{"id":451417,"date":"2026-09-02T20:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/451417\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:46:20","slug":"san-francisco-renter-reveals-the-elaborate-scam-that-cost-him-18k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/451417\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Renter Reveals the Elaborate Scam That Cost Him $18K"},"content":{"rendered":"

As more home renting and buying processes<\/a>\u00a0move online and fraudsters become more sophisticated, some potential tenants can find themselves in\u00a0nightmarish situations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For one\u00a0San Francisco<\/a> resident, that nightmare was the loss of over $18,000.<\/p>\n

Alvin Tran, a product designer for a local startup, came across identical\u00a0listings for an apartment<\/a> in the city\u2019s Duboce Triangle neighborhood\u00a0on Zillow and Craigslist. After reaching out to the seller on both platforms, the contact from Craigslist responded, inviting Tran to an open house. <\/p>\n

Because the listings on Zillow and Craigslist were identical, including the same images, Tran believed the seller had simply cross-posted the listing to both platforms. However, the man he was speaking to from the Craigslist listing was merely impersonating the property owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0been in San Francisco for five years, and\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0moved around a few different apartments.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0actually found\u00a0two apartments in San Francisco from Craigslist, so\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0why I thought that Craigslist is\u00a0pretty legit\u00a0and why I was OK looking up apartments on there this time around,\u201d Tran tells Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the open house, Tran met the legitimate property owner. However, because he was under the impression that they were in communication already, Tran did not take the time to confirm contact information in person.<\/p>\n

The rest of the communication with the fraudulent seller seemed normal, with no glaring red flags.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were\u00a0pretty legit. They were not moving fast; they were not pushy. They even asked me to\u00a0submit\u00a0a letter expressing my interest,\u201d Tran says. \u201cThey took their time, and there were multiple steps in between. So I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0really think of any red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, July 27, Tran made a wire transfer to the\u00a0supposed seller\u00a0for the amount of\u00a0$18,600, which covered the first and last months\u2019 rent, as well as a security deposit.<\/p>\n

For the rest of the week, Tran and his assumed landlord communicated normally, discussing moving\u00a0logistics and setting up utilities. They planned to exchange keys on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

When Tran arrived at the apartment at 6 p.m. on Thursday, no one was there to meet him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI texted, I called, I rung the doorbell, and I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0hear anything. I waited for 20 minutes, and I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0hear anything,\u201d Tran recalls. \u201cAnd at that time, I was still even holding out for hope. I was, like,\u00a0maybe something happened,\u00a0maybe they\u00a0got into an emergency,\u00a0maybe there\u00a0were crossed\u00a0wires. So throughout that night, I was still hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Friday morning, it was\u00a0evident\u00a0that Tran had fallen victim to an elaborate\u00a0scam.<\/p>\n

A view of homes in San Francisco. Area renter Alvin Tran is speaking out about the risks of rental scams and warning others after a fake Craigslist post cost him more than $18,000.Heather Diehl\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tran initially took to\u00a0Reddit to share his story<\/a>\u00a0and seek advice. Even the often-critical forum users were sympathetic, acknowledging that this elaborate scheme would be hard to catch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow. Out of all the\u00a0scams\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0read on this sub,\u00a0I think this\u00a0is the first one\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0read that\u00a0would\u2019ve\u00a0worked on me, too.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0sorry,\u201d wrote one user.<\/p>\n

Others shared\u00a0similar stories, some having been the potential tenant and others having their properties listed on Craigslist by scammers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a landlord in sf with an active listing and someone did the same thing, posting an illegitimate Craigslist ad, with the showing time and details,\u201d a property owner on the forum site wrote. \u201cI figured out who was committing the fraud by the messages I sent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever wire money! This happened to me with a rental\u00a0scam\u00a0but I wrote a cheque. We signed a lease and got keys that\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0work and they ghosted,\u201d another user shared their story. \u201cI was able to get my money back because I wrote a cheque and had a copy of the lease by disputing it with my bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

How renters can protect themselves from\u00a0scams<\/p>\n

There are\u00a0a number of\u00a0ways for renters to protect themselves from\u00a0scams\u00a0and ensure the person they are speaking with has the authority to rent out the property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience, the most dangerous real estate scams are no longer the obvious ones featuring fake photographs or poorly written advertisements,\u201d real estate broker and CEO of\u00a0Florida Dreams Realty Group<\/a> Adriana Montes\u00a0tells Realtor.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cSophisticated scammers use real addresses, copy legitimate listings, impersonate licensed professionals, and may even direct prospective tenants to genuine open houses or self-guided tours.<\/p>\n

\u201cA real open house proves that the property exists. It does not prove that the person texting you has the authority to rent or sell it,\u201d Montes adds.<\/p>\n

Looking back at his experience, Tran wishes he had taken the extra step to confirm the legitimate owner\u2019s contact information, even though it seemed weird\u2014and he recommends that all other potential renters ask extra confirmation questions, as they could uncover fraudulent situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a potential tenant, I would go the extra mile to confirm that information. Even confirm where you saw the listing,\u201d Tran advises. \u201cBecause if I had even mentioned Craigslist, I feel like things would have fallen apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montes recommends independently verifying that\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0speaking to the correct person by contacting the brokerage or management company in charge of the property.<\/p>\n

For a private landlord, compare their identification with county property records. Any discrepancies with their identity and the payment recipient is a red flag.<\/p>\n

Andrew Gardner, founder of Leap Properties<\/a>\u00a0in Houston, says to be wary of urgent requests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone is pushing you to send a deposit immediately because five other people supposedly want the property, slow down and take a beat,\u201d Gardner tells Realtor.com. \u201cA legitimate deal will give you plenty of time to verify who owns the property and who you’re actually sending money to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legitimate payments will never\u00a0be requested\u00a0through cryptocurrency, gift cards, or, in most cases, wire transfer, Montes says. Any last-minute changes to wiring instructions should be an immediate red flag and presumed fraudulent, she explains.<\/p>\n

Although he has yet to recover his funds, Tran is sharing his story publicly to ensure others\u00a0are informed\u00a0of these elaborate schemes and take precautions to avoid them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Get real estate news in your inbox<\/p>\n

Sign up now<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As more home renting and buying processes\u00a0move online and fraudsters become more sophisticated, some potential tenants can find…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[184,7,723,178441,20230,101,105063,103,102,104,106,105,5050],"class_list":["post-451417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-crime","tag-fraud-and-scams","tag-renting","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-ca","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451417","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=451417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}