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The competitive rental market in San Francisco has encountered a new challenge: social media scammers who are hijacking genuine apartment listings and transforming them into viral traps for hopeful tenants.
According to a report by SFGate, these fraudsters are appropriating authentic apartment tour videos from realtors in the Bay Area and reposting them on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The twist? They drastically reduce the rent to eye-catching, seemingly impossible prices.
One notable instance involved a TikTok account called “Budget Friendly Homes” (also known as for_rent_sanfrancisco), which amassed nearly 12,000 followers by showcasing sleek walkthroughs of chic apartments near Alamo Square. The account attracted attention by listing one-bedroom apartments for as little as $1,800 per month. This account has since been removed.
These scammers are not only stealing video content but are also impersonating real estate agents by replicating their names, photos, and even license information.
By the time prospective renters realize they’ve been duped, the scammers have typically already solicited deposits or application fees, only to disappear before any potential showing could occur.
“It’s always when the market gets really busy — rents are going up — when there’s limited inventory and a lot of demand, then the scammers come out,” local real estate agent Dave Chesnosky told SFGate.
Agents told the outlet that the problem has exploded alongside the rise of social media as a marketing tool. A Bay Area agent for Sotheby’s International Realty, Marsha Abrahams, has even been forced to confront the fraud on her own social media page, warning clients that she isn’t the one offering luxury lofts for pennies on the dollar.
“The accounts using the handles @for_rent_sanfrancisco and @marsha_abrahams are not affiliated with me in any way,” she posted on her Instagram. “I do not advertise rental listings or request deposits through TikTok, WhatsApp, or text message.”
An agent with Compass Realty, Nick Abraham, has also had his identity used fraudulently, and he only learned of it after a stranger messaged him asking if he received a deposit–after the victim, a hopeful tenant, contacted “him” via TikTok. Except Abraham didn’t use TikTok.
“I looked it up and they had taken my actual picture, my actual department of real estate license number and were impersonating me,” Abraham told SFGate. The bandits even set up a sham email account with his name misspelled.
Experts say the rule for renting remains the same, regardless of where you’re based: if you haven’t stepped foot inside the front door, keep your wallet in your pocket.
“I tell people, it’s really easy to figure out if they’re a scam,” Chesnosky said. “Just say you want to see the unit in person. That’s all you’ve gotta do.”