MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Buying or renting a home can come with a lot of challenges, and as online threats become more present in today’s day, scams can be another challenge as well. A post made on Facebook from someone living in Gwinn just last week claims that they were involved in a scam on Zillow. They wrote that their house was posted on the site, and a scammer was trying to get deposits from potential buyers to see the property.
“Nobody should ever be getting money up-front, prior to showing a property, that’s just not the way it works,” commented Real Estate Agent Linda Johnson. She mentioned that the markets in the UP can be tight, which can make it difficult for people to find a worthwhile property.
A statement from Zillow said that they “Strive to provide a safe online platform…and go to great lengths to monitor activity and fully inform users of how to protect themselves”, however, Michigan State Police noted that it’s paramount to have a list of questions to help verify the opportunities. “A big thing that we see is pressure to send personal information or money before you’ve even seen the property a lot of times it’s in some sort of crypto-currency or cash itself sent to some other third party,” commented Michigan State Police Lt. Mark Giannunzio.
“If somebody is asking for money upfront, then that’s your ticket that’s your red flag this isn’t right,” continued Johnson. She noted that like most agents, communication with clients will always be fast and accommodating, and if something doesn’t feel right, in most cases it’s because it isn’t.
“If they want to text or if they’d like to email whatever means of communication, they would like to utilize I’m happy to do,” continued Johnson.
MSP urges the public to stay educated and cautious when purchasing anything online, because as these online mediums become more efficient, so will the potential scams.
WZMQ reached out to the listing website Zillow, the statement is written below:
“Zillow strives to provide a safe online platform, and we go to great lengths to monitor activity and fully inform our users of how to protect themselves from scams online and offline. Our teams use several different tools to prevent inappropriate content from publishing, actively screening for possible scams and blocking them from being posted, and if a listing is found to be fraudulent, it is removed from our site as quickly as possible. Our ‘Beware of scams and other internet fraud’ page provides valuable information on how to spot and avoid red flags like requests for wire transfers or long-distance inquiries.” – a Zillow spokesperson.
Click here to view the red flags that Zillow has listed for buyers to be aware of.
