estate rental scammers
A list of documents that need to be checked with the owner of the apartments when buying and renting.
How not to become a victim of fraudsters when making a transaction through ad services?
Fraud on ad sites is becoming a frequent phenomenon. There are several mandatory rules that should be followed when choosing a property.
1. Do not switch to third-party messengers. If a real estate seller offers you to switch to another messenger under various pretexts, immediately inform them that you are not ready for this.
2. Do not transfer funds to strangers if you are not sure of their reliability.
3. Re-read the contract several times, take friends and acquaintances with you to sign, who will be able to act as witnesses.
4. Check the passport details of the seller, ask for an extract about the owners of the property or order it yourself.
5. Do not make a payment through the sent links. It is better not to open the third-party links sent to you at all, even if they look "real". Through them, scammers can gain access to your data, steal money or bring a virus into your device.
6. Do not send prepayment via SBP services and others. Pay for real estate only directly at the conclusion of the contract in the bank for all parameters of the procedure.
7. Do not transfer deposits, deposits for any apartments, only if you are confident in the seller.
In most cases, buyers of real estate need caution and vigilance to protect themselves. But sometimes we forget about it and therefore fall for various tricks of scammers.
Real estate fraud schemes on all bulletin boards
Today we will get acquainted with the most popular fraud schemes through bulletin boards in the real estate sector. Remember and don't fall for one of them. We also recommend sharing information with relatives and friends to protect them as well.
Making a deposit when buying an apartment
A deposit is an amount of money that is issued by the buyer against future funds due and guarantees the fulfillment of obligations.
The following scheme is the most popular among scammers. When contacting the prospective buyer, he is invited to come to the viewing. The buyer likes the apartment, and he is ready to enter into a contract or a deal. Then the seller says that he is afraid of breaking the deal and offers to fix the agreement by making a deposit (part of the funds).
The deceiver informs that the deposit is a reliable protection and provides a contract. The buyer transfers the deposit, signs the contract and goes home with full confidence. After that, the fraudster disappears or says that he has found a new buyer who made him a better offer or paid more. At the same time, the deposit (previously paid) it is not returned, according to the terms of the contract signed by the buyer.
Pledge via fake websites and links
A pledge is a part of the money that is transferred to the seller to confirm the fulfillment of agreements on the part of the pledgor. Simply put, a deposit is needed so that the buyer does not throw the seller and he does not waste his time in vain. But often this is a fraudulent scheme used by scammers before showing the apartment.
Classically, scammers on bulletin boards and other services act like this:
Real estate for sale is placed on the Internet service. As a rule, the object looks very attractive in comparison with other options available on the market in this price range. Beautiful, modern renovation, good furniture and convenient location.
Buy addresses to view the apartment. The seller immediately replies that you are not the first, there is a very high demand for an inspection of the apartment and now the owner is generally very busy. Then he either asks you to call back at another time, or write to him in a messenger to add you to the queue.
As a rule, the buyer does not stop there, because he wants to become the owner of this luxury apartment. He writes to the messenger that he wants to be the first and is ready to drive up at any time. Sometimes the seller himself enters into a dialogue.
After some hesitation, the cheating seller says that he agrees in principle, but he has very limited time, and he is afraid of wasting it. To confirm the buyer's intentions, they are asked to pay part of the money via the link, through the "booking service from the announcement site itself".
The link looks similar to the domain of the ad service, a variety of words can be added to it, but it rarely arouses suspicion.
And then everything is standard. The client follows the link, enters the card details and transfers the prepayment. So not only money, but also information about a bank card passes into the hands of fraudsters. Since the correspondence takes place in a third-party application, the ad placement service itself will not be able to protect you, and you will also not be able to complain about it.
Naturally, after the transfer of funds, the fraudster stops the correspondence.
Fraudulent prepayment via SBP
We have already said that fraudulent schemes are constantly changing and developing. In addition, liars navigate very quickly and adapt to new tools, looking everywhere for an opportunity to cash in.
In particular, they use the recently appeared System of fast payments. SBP or Fast Payment System is a service for making money transfers by phone number. It is especially convenient because there is no commission when transferring between cards of different banks and regions.
When a potential victim gets in touch, she is informed that the owner is abroad or very busy, and is asked to transfer part of the amount through the SBP to confirm her intentions.
The buyer is sent a phone number, a QR code or a link to the transfer. The customer enters his card details, and they pass into the hands of third parties. Fraudsters withdraw all funds from your card, and in the future they can use personal data for the next deception.
Safety precautions in real estate transactions
Safety precautions: no prepayments — neither when renting, nor when buying.
Safety precautions: power of attorney transactions should be treated much more carefully.
Safety precautions: make sure that you are participating in the transaction with the real estate object that you have previously viewed.
Safety precautions: both when renting and when buying a home, it is important to check the title documents (how did the property end up with the current owner: did he buy it, inherited it or as a gift?) and supporting documents (certificate of registration of this right) to know for sure: the person who called himself the owner is really such.
Safety precautions: if the price of a real estate object is clearly below the market, then most likely something is wrong with this object.
Information taken from Cyanogen
Scammers sellers of real estate
Real estate rental scammers
A list of documents that need to be checked with the owner of the apartments when buying and renting.
How not to become a victim of fraudsters when making a transaction through ad services?
Fraud on ad sites is becoming a frequent phenomenon. There are several mandatory rules that should be followed when choosing a property.
1. Do not switch to third-party messengers. If a real estate seller offers you to switch to another messenger under various pretexts, immediately inform them that you are not ready for this.
2. Do not transfer funds to strangers if you are not sure of their reliability.
3. Re-read the contract several times, take friends and acquaintances with you to sign, who will be able to act as witnesses.
4. Check the passport details of the seller, ask for an extract about the owners of the property or order it yourself.
5. Do not make a payment through the sent links. It is better not to open the third-party links sent to you at all, even if they look "real". Through them, scammers can gain access to your data, steal money or bring a virus into your device.
6. Do not send prepayment via SBP services and others. Pay for real estate only directly at the conclusion of the contract in the bank for all parameters of the procedure.
7. Do not transfer deposits, deposits for any apartments, only if you are confident in the seller.
In most cases, buyers of real estate need caution and vigilance to protect themselves. But sometimes we forget about it and therefore fall for various tricks of scammers.
Real estate fraud schemes on all bulletin boards
Today we will get acquainted with the most popular fraud schemes through bulletin boards in the real estate sector. Remember and don't fall for one of them. We also recommend sharing information with relatives and friends to protect them as well.
Making a deposit when buying an apartment
A deposit is an amount of money that is issued by the buyer against future funds due and guarantees the fulfillment of obligations.
The following scheme is the most popular among scammers. When contacting the prospective buyer, he is invited to come to the viewing. The buyer likes the apartment, and he is ready to enter into a contract or a deal. Then the seller says that he is afraid of breaking the deal and offers to fix the agreement by making a deposit (part of the funds).
The deceiver informs that the deposit is a reliable protection and provides a contract. The buyer transfers the deposit, signs the contract and goes home with full confidence. After that, the fraudster disappears or says that he has found a new buyer who made him a better offer or paid more. At the same time, the deposit (previously paid) it is not returned, according to the terms of the contract signed by the buyer.
Pledge via fake websites and links
A pledge is a part of the money that is transferred to the seller to confirm the fulfillment of agreements on the part of the pledgor. Simply put, a deposit is needed so that the buyer does not throw the seller and he does not waste his time in vain. But often this is a fraudulent scheme used by scammers before showing the apartment.
Classically, scammers on bulletin boards and other services act like this:
Real estate for sale is placed on the Internet service. As a rule, the object looks very attractive in comparison with other options available on the market in this price range. Beautiful, modern renovation, good furniture and convenient location.
Buy addresses to view the apartment. The seller immediately replies that you are not the first, there is a very high demand for an inspection of the apartment and now the owner is generally very busy. Then he either asks you to call back at another time, or write to him in a messenger to add you to the queue.
As a rule, the buyer does not stop there, because he wants to become the owner of this luxury apartment. He writes to the messenger that he wants to be the first and is ready to drive up at any time. Sometimes the seller himself enters into a dialogue.
After some hesitation, the cheating seller says that he agrees in principle, but he has very limited time, and he is afraid of wasting it. To confirm the buyer's intentions, they are asked to pay part of the money via the link, through the "booking service from the announcement site itself".
The link looks similar to the domain of the ad service, a variety of words can be added to it, but it rarely arouses suspicion.
And then everything is standard. The client follows the link, enters the card details and transfers the prepayment. So not only money, but also information about a bank card passes into the hands of fraudsters. Since the correspondence takes place in a third-party application, the ad placement service itself will not be able to protect you, and you will also not be able to complain about it.
Naturally, after the transfer of funds, the fraudster stops the correspondence.
Fraudulent prepayment via SBP
We have already said that fraudulent schemes are constantly changing and developing. In addition, liars navigate very quickly and adapt to new tools, looking everywhere for an opportunity to cash in.
In particular, they use the recently appeared System of fast payments. SBP or Fast Payment System is a service for making money transfers by phone number. It is especially convenient because there is no commission when transferring between cards of different banks and regions.
When a potential victim gets in touch, she is informed that the owner is abroad or very busy, and is asked to transfer part of the amount through the SBP to confirm her intentions.
The buyer is sent a phone number, a QR code or a link to the transfer. The customer enters his card details, and they pass into the hands of third parties. Fraudsters withdraw all funds from your card, and in the future they can use personal data for the next deception.
Safety precautions in real estate transactions
Safety precautions: no prepayments — neither when renting, nor when buying.
Safety precautions: power of attorney transactions should be treated much more carefully.
Safety precautions: make sure that you are participating in the transaction with the real estate object that you have previously viewed.
Safety precautions: both when renting and when buying a home, it is important to check the title documents (how did the property end up with the current owner: did he buy it, inherited it or as a gift?) and supporting documents (certificate of registration of this right) to know for sure: the person who called himself the owner is really such.
Safety precautions: if the price of a real estate object is clearly below the market, then most likely something is wrong with this object.
Information taken from Cyanogen