Rental Scams in Singapore and How to Avoid Them: 5 Renters Share Their Experience

Rental Scams in Singapore and How to Avoid Them: 5 Renters Share Their Experience
Rental Scams in Singapore and How to Avoid Them: 5 Renters Share Their Experience

If you’ve been renting in Singapore or looking for a rental unit, you’ll know how hard it is to navigate the current Singapore rental market. With high demand and tight supply, we’ve seen a surge in rental prices over the course of the pandemic. 

And wherever much money moves between hands, there are scammers lying in wait. 

With more people pressed to secure rental units in a highly competitive Singapore rental market, rental scammers have exploited these would-be tenants’ anxieties. The number of rental scam cases increased from 192 cases in 2021 to 979 cases in 2022. More recently, one rental scam saw multiple victims losing over $30,000. 

So how can you avoid them? We spoke to several individuals who have encountered or been the unfortunate victims of rental scams and this is their advice.

*Answers were edited for clarity and brevity only; some names were withheld to protect the identity of interviewees/agents who have been impersonated.

Tips to Avoid Rental Scams in Singapore

  • Use reliable property listing sites like PropertyGuru rather than social media platforms to hunt for a rental unit
  • Insisting on attending a viewing before putting down any kind of deposit to ensure the property exists
  • Do your due diligence on the representing agent by checking them up on the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) website
  • Don’t allow yourself to be pressured into making a decision or putting down a deposit before you are ready
  • If a rental price is too good to be true, it’s likely to be untrue
  • Be on high alert, because even if you do everything right, you may still get scammed

How Rental Scams Work in Singapore

When Bern, 32, a Singaporean, was looking for a rental unit in the first half of 2023, she joined multiple Facebook groups about renting a property in Singapore. In those groups, conversations around available rental listings would take place. Additionally, owners who were seeking to lease out their properties would post pictures of their units.

But in between the innocuous chats about finding rental properties and actual listings, there were scammers lurking.

“It’s quite insidious. What happens is that these scammers would impersonate property agents and post fake listings on these online platforms. There would be pictures and videos of these units so it would look legit. But a big telltale sign they are fake listings is the listing’s pricing seems too good to be true, especially in this current rental market.

The scammers would then inform you that you need to pay a deposit or some cash to view the unit. After that, they will ‘ghost’ you and that’s when you know you’ve been scammed. But luckily, in these chats, there are tons of people who flag out these scammers, so we’re looking out for each other, in a way.”

Across various rental Facebook groups, there are scammers lurking. Source: Facebook

Property Agent Got Scammed by Individuals Impersonating Real Agents

But even when there are good samaritans out there alerting others of a potential scam, you may see the warning too late. 

When Chris*, 27, was househunting in August 2022, he fell prey to a rental scam. The advertising professional and his then-flatmate, Tim*, 28, were looking for a whole unit or a co-living situation as their landlord was intending to sell their condo unit. Katie*, their current co-living agent and Tim’s acquaintance approached them and offered her help.

Katie sent them listings in their Whatsapp group chat. On 22 August 2022, she sent the duo pictures of a two-bedroom condo situated near Holland Village MRT station. The listing was priced at $2,500 per month, which was considered a steal.

“Katie called my friend and urged us to settle the deposit for this place. She said the market is ‘hot’ and the place is at a very good price. My friend and I both rushed into the decision as we both liked how the place looked from the pictures. 

Katie served as our middleman and communicated with the ‘landlord’s agent’. We signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) and deposited $2,500 into a bank account which supposedly belonged to the landlord. The ‘agent’ then set up a time for us to view the property in person.

But on the evening before we headed down to the unit, Katie saw a Facebook post warning about the ‘agent’ we were talking to. The scammer was impersonating a real property agent and posting fake listings. It was then she realised we got scammed. 

Katie helped us make a police report but we didn’t manage to get our money back. Out of goodwill (and probably because she felt bad), she compensated a portion of what we lost through the scam.”

From Fake Documents to False Whatsapp Telephone Numbers: Almost Getting Scammed Twice

Dismayed, Chris continued on his househunting journey and Katie continued to find units for them. Throughout the three-month period, he encountered many fake listings on social media sites. 

“As the saying goes, ‘Once bitten, twice shy’; now we were super careful when browsing listings. Before we did anything, we looked up CEA’s website to ensure the representing agent was legitimate and even got them to send us documentary proof of flat ownership. But guess what, we almost got scammed again!

Like in the previous encounter, the scammer was impersonating a real agent and pressuring us to send a deposit. When we confronted the scammer via a phone call, they actually had the cheek to tell us that they were using two telephone numbers – the actual registered number on the CEA website was their ‘personal’ number and the other number was for advertising property listings. 

The worst part? When Katie called the registered number, the real agent who was being impersonated picked up. And he was clueless about this whole rental deal.”

After a “harrowing househunting experience”, Chris is currently renting a single room with a live-in landlord. He found the listing on PropertyGuru.

He advises those looking for a place to rent to go through trusted property sites. “It’s harder to determine the validity of listings posted on social media sites. When the place is much cheaper than the current market rate, it’s probably too good to be true. 

Finally, don’t trust anyone but yourself. Verify all information before making the deposit. Scammers can easily shadow real property agents’ phone numbers by simply adding +65 in front via number spoofing, so be careful!”

Narrowly Avoided a Rental Scam By Practicing Safety Tips

Chloe, 30, another local who is currently renting a condominium unit in Eunos with three other flatmates, almost fell for a rental scam too. Like Chris’ and Tim’s encounter, she saw a “very attractive unit that was priced under the market rate for the area and situated in an excellent location”

“The first red flag was when I contacted the agent to request a viewing and was told that I couldn’t view the property. The reason given was that the current tenant was still occupying the place. That’s weird because you should be able to go for viewings even if the unit is tenanted. Usually, the existing tenants have to be informed the landlord/representing agent is requesting access to the home and then give permission for others to enter the unit. 

The second red flag was when the agent asked my flatmates and me to put down a deposit first. He then said that we could view the unit after the current tenant moved out. And then if we didn’t like the place, he would refund us the deposit. But that’s usually not the case!

I found it strange but the agent representing the property assured me that the unit was legitimate. He even sent over all his registered profiles and the information checked out on the CEA Public Register. But the agent’s profile online showed that he specialised in condos that were in a totally different region from the listing we were interested in.

In my desperation to secure a lease, I signed the LOI and gave him scans of my IC and mentioned that I would transfer the deposit over later that night.

But that’s when the third and biggest red flag came. He began calling multiple times over the next few hours to rush me for payment. He did this even though he had not even passed me the landlord’s bank account details yet. Even if you have signed an LOI, you should have the Tenancy Agreement also signed before transferring the deposit directly to the landlord. No money should pass through the agent!

I began to grow increasingly suspicious and I asked him more questions. He responded angrily and unprofessionally, telling me to just forfeit the listing. The property agent even mistook me for another potential renter and asked me to sign documents I had already signed!

That evening my flatmate went to the apartment that was listed. The exterior gate didn’t look like anything that was listed in the pictures. A confused-looking woman who didn’t speak English also came to the door. My flatmate couldn’t communicate with her so she left.

The same afternoon, I reached out to a friend and told her about my situation. She told me of a friend who actually fell for a rental scam and it sounded exactly the same as what was happening to me. 

So, I took it as a sign from the universe, told the would-be scammer I was no longer interested, and thanked him for his time. My chat history with this person immediately disappeared on WhatsApp.”

Expat Renter Paid a ‘Viewing Fee’ and Got Ghosted

*This story was taken from a public post on a Facebook group.

It’s not just locals who are falling prey to scams. Foreigners who have lived in the city and are experienced renters are equally susceptible. When Adam*, was looking for a place to rent in March 2022, he fell victim to a rental scam.

“For most of us renters, we are desperate to secure a unit at a time when rental prices are at an all-time high. The Singapore rental market is very brutal now. That was how I was conned by two so-called ‘agents’ after I contacted them via their listing on Carousell.

They informed me that the property I was looking at was in very high demand and promised me an earlier viewing slot if I could pay the owner a ‘blocking fee’ of $500. After checking these agents’ profiles on their respective company websites, I paid them the amount as they provided receipts and they promised me an immediate refund in the event I didn’t like the property.

On the day of the viewing, I visited the place only to find out the properties were not available for rent. The ‘agents’ stopped answering my calls when I contacted them for a refund. I lodged a police complaint but I was told this was the most common rental scam where these conmen impersonated legitimate agents, using their real license numbers and email IDs but messaging potential victims with fake Whatsapp numbers.

Do not pay a deposit for viewing. For people who are trying to rent while overseas, please have some friends go and verify the unit before paying any deposit. Do not only trust videos/pictures.”

Preventing Rental Scams in Singapore

The truth is rental scams can happen to anyone in Singapore. Due to the way current rental scams are orchestrated, it can be difficult to differentiate between genuine and fake listings.

In many cases, the victims may not even realise they have fallen prey to a scam until the money has been lost. And even if you do make a police report, there is no guarantee you can recover the lost amounts, take it from these would-be tenants who fell prey to a Toa Payoh flat rental scam.

With these tips, do keep safe on your renting journey!

For more property news, content and resources, check out PropertyGuru’s guides section.

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