The majority of rental listings advertised on Facebook Marketplace appear to be, or have the hallmarks, of scams according to Generation Rent.
The organisation’s research found 56% of rental listings on Facebook Marketplace were properties lifted from sites such as Booking.com and Rightmove.
As such, the tenant advocacy group is warning consumers to be vigilant before engaging with rental listings advertised on the platform.
Comparing 300 rental property adverts around the UK, Generation Rent found almost three quarters contained at least one indicator they were suspicious or a scam.
These indicators were according to Meta’s own guidance and could include a seller’s profile being less than a year old, the rental price significantly lower than the local average or photos were clearly lifted from other sites.
For instance, 36% of adverts were posted by sellers with profiles of less than a year old with 12% using pictures from other sources.
The majority of these adverts in London (86%) advertised rent that was two thirds lower than the average in the local area.
Overall, suspicious adverts targeted six UK cities the most which - in order - were Birmingham, London, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester and Edinburgh.
To give an idea of the damage this can have, Generation Rent shared the story of one victim Saduni — after signing a tenancy agreement received online, Saduni was contacted by SpareRoom that told her scammers had been pretending to the property’s actual tenant.
Saduni said: “[SpareRoom] informed us that [the scammer] had been pretending to be her and the landlord all along. The scammer had been using an Airbnb ad to lure desperate tenants into giving them deposits and running off with the money. We were completely dumbfounded.”
As such, Generation Rent is calling for more to be done to protect people from being taken advantage of by scammers.
This is urgent, according to the tenancy advocacy group, due to the pressure many people are under to find accommodation due to a shortage of housing.
In a statement, Generation Rent added: “It is vital that the government takes the initiative in building more affordable and social homes across the country, to protect renters from poverty and desperation.
“Online websites are also responsible for making sure that their content is moderated and that their users are kept safe from scammers.”
