Too Good To Be True Rental Listing Leads To Credit Score Scam

We’ve been getting a few emails about a new kind of rental scam where they try to lure you into giving over your credit card and personal information to a “free credit score” site. One was from Reader Benjamin, who was looking for a house to rent when he and his wife stumbled across a too good to be true deal, a fully-furnished 3-bedroom house in Maryland for only $1200. Seeing as they had nothing to lose, they emailed the lister, just to see what would happen.

“I got a very prompt response from a guy who said he had just ‘suffered a divorce’ and was returning to Cambridge, England and wanted someone who would take good care of his house. The poor grammar and several typos made us more convinced it was a scam, but we sent him another message asking if we could do a walkthrough, to test him,” writes Benjamin.

Then he got an email back from a woman this time who said she would set up a walkthrough and no background check or application fee was required, the only requirement was that they had to have a credit score over 500. Oh, and here’s a link for a free credit score site.

“Just print out the first three pages and bring it to the walkthrough,” wrote the woman. ” You have to get your credit score through that site; I want serious customers only, not window shoppers.”

Having avoided what was probably a phishing scam where they steal your credit card and your identity, Benjamin and his wife are looking for other houses now.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.