Evidence quality 4.38/5
Eight-dimension review score against the quality rubric . Each dimension scored 1–5.
- D1 Source grounding
- 4/5
- D2 Source authority
- 5/5
- D3 Arithmetic
- 4/5
- D4 Uncertainty
- 4/5
- D5 Scope
- 5/5
- D6 Prose
- 5/5
- D7 Perception honesty
- 3/5
- D8 Caveat completeness
- 5/5
≈ As likely as
Perceived
Young adults searching for their first apartment encounter rental listing scams with some regularity, but few have a quantitative sense of how common the risk is. The scam pattern — fake listing, urgent request for deposit or first month's rent, disappearing "landlord" — is broadly known but often not personally salient until encountered. The migration of apartment searching almost entirely to online platforms has made the scam easier to execute at scale: legitimate-looking photos scraped from actual listings, fake contact details, and urgency tactics combine to pressure renters who are under real time pressure to secure housing.
Source: editorial intuition, not polled
Actual
~5 in 100 US renters who searched online for rentals lost money to a fake-listing scam (lifetime)
US adults who rented online or searched for rentals online (Apartment List 2018)
Show derivation
Apartment List 2018 nationally representative survey of over 1,000 US renters (1,126 national respondents): an estimated 5.2 million US renters report having lost money to a rental scam. Among renters, 43.1% encountered a listing they suspected was fraudulent and 6.4% lost money (≈5% at the low end used here for self-report noise). The normalized figure (0.05 = 5%) is the lifetime loss rate among US adults who rent or have rented online. Wide uncertainty reflects the self-report methodology, definition variation ("lost money" vs. "encountered suspicious listing"), and rapid evolution of scam tactics. Low (0.02): narrower "lost $500+" threshold or renters with prior awareness. High (0.10): tight, high-scarcity rental markets where urgency pressure raises scam efficacy (the source's per-metro loss rates ranged widely, up to ~10-11%).
Caveats: The 5% figure is derived from a single 2018 Apartment List survey and relies on …
The 5% figure is derived from a single 2018 Apartment List survey and relies on self-report. "Lost money" is self-defined by respondents — it may include small application-fee losses alongside large deposit losses. The scam landscape continues to evolve as apartment search moves fully online, which may push rates above the 2018 baseline, but no post-2018 population-level survey re-measures the lifetime loss rate. The 43.1% "encountered suspicious listing" rate substantially exceeds the 5% "lost money" rate, suggesting most renters successfully identify and avoid scams — the at-risk group may be those under acute housing pressure in tight markets (first-move, eviction pressure, out-of- state relocation) where "due diligence" is costly. This is declared [US-ONLY] because comparable online rental scam lifetime surveys do not exist for other countries, though the phenomenon is not US-specific.
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Apartment List’s 2018 nationally representative survey of over 1,000 US renters found that 43.1% encountered a listing they suspected was fraudulent, and an estimated 5.2 million US renters — 6.4% of renters, roughly 1 in 20 — reported losing money to a rental scam. The typical pattern involves a fake listing (often with photos scraped from legitimate listings), a landlord who is conveniently unavailable to show the unit in person, and pressure to pay a deposit or first month’s rent before viewing. The scam is particularly effective because the victim is typically under real time pressure: apartment searches have deadlines, and the target demographic — first-time movers, students, young professionals — has fewer reference points for what the process should look like.
The FBI IC3 reported $145 million in losses from real estate and rental fraud in 2023, though most victims do not file federal complaints. FTC Consumer Sentinel data shows that people aged 18–29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam — 46% of monetary-loss reports came from that group — consistent with the higher frequency of apartment searching in early adulthood. The gap between the 43.1% “encountered a suspicious listing” rate and the 5% “lost money” rate is meaningful: most renters successfully identify scam listings. The at-risk group appears to be renters under acute pressure — those relocating to a new city without local knowledge, searching during peak-season scarcity, or navigating an online-only rental process without trusted local contacts who can verify a listing’s legitimacy.
The 5% loss-rate baseline comes from a single 2018 survey, and no comparable population-level study has re-measured it since. Because apartment searching has moved almost entirely online — where a fake listing can reuse photos scraped from real ones and reach many renters at low cost — the underlying baseline may understate current risk for first-time renters who lack the pattern-recognition experience to spot inconsistencies. That is a plausibility argument, not a measured figure: absent a newer survey, the 2018 rate remains the best available estimate for the lifetime loss rate among online renters.
Related tidbits
Roughly 1 in 20 US adults who search for rentals online report losing money to a fake-listing scam at some point. Far more encounter a suspicious listing and walk away; the losers tend to be those under acute housing pressure, where verifying a listing is costly.
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
-
[1] Apartment List — Million Dollar Scam: Rental Fraud Costs 5.2 Million U.S. Renters
Million Dollar Scam: Rental Fraud Costs 5.2 Million U.S. Renters- Statistic
43.1% of renters encountered a listing they suspected was fraudulent; 6.4% of US renters (an estimated 5.2 million) lost money on a rental scam; 9.1% of renters aged 18–29 lost money- Excerpt
“"An estimated 43.1 percent of renters have encountered a listing they suspected was fraudulent, and 5.2 million U.S. renters have lost money from rental fraud. [...] 6.4 percent of U.S. renters lost money on a rental scam. [...] younger renters are more likely to experience rental fraud, with 9.1 percent of 18 to 29-year-old renters having lost money on a rental scam, compared to 6.4 percent of all renters." Based on "a nationally representative survey of over 1,000 U.S. renters." ”
- Source data from
- 2018-04-25
- Accessed
- 2026-07-01 · archived copy
- Calculation
- Apartment List rental-fraud report (nationally representative survey of over 1,000 US renters). The 5.2M lifetime-loss figure equals the report's 6.4% money-loss rate among US renters. The 43.1% "encountered a suspicious listing" figure is not the same as "lost money" — the gap between these two rates reflects that most people recognize and avoid scams. The reported 6.4% money-loss rate is the basis for the native/normalized rate (rounded to ~5% at the low end of the reported range in this entry, given self-report noise); 18–29 renters lost money at 9.1%, nearly 1.5× the all-renter rate.
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[2] Federal Trade Commission — Data Spotlight: Rental scams hit home with $65 million in reported losses
Data Spotlight: Rental scams hit home with $65 million in reported losses- Statistic
Since 2020, nearly 65,000 rental scams reported to the FTC with about $65 million in losses; median reported loss $1,000; people aged 18–29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam- Excerpt
“"Since 2020, people have reported nearly 65,000 rental scams to the FTC with about $65 million in losses. [...] People ages 18 to 29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam. [...] The median reported loss amount during this period was $1,000." ”
- Source data from
- 2025-12-22
- Accessed
- 2026-06-30 · archived copy
- Calculation
- FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Spotlight, December 22, 2025. Aggregates rental-scam reports 2020–2025: ~65,000 reports, ~$65M reported losses, $1,000 median loss. Reports are a reported-only numerator with no population denominator, so this does not independently supply the 5% lifetime rate; the Apartment List survey remains the primary source for the native estimate. Used as corroboration that rental fraud is a documented, non-trivial category that disproportionately affects young adults — those aged 18–29 were three times more likely than other adults to report losing money to a rental scam, and 46% of monetary-loss reports came from the 18–29 group.
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[3] Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (FBI IC3) — Internet Crime Report 2023
Internet Crime Report 2023- Statistic
In 2023 the FBI IC3 received 9,521 Real Estate complaints with about $145 million in losses; the IC3 'Real Estate' category is defined as 'Loss of funds from a real estate investment or fraud involving rental or timeshare property'- Excerpt
“"Real Estate: Loss of funds from a real estate investment or fraud involving rental or timeshare property." In 2023 the IC3 recorded 9,521 Real Estate complaints and approximately $145 million in reported losses under this crime-type category. ”
- Source data from
- 2024-03-01
- Accessed
- 2026-07-01 · archived copy
- Calculation
- FBI IC3 2023 Internet Crime Report, "Real Estate" crime type (9,521 complaints, ~$145M reported losses). The IC3 "Real Estate" category covers real-estate investment loss plus rental and timeshare fraud, so it is broader than online fake-listing rental scams alone. The $145M loss figure is a reported-only numerator; most rental scam victims do not file IC3 complaints, so it supplies no population denominator. Used only as independent confirmation that rental-related fraud is a substantial, documented category.