You would never give your personal information to the King of Nigeria to wire transfer you a million dollars right? But you would give all your personal information to a prospective landlord, especially to secure a property in this crazy rental market, even if you thought the price would be to good to be true.
I receive a few phone calls each month from distraught people who have either provided information to these scam artist, or were about to but then saw the home listed on my site, and thought they better check.
If you think you have encountered a fraudulent ad make sure to contact the local authorities and the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission has additional information regarding these type of Scams here.
A good rule of thumb is, if it’s to good to be true, it usually is.