BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning of a growing home listing fraud spreading across the country.
BBB Serving Central & South Alabama President President Carl Bates says scammers steal photos from real estate listings, then repost them on other sites at suspiciously low prices.
Many buyers jump at the chance, not realizing the listing is fake. The scammer charges victims a fee just to enter a fake bidding war.
Buyers might lose an application fee or even a deposit to someone who isn’t selling the home.
Bates says the best way to avoid losing money to this scam is to see the home in person, use a licensed realtor and not send money to someone you’ve never met in person.
“You do not want to send earnest money to somebody who you’ve only seen online with pictures or videos,” Bates said. “We all know there’s lots of videos and pictures and flyovers and drone views of houses for sale now so it’s very easy for the scammers to take these off of other online sites and put them on their own and use social media to push them out.”
Bates says he has not received any local complaints about this specific scam in central Alabama, but he hopes to warn people about it ahead of time to avoid someone falling victim. Suspicious listings can be reported at bbb.org.
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