Source: Gavin Beckford Photography / The Cochrane House
Durham mom Angela Nunn, who is a teacher battling breast cancer, was scammed out of $1085 while trying to rent a home in northern Durham. She found the ideal home on Zillow. The man who claimed to be renting the home sent Nunn a code that allowed her to access the home’s lockbox and view the property. The man requested first month’s rent, a security deposit and a signed lease. Nunn provided all of the items, but it turned out the whole thing was a scam.
According to ABC11, Zillow provided a statement regarding the incident:
“Zillow goes to great lengths to police activity on our site and fully inform our users of the existence of scams and how to protect themselves. Our customer support team monitors activity on the site in a number of different ways and if a listing is found to be fraudulent, it is immediately removed from Zillow. In addition to removing scam listings from our sites as soon as they are detected, the team is also actively screening for possible scams and fraud, preventing many fraudulent listings from getting posted. Zillow has a “Beware of scams and other internet fraud” page on the site, telling users to look out for red flags like requests for wire transfers and long-distance inquiries, and other valuable information about how to avoid fraudulent listings.”
Source: In His Image Photography / In His Image Photography
