Rental and deposit scams

Never send a deposit, an application fee, or a first month for a home you have not stood inside, however good the reason sounds.

How a phantom rental works

Someone copies photos and text from a real listing on another site and reposts the place below market. They are overseas, or a missionary, or recently moved for work, so they cannot show it. They will mail you the keys once you have sent a deposit to hold it. There is no property, or there is one and it belongs to somebody else who knows nothing about this.

It is cheap to run at scale, which is why the rent is always slightly too good. A price that makes you hurry is the product.

What to insist on

• See it in person. Inside, not from the sidewalk. If they cannot arrange that, there is nothing further to discuss.
• Meet the person renting it out. Ask how they are connected to the property. An agent should be able to name the management company.
• Check ownership. Property records are public in most US counties and take a few minutes to search.
• Get a written lease before any money moves, and read it.
• Pay in a way that can be traced and, ideally, disputed. Never gift cards, never a wire to a stranger, never crypto.
• Reverse image search the photos. If the same rooms are on a listing site in another city, you have your answer.

Deposits on items, not only homes

The same shape appears on expensive items: a deposit to hold the console, the puppy, the trailer. Jinu does not hold deposits and does not provide escrow, so there is nothing for anyone to appeal to afterwards. For a local deal, pay in full at the meeting or do not pay at all.

Live animals cannot be sold on Jinu. The Pet Supplies category is for supplies. A listing offering an animal for a deposit is breaking the rules and is very often a scam as well.

Reporting one

Use the listing's more menu, choose Report, and pick Spam or scam. A property listing that states who may or may not apply is a separate problem: those are held for review automatically, and you can report those too. If you have already sent money, the recovery steps are in I think I have been scammed, and safety@jinu.app reaches the people who action it.