Woman loses thousands of dollars to house rental scam
By Brian Roche
Click here for updates on this story
Susquehanna Valley, PA (WGAL) — In the current housing market, it is difficult – if not impossible – to find a place to buy or rent, and that makes for a perfect set up for scammers to hijack houses online.
A Susquehanna Valley woman lost thousands of dollars to a home rental scam.
The home Melinda Detwiler found in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, for her family of six was near her husband’s new job. On video, the house was hard to resist.
“So, it was perfect. It had four bedrooms, four bathrooms. It was near the beach, where we all wanted to be,” she said.
But Dewiler found the property on Craigslist, a favored hangout for scammers.
She communicated through email and text messages with two men posing as the owner and a rental agent. They sent her a rental agreement which seemed legitimate, so she decided to lease the house.
“I had to send $3,500,” she said.
Detwiler had to send that money through Bitcoin, which is a preferred path of payment for scammers because it can’t be traced.
“I had no idea what I was doing. He had to tell me how to do it,” she said.
When Detwiler realized she was ripped off, she managed to get her scammer on the phone.
“After he knew that I knew that I was getting scammed he hung up on me, like a coward,” she said.
House hijacking rental scams continue to thrive because scammers always have a new batch of real estate photos they can snag from websites and repost as rental properties.
“The worst part about this is not only losing the money but to confront my family. Like, to see my children cry, afraid to be homeless,” Detwiler said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
