Just as there are many reputable and legitimate property listings available in Taiwan, there are quite a number of rental scams, as well. Unfortunately, these affect both landlords and prospective renters, causing not just financial loss but also emotional and mental stress.
To avoid becoming a victim of these unscrupulous scammers, it’s important to be aware and informed. In this article, we will tackle some of the most common rental scams, how they operate, and how they can be avoided. We will also discuss some important tips on how rental scammers can be spotted and reported to authorities.
Watch Out for These Rental Scams
Whether you are looking for a rental property online, through printed ads, or personal referrals — it’s important to be vigilant. Sadly, there are many scammers who are always scheming to rob people, including prospective renters, of their hard earned money.
For this reason, we have put together this guide on some common rental scams. What are these scams and how do they operate? How can we avoid them? Let’s take a closer look at each type of scam:
Advanced Payment for Viewing Scam
The first type of rental scam happens even before any property viewing takes place. This is a common scheme that usually victimizes young and newly-arrived renters, who are eager to find rental accommodations in Taiwan.
How they Operate:
How does this scheme work? When prospective tenants inquire about a listing, the scammer tells them that many people are already interested in the property. Then, they are urged to make a payment so that they can be “prioritized” for viewing. Eager to gain viewing access, the prospective tenants agree to make the payment.
In reality, the property is not actually owned by the scammer; or worse, the property may not even exist at all! Once the scammer receives the money, he/she magically disappears… leaving a very confused and worried victim!
How to Avoid this Scam:
To avoid this scam, please be careful and avoid making any payments until you have checked the authenticity of the property. Also, do not hesitate to ask for documents, so that you can confirm a person’s identity as well as their ownership of the property.
Impersonation of Property Owners
Speaking of identity, this is another common rental scam. Many unsuspecting tenants get victimized, without realizing that the person they’re talking to is not who he/she claims to be.
How they Operate:
In this scheme, the scammer pretends to be a landlord or property owner. They schedule viewing appointments with potential tenants, asking for payments (e.g. pre-viewing payment, rental deposit, security deposit, etc.). After getting the money, the scammer vanishes… never to be seen again. The victims end up losing not just their money; their time and effort have also been in vain!
How to Avoid this Scam:
Before anything else, be sure to check the identity of the person you’re dealing with. There are official websites that can help you verify the identity of real estate agents and property owners (more on this later). If you fail to take this important step, then you will likely become a scam victim, indeed!
Property Investment Scams
Although this is not directly a rental scam, it is still related to real estate, and could victimize prospective tenants and property owners, too. There are actually many types of investment scams out there, and this one is focused on real estate properties.
How they Operate:
In this type of scam, the scammer entices people to add them as “friends” on social networks, luring them with promising ads to invest in real estate properties. They guarantee, risk-free, high-profit earnings, persuading people with flowery words and huge sums of money. But as soon as the victim makes an investment, the scammer disappears.
In some cases, the scammer let’s the victim gain some profit and convinces them to make an even bigger investment, before finally vanishing with huge amounts of money!
How to Avoid this Scam:
These days, deceptive ads are a dime a dozen… there’s so many of them! So beware and always be alert to enticing ads and videos sent to you by unknown numbers or email addresses. Be wary of strangers trying to befriend you on social networks and apps.
Tips for Avoiding Rental Scams
How can you avoid becoming a victim of rental scams? Here are some of practical tips and reminders:
Guard your personal information.
Many scams involve identity theft, which is when another person pretends to be you and makes transactions on your behalf. And so, always protect your personal information, and don’t just give your full name, birthday, address, and contact numbers to anyone! In addition, be sure to use strong passwords on your mobile apps and accounts, to avoid getting hacked and your identity stolen!
Protect your banking details.
Likewise, be sure to keep your banking details safe. These include account numbers, passwords, bank card details, and so on. Also, when making transactions, choose bank transfers and other “traceable” methods, instead of wire transfers and mobile apps.
Always verify property’s existence.
When looking for rental properties, don’t forget to check their actual existence! Furthermore, always review rental ads to make sure that they contain real and not “edited” pictures!
When viewing a properties, it’s also important to check their actual conditions. Don’t be shy to ask questions about any damages and repairs that have been made in the past.
Always verify other party’s identity.
This is very important. Whether you are talking to a real estate agent or property owner, be sure to verify their identity! Ask to meet them in person instead of just communicating online.
To check if you’re dealing with a licensed real estate agent, you can check this government website. It’s written in Chinese, so you might need a Chinese-speaking friend to help you.
Similarly, if you are based in Taipei, they have a Land Administration Information Network. You can use this to verify property addresses and the identities of property owners.
Watch out for evasive answers.
Many scammers use evasive tactics to lure their customers. For instance, they will focus more on talking about other topics (e.g. personal lives, news events) than address inquiries about properties. In most cases, they will also insist that you “rush” transactions because there are many interested customers or other similar reasons. If the “agent” is trying to create a sense of urgency, always be wary as this could be a method to persuade you to pay!
Beware of “too good to be true” schemes.
Nowadays, it’s very easy to edit and enhance images, to make a property look better than it actually is. Similarly, scammers are very good at making up schemes (e.g. extremely low rental prices, fancy images, etc.). Trust your gut; if something seems too good to be true, then most likely it isn’t true!
Don’t click unfamiliar links.
This applies not just to rental scams, but online scams in general. “Think before you click” should always be in mind. Scammers like to use these links to attract and trap unsuspecting victims!
Report scams and suspicious activity.
If you get scammed, or if you notice any suspicious activity online (or offline), do not hesitate to report it to local authorities. They can help you try to recover what you lost, as well as help prevent other people from getting scammed.
In this day and age of online banking and communication, it has become easier for scammers to steal money and identity! However, if we take time to learn about these scams and how they work, we can avoid becoming victims and parting with our money! Likewise, when it comes to renting properties, we should also take note of these legal tips regarding rental agreements.