{"id":436207,"date":"2026-08-18T11:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436207\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T11:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:48:14","slug":"after-the-18000-scam-how-can-bay-area-renters-protect-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436207\/","title":{"rendered":"After the $18,000 Scam, How Can Bay Area Renters Protect Themselves?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the last few weeks, a nightmare housing<\/a> scam sent shockwaves across the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

A scam so fiendish that even Reddit users \u2014 not always known for their compassion \u2014 were sympathetic<\/a> to the target.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, San Francisco resident Alvin Tran posted online about how he lost over $18,000 in a rental scam last month.<\/p>\n

\"\"Alvin Tran walks the streets of the Duboce Triangle on Aug. 14, 2026, in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Tran\u2019s story soon made headlines<\/a> \u2014 and not just because of how much money he lost to someone claiming to be the owner of a highly coveted apartment in the city\u2019s Duboce Triangle neighborhood.<\/p>\n

It also has renters across the region thinking: As scammers adopt more advanced technology and strategies in an increasingly expensive rental market<\/a>, what can you do to avoid being the next target?<\/p>\n

\n\u2018So elaborate and sophisticated\u2019\n<\/p>\n

As Tran told KQED, he first saw the Duboce apartment listed on Craigslist and began messaging the person behind the listing, who claimed to be the building\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n

That person invited Tran to check out the rental \u2014 at a real open house, hosted by the real owner. But Tran didn\u2019t know that the owner never listed the apartment on Craigslist. The open house was so busy that he said he barely got a chance to talk to the landlord.<\/p>\n

After the open house, he wired $18,600 to the Craigslist \u201clandlord,\u201d which included first and last months\u2019 rent, along with a security deposit. On the day Tran was meant to pick up the keys at the apartment, nobody showed \u2014 and his panicked messages to the person he believed to be his new landlord went unanswered.<\/p>\n

\"\"Alvin Tran walks the streets of the Duboce Triangle on Aug. 14, 2026, in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all so elaborate and sophisticated that I just couldn\u2019t believe that it was a scam,\u201d Tran told KQED. And the complexity of the scam \u2014 with a bad actor inserting themselves online between a renter and an actual landlord \u2014 has even surprised local officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Tran] really didn\u2019t do anything wrong here. He took nearly every precaution that a reasonable person could take,\u201d said Amanda Fried, chief assistant treasurer for San Francisco, who\u2019s part of a citywide initiative<\/a> launched this summer to prevent fraud and support victims.<\/p>\n

Some industry experts say it\u2019s getting harder to spot a scam as fraudsters depend more on AI. Historically, an email with poor grammar or a strange voice on the phone could raise red flags, said Clayton LiaBraaten, spokesperson for Truecaller, a company that identifies and blocks fraudulent calls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I can have a perfectly scripted voice, email or text message,\u201d LiaBraaten said. \u201cThese scammers are very accomplished at AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

But renters, take a breath \u2014 the battle is not lost. There are still several strategies to catch a scam before losing any money, even if technology is making everything more complicated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keep reading for what experts told KQED you should do before handing over any money to someone online that claims to lease the home you want.<\/p>\n

\nTip 1: How much are they asking for upfront?\n<\/p>\n

When Tran visited the open house, he loved the apartment but saw that he wasn\u2019t the only one. He spotted six other groups, and someone had even shown up with a completed application.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was feeling the pressure: How do I make myself stand out? How do I secure the apartment?\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So after the open house, Tran wrote to the individual who made the Craigslist post and said he was willing to put money down immediately to secure the lease. The individual asked for first and last month\u2019s rent, along with an additional deposit \u2014 totaling $18,600.<\/p>\n

\"\"Alvin Tran poses for a portrait in Duboce Park on Aug. 14, 2026, in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The sheer amount here is immediately a red flag, said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation for the San Francisco renters\u2019 rights group, Eviction Defense Collaborative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why: In 2023, state lawmakers approved Assembly Bill 12<\/a>, which limits how much landlords can charge a renter upfront. Most property owners are now prohibited from charging tenants an amount that\u2019s greater than two months of rent.<\/p>\n

If one month\u2019s rent at an apartment you are looking at is $3,000 a month, the landlord can only charge you an additional $3,000 deposit \u2014 and can only charge a maximum of $6,000 upfront.<\/p>\n

Some landlords may have different names for a deposit payment, like \u201csecurity deposit,\u201d \u201clast month\u2019s rent deposit\u201d or \u201ccleaning deposit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it doesn\u2019t matter what they call it,\u201d Prochovnick said. \u201cIf the landlord is taking the money at the start of the tenancy and will be holding it for the duration of the time the tenant lives there, the most that they can [ask for as a deposit] is one time the rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are some exceptions: Property owners with four rental units or less across two different properties are allowed to charge more. But all renters should take a pause if they are asked for a deposit that exceeds AB 12\u2019s limit, Prochovnick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t stop a scam, but it would at least reduce the amount that you lose,\u201d she said, adding that it\u2019s likely Tran\u2019s scammer didn\u2019t know about this law. There are many rules California landlords have to follow, and someone claiming to be one is expected to keep track of them.<\/p>\n

\nTip 2: Cross-reference the property across different platforms\n<\/p>\n

If you find a home you like on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, it\u2019s a good idea to also look up the address on real estate websites like Zillow, Trulia or Apartments.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a diligent consumer, I should be ensuring that the contact details are the same [across websites],\u201d Prochovnick said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the full name of the person to be identified? Is the rent price the same? The agent names should match perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Tran\u2019s case, the person on Craigslist was also using the real landlord\u2019s name. When the Craigslist scammer ghosted him once the money was wired, Tran panicked and checked the apartment\u2019s Zillow listing.<\/p>\n

\"\"Alvin Tran walks the streets of the Duboce Triangle on Aug. 14, 2026, in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

He ended up finding the real owner, who never received any payment. \u201cThat\u2019s when I got the confirmation that the Craigslist did not belong to the owner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tran said that in the years leading up to this incident, he\u2019d found two old apartments on Craigslist without any problem.<\/p>\n

But LiaBraaten from Truecaller said he\u2019d advise would-be renters to use this site with caution. Instead, \u201cDeal with platforms that are specifically dedicated to the rental market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Craigslist did not immediately return KQED\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

\nTip 3: Confirm property ownership yourself\n<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve cross-referenced online listings, go to the official source. Your city\u2019s planning department or assessor-recorder\u2019s office may have an online portal where you can look up an address and find whose name is linked to the property. In some cases, you may have to go to city hall to do this in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should especially be doing that if we\u2019re dealing with an independent landlord rather than with a property management company,\u201d Prochovnick said.<\/p>\n

She also recommended you always visit the property yourself. If the landlord keeps giving you reasons for why you can\u2019t visit, that\u2019s another red flag. \u201cNever fall for that. You have to physically visit the property,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Apartment buildings in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021.<\/p>\n

Of course, Tran did visit the property \u2014 which is why it\u2019s also crucial to use any visit to \u201cphysically confirm the identity of the person who\u2019s showing you the place,\u201d Prochovnick said. \u201cAsk them for their real estate license number, their corporate credentials or some kind of ID.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tran admitted that he didn\u2019t do this at the open house. There were so many people there that day that he barely got a chance to speak with the owner, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think had I just done that and gone the extra mile to verify his contact information, this whole scam would have fallen apart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nTip 4: Be cautious of direct bank transfers\n<\/p>\n

All experts KQED spoke with were very clear about avoiding direct transfers from your bank account \u2014 also known as wire transfers.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t wire money, don\u2019t use crypto, don\u2019t use those digital apps that we\u2019ve all come to love like Venmo and Zelle,\u201d Prochovnick said, \u201cbecause you\u2019re not protected when you use those tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her experience, most real estate management companies take payments via credit card or check.<\/p>\n

\"\"A \u201cFor Rent\u201d sign hangs in the window of an apartment building in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you pay with a credit card, you could get the payment canceled, and you have fraud protection through your credit card company,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you do it with a check or money order, you could stop payment on the check.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if you still are going to wire money, LiaBraaten from Truecaller recommended you verify the destination and ask if the recipient\u2019s information makes sense to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVerify: Is this going to an individual or to a business entity?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nTip 5: Keep a record of what\u2019s going on\n<\/p>\n

Even if it all feels legit, keep a record of every interaction you have with the person claiming to be the property owner.<\/p>\n

Screenshot online listings, emails, payments and text messages \u2014 especially if you\u2019re communicating on a platform like WhatsApp, where one user can delete messages for everyone else in the chat.<\/p>\n

\"\"A \u201cFor Rent\u201d sign hangs outside of an apartment building in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021.<\/p>\n

But Prochovnick said not to let the pressure prevent you from doing your due diligence when it comes to finding a new home.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re tempted to go ahead and wire money \u2014 even though it\u2019s not safe \u2014 so that you could go to the head of the line,\u201d she said. \u201cThis anxiety about the shortage of affordable units is absolutely inducing people to be more susceptible to scams.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when rents are so high here, she said, \u201cit\u2019s creating a greater incentive to be a scammer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the last few weeks, a nightmare housing scam sent shockwaves across the Bay Area. A scam so…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-436207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}