Real estate: consumer advocates warn against fake listings on online platforms
The NRW consumer advice center warns against fake apartment ads on platforms such as Immobilienscout24, Immowelt or Immonet. The targets are money and data.
(Image: Dontree_M/Shutterstock.com)
The NRW consumer advice center warns against fake apartment advertisements on platforms such as Immobilienscout24, Immowelt or Immonet. Fraudsters are taking advantage of the emergency situation on the housing market to make money with fake advertisements and steal sensitive data such as proof of salary or copies of identity cards. The portals themselves are also endeavoring to take action against fraudulent practices, but this is not working so well, as can be seen from the latest reviews of various apps.
"Full of fake and scam ads. When these are reported, they are back a few days later, slightly altered. If you are looking for a rental apartment, you should be careful and carefully check where you enter your personal data beforehand," read these and similar reviews in the Play Store.
Stay alert
Although ImmoScout24, for example, checks every advertisement before it is published and "the majority of fake advertisements are not published in the first place", this is not always successful. "We are constantly developing the technology to detect fake listings. Nevertheless, you should remain vigilant – especially if the offer is too good to be true," says Immobilien Scout GmbH.
According to Ayten Öksüz, an expert in data protection at the NRW consumer advice center, apartment seekers should be particularly suspicious of unusually low purchase and rental prices as well as understated ancillary costs. The images displayed are often copies from the Internet. A reverse image search can help to expose such fake advertisements.
Do not pay in advance and do not disclose any sensitive data
Another trick used by fraudsters is to ask for payment in advance to view the apartment. As soon as the money has been transferred, the supposed owners are suddenly no longer contactable. ImmoScout24 itself also advises against transferring money in advance. Some scammers want to "handle the advance payment, the apartment viewing or the handover of keys via platforms such as Airbnb, eBay or booking.com", writes the consumer advice center. However, these platforms do not offer services such as viewing rental apartments.
In addition, users should not send sensitive data such as copies of ID cards, especially not before the first apartment viewing. Criminals also use phishing emails to try and steal data. The data can then be used to conclude contracts or open new accounts in the victim's name.
Report fraud
The consumer advice center points out that it is important to report a successful fraud attempt to the police. Incidents and attempted fraud can also be reported via the respective portals so that the operators can delete the fake advertisements. It is also advisable to keep any chat or email history with the fraudster.
But dangers also lurk for private sellers of real estate. The criminals feign interest in the house or apartment for sale to obtain so-called rip deals or advance payments. In some cases, the fraudsters are very perfidious and sometimes make up credible personal stories. It is therefore also important not to agree to advance payments and to check the potential buyer's details.
(mack)
