Renting safely

See the property in person, satisfy yourself that the person showing it has the right to rent it out, and never send money before you have stood inside. Rental fraud is the highest-value scam on any local marketplace, and every version of it depends on getting a deposit out of you before you have seen the place.

What the scam looks like

The photographs are real, because they were taken from a genuine listing somewhere else. The rent is a little under the going rate, enough to make you hurry. The person is out of the country, or working away, or has an agent who cannot meet, and they will mail you the keys as soon as the deposit and the first month clear. Nothing about the conversation feels wrong until the money has gone.

What to do instead

• View it. Not a video call, not a walkthrough somebody sends you. Stand in the property. If you truly cannot travel, send somebody you know.
• Check who owns it. County property records are public in the United States and searchable by address. The name on them should match the person renting it out, or the person should be able to say plainly who they act for.
• Ask for the lease before the money. A real landlord will produce one. Read the address, the term, the rent, the deposit and the conditions for getting the deposit back.
• Pay traceably, and only after signing. Never by wire transfer, money order, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or a payment app in "friends and family" mode. Those are chosen because they cannot be reversed.
• Reverse image search the photographs. The same pictures on a listing in another city, or on a real estate agent's site, is the tell.

Pressure is the signal

Two other people want it, the offer expires tonight, send the holding deposit now. A genuine landlord filling a genuine apartment does not need you to decide in an hour. Urgency is the tool, not a coincidence, and slowing down costs you nothing worse than an apartment you might have gotten.

Jinu is not in the middle

There is no escrow on Jinu. Jinu never holds a deposit, cannot release one, and cannot get one back. Nobody at Jinu will ever contact you to collect a deposit or to verify a payment.

If it has already happened

Report the listing from the listing itself: more menu, Report, then a reason. Report it to your local police, and if you paid by card or bank transfer, call your bank the same day, because the first hours are when a transfer can sometimes still be stopped. For an urgent safety issue write to safety@jinu.app, and read Rental and deposit scams before your next viewing.