Stella contacted the landlord named on the listing and quickly got an email back. “I am very new in this landlord business,” the person wrote, according to emails Stella shared with The Washington Post. “We are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours.”
The purported landlord, who identified himself as a Catholic missionary, sent over a list of “application questions,” including whether Stella agreed to send a $1,000 security deposit before moving in. No problem, Stella responded, but could they tour the house first?
Then he got suspicious. He Googled the house’s address and found it for sale on Zillow. His “landlord” was a scammer that had pulled the home’s photos and details from a legitimate listing.
It wasn’t the only fake listing Stella came across in his hunt for an affordable place to live, he said.
Today, navigating real estate scams is part of the process for prospective renters…
