MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — Watch out for fake home sales and rental listings online.
Wisconsin Consumer Protection Director Mike Domke says they’ve been tracking an increase in phony listings trying to catch people who need someplace to live in a hurry.
“It’s the scammers going online and stealing profile pictures and legitimate listings from real reputable platforms and then promoting them, cross-promoting them on another platform, but using their own content information,” Domke said.
The scammers will try to get your personal information or a down payment and then vanish and you will be without a place to live. Domke says you need to make sure whoever is offering that property actually owns it, by either checking property tax records or simply calling the person up and asking questions. If they can’t or won’t answer questions, it’s likely a scam.
