MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A Mooresville woman said she learned someone was using her home to try to scam people.
Renay Nemeth told Channel 9 a woman showed up at her house last month.
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“I saw this property online on Zillow and I tried to contact the person who is trying to rent it,” the woman could be seen on the doorbell video telling Nemeth.
The home was never listed to rent out, Nemeth said.
However, she found her home on three rental websites.
“I was frustrated because they’re scamming people,” Nemeth said. “First of all, that’s an invasion of my own privacy because now there are pictures.”
Nemeth said she contacted Zillow, Trulia, and Hotpads after she found the listings last month.
A spokesperson for Zillow told Channel 9 its parent company owns all three sites.
Zillow officials said they removed the listings immediately after someone reported them.
Zillow warns people should beware of suspiciously low prices, avoid sending money through a wire transfer or money order and use the site’s “report listing” tool if there is a fake listing.
“You can’t keep ahead of what they’re doing,” Nemeth said. “If we can protect ourselves, just kind of look out for it.”
It’s unclear who was behind the fraudulent listings.
A rep for Zillow said they deactivated the person’s account immediately.
Statement from Zillow:
“Zillow strives to provide a safe online platform with accurate information, which is why we go to great lengths to prevent inappropriate listings from being posted and to inform users of how to protect themselves from scams online and offline. Our teams monitor activity in several different ways, actively screening for suspicious content, and if a listing is found to be fraudulent, it is removed from our sites as quickly as possible. Our ‘How to Recognize and Avoid Rental Fraud’ page and ‘Beware of Scams and Other Internet Fraud’ page both explain how to look out for red flags online, such as requests for wire transfers or rental prices that seem too good to be true, and provide other valuable information about how to avoid bad actors in the housing market.”
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