Searching for an affordable house in SoCal, she fell for a scam sweeping social media

Pam Yeager thought she had found her perfect next rental in a cute bungalow near downtown Fullerton.

It seemed like a no-brainer: It was priced slightly below the region’s average for a two-bedroom home, would allow her to live closer to her son and was available right as her current lease was expiring.

But it turned out to be one big scam, costing her thousands of dollars to online fraudsters.

“It’s ridiculous,” Yeager, 53, said. “There has to be some sort of accountability.”

But experts say it’s a scenario that is becoming more common and difficult to police.

In California, an incredibly tight housing market and high rents are fueling a new generation of real estate scams that take advantage of people desperate to find an affordable place to live.

Officials say the scammers place fake listings on social media and other online marketplaces, sometimes using artificial intelligence to make the content appear legitimate. Often, they simply take existing listings and repost them, collecting as much money as they can before victims learn they were never in touch with a legitimate landlord.

And as more people are turning to social media to find rentals and homes for sale, police say it’s created a ripe environment for scammers, given many platforms’ limited regulation and oversight.

The fake ads often offer what appear to be unbeatable deals — capitalizing on people’s desperation.

“Especially in this housing market, it gets competitive and people feel pressure to act quickly,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla, who said the department regularly investigates these types of online rental scams. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.”

Real estate professionals across the state have seen cybercrimes like these increasing, said Chris Duff, president of Greater Los Angeles Realtors Assn. and co-owner of Beach Real Estate Group.

“This is not something new, it’s just rising,” Duff said. “It’s getting worse every year.”

Just last week, the Placentia Police Department warned of a “sharp rise in rental property scams on social media platforms” and urged residents across the region to be extra cautious before sending anyone money, especially without first touring a property.

Once such scams occur, it’s extremely challenging to hold someone accountable, Placentia Police Department Sgt. Frank Garza said, as many perpetrators only communicate through burner social media accounts or ask for money through difficult-to-trace platforms. Some are even operating from outside the country.

“It’s kind of a trend we’re seeing in Orange County,” Garza said of the real estate scams. “These people, they’re good at what they do.”

An aerial view of homes near downtown Fullerton. Orange County law enforcement say they have seen an increase in online rental scams.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The Zillow post that advertised the Fullerton home was only up for a day, but in that time, it attracted the attention of Yeager — and several other interested renters.

One of them tracked down Laura Spencer, a real estate agent who had helped with the home’s sale just eight months prior.

“I said, ‘I think this is a scam,’” Spencer recalled, remembering how her client had planned to move into the home herself. Still, she checked in with the owner, who confirmed the Realtor’s suspicions.

“Whatever this is, this house is not for rent,” Spencer told the interested renter.

But Spencer never spoke with Yeager, who had already expressed her interest for the place though Zillow.

In a statement, Zillow said the company works to “provide a safe online platform with accurate information,” taking steps to prevent fraudulent listings from being posted and quickly removing any that make it past the company’s screening process. Still, a company spokesperson urged prospective renters and buyers to beware of possible red flags that might signal a scam.

While Yeager said she noticed the listing was quickly pulled from Zillow, she just assumed someone had snagged the rental before her.

But later that day, she got a text referencing the property: “Still interested?”

She was, she said, and asked to set up a tour. The supposed landlord replied that the current tenants wouldn’t be leaving for a few more weeks, but she could see it once they moved out.

In the meantime, they sent her a link to a Google Drive video of the home — which turned out to be a copy of a previous real estate agent’s tour that had been downloaded — and told her she could fill out an application with a $75 fee.

In hindsight, Yeager said she had some initial qualms about the rental process, but the person with whom she was dealing reassured her at every point.

She asked: Why was the listing taken down so quickly on Zillow? They had gotten too many inquiries.

When can I see the property in person? Once the current occupants move out, and you’re welcome to drive by in the meantime.

Why did you direct me to pay the application fee to someone I haven’t talked to? That’s my secretary.

“Maybe I’m just being a worrywart and overthinking it,” Yeager recalled telling herself. “It’s a great house. … It checked all the boxes.”

But once her application was accepted, the supposed landlord told her that he needed a security deposit equivalent to one month’s rent, $2,500 — slightly below the county average for a two-bedroom — to take the house off the market. Yeager said she hesitated at this point because of the large sum he was requesting, but she set up a call with the man, something that assured her he was indeed real, and he said he could provide her with receipts for the deposit.

She agreed to send the money via Zelle over several days, reminding herself that it was only a deposit and could be refunded.

That turned out to be one of many broken promises.

Once the scammers got her deposit, Yeager said they doubled down with another request: the first month’s rent and that she sign a lease.

It all became too much. It had only been a few days since she saw the listing, and she still hadn’t stepped inside the house. She asked for her refund.

“All of a sudden the phone call dropped,” Yeager said. She spent the next few hours calling every number and email she had from the exchange but got radio silence.

“It’s total crap,” Yeager said. She’s now out $2,575 — money she counted on to use in her move or needs to pay her current rent if she doesn’t find a new place — and she worries she’ll never get it back. She’s picked up extra hours at work to try to make up the cash, but she is also extremely anxious about continuing her rental search.

While she wishes she didn’t have this story to tell, Yeager decided to share it to “make sure this kind of thing doesn’t keep victimizing others.”

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Raising awareness is really the only way to respond to these increasingly common scams, many in the industry say.

Once money is sent, “there’s just nothing I can do to help them,” Spencer said, recalling a time something similar happened to one of her clients. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

“Do not give your money out until you’ve met the agent, met the owner, really make sure it’s legitimate,” Spencer said. “It’s why [Realtors] are so valuable.”

Though law enforcement officials say there are ways to track down these types of online scammers — Gwisdalla, the Orange County sheriff’s sergeant, was adamant it can be done — it’s a demanding process for detectives that typically involves lengthy search warrants and digging through massive data dumps, if the accounts involved can be identified and tracked.

“They’re very difficult,” Garza, with the Placentia Police Department, said of such cases. The small department had two such scams — from rentals posted on Facebook and TikTok — reported to it in the last year, but he estimated these crimes are likely underreported. Some people are embarrassed or they feel there’s nothing that can be done, he said.

Last year, the FBI received more than 12,000 real estate fraud complaints — a three-year high — to its Internet Crime Complaint Center, according to its latest report on cybercrime. The report cited the rise of AI, which it said “allows criminal actors to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against individuals, businesses, and financial institutions.”

In recent weeks there have been several reports of these scams across the state. In the Bay Area, a homeowner last month reported prospective renters stopping by his house — which he lived in and didn’t plan for rent — after it had apparently been used online to dupe people, according to a report from ABC7 News. In the San Diego area, a family found out someone had reposted photos from their actual rental listing and was setting up tours in exchange for cash, according to a CBS 8 News report.

When The Times knocked on the door of the home Yeager had hoped to rent — days after Yeager had been told the tenants would be moving out — a dog immediately barked.

After a few minutes, a woman in pajamas opened the door and quickly confirmed that she very much still lived there, was the true owner of the home and had no intention of renting it out.

“I’m not leaving anytime soon,” she said.

She had heard someone recently posted a rental listing of her home, but her Realtor told her it was taken down quickly. She had no idea anyone had fallen for the listing, much less lost thousands trying to rent it.

“I definitely feel bad for her,” the woman said. “But it doesn’t really surprise me to tell you the truth. … Lot of scams going on.”