While the citizen, who is in the trouble of finding a more suitable rental house, falls victim to the deposit fraudsters and loses the money in his hand, the sector representatives call on the citizens to “beware of fake advertisements”.
With the exorbitant increase in rents, scammers also appeared on the scene. While the citizen, who is in the trouble of finding the most suitable one, falls victim to the deposit fraudsters and loses the money in his hand, the sector representatives call on the citizens to “beware of fake advertisements”.
Especially in some regions, the deposit fraudsters, who take advantage of the exorbitant rent increase in housing rents due to different reasons, victimize the consumer with the method called “phishing method”.
Fraudsters who advertise houses that do not belong to them at prices much lower than their counterparts and ask the consumer to deposit a deposit or collective rent before they see the house, on the pretext of high demand for the ad, disappear after the payment is made.
While defrauding the citizens, the people in question mostly use the excuse that they live in a place other than the city where the house they will rent is located.
Levent Kucuk, Chairman of the Consumers Association, gave information to the AA correspondent about the process, underlining that the increase in housing rents created an opportunity for fraudsters and gave the following information:
“The exorbitant increases in rents have increased deposit fraud. People are victimized by the method we call the ‘phishing method’ in this regard. Since the prices have increased, they advertise that they are renting the flat, which is especially well-maintained, not even furnished, or is in the portfolio of another real estate agent, in beautiful neighborhoods, they say that there is a lot of demand and they ask for a deposit.
In this sense, there are many scammers and victims. Those who want to rent a house should not send money remotely through the website without seeing the house and the landlord, but be sure of its accuracy.”
“Do not think anyone who has an agenda in their hand as a real estate agent”
President of Istanbul Chamber of Realtors Nizameddin Asa also pointed out that the problem will increase consumer grievances and warned citizens who want to rent a house.
Calling for caution against fraudulent incidents arising from the environment, Asa said:
“Today’s picture whets the appetite of some fraudulent segments, false advertisements appear. Advertisements are made saying ‘2 plus 1 house in Besiktas is ₺2 thousand’. A house there is can’t be worth less than ₺3 thousand. When faced with such an advertisement, our citizens should never pay anyone. The system works like this, they usually say that they live outside the city and they ask for a deposit or advance rent. Citizens should not believe this.
This trend of increase provides a good opportunity for fraudsters, our citizens should pay attention to this. When they are going to work with a realtor, they should definitely ask for a Certificate of Authority from the Ministry of Commerce. They should not think of anyone who has an agenda in their hand as a real estate agent.”
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz