"It's always when the market gets really busy - rents are going up - when there's limited inventory and a lot of demand, then the scammers come out. When I really started posting a lot more of my rental inventory to TikTok and Instagram, I made the mistake - which I don't do anymore - of not watermarking my videos."
"One account, titled Budget Friendly Homes (for_rent_sanfrancisco), posted the same sleek video tours as other real estate agents, but at roughly half the price, attracting enthusiastic and incredulous comments from its 11,900 followers. One of the pinned videos showed a remodeled 1-bedroom apartment on Grove Street, just two blocks from Alamo Square Park with high ceilings, bay windows and new appliances. The rent? A mere $1,800."
San Francisco's rental market faces a surge in scams on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Fraudulent accounts repost legitimate property tour videos from real estate agents at unrealistically low prices to attract desperate renters. One notable scam account, Budget Friendly Homes, posted a video of a Grove Street one-bedroom apartment for $1,800—roughly half the actual market rate of $3,395. The original video was posted by legitimate agent Dave Chesnosky, whose unwatermarked content was stolen and reused. Scammers exploit tight market conditions, limited inventory, and high demand to deceive renters seeking affordable housing during a period of significant rental price increases.
#rental-scams #san-francisco-housing-crisis #social-media-fraud #real-estate-deception #rental-market-exploitation
Read at SFGATE
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