Rental Listing Scam Checker for Craigslist & FB

Screen rental listings from Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Zillow or any scraper for the scam warning signs the FTC describes. The Rental Listing Scam Checker reads each listing's title and description and gives a 0-100 scam signal score based on payment by wire, gift card or crypto, deposits before a viewing, owners who are "out of the country" and will mail the keys, fake Airbnb or Zillow deposit protection, early SSN or credit report requests, WhatsApp-only contact, pressure to decide today, rent far below similar listings in the same run and copied listing text with a different price or contact. Each signal shows the matched words, its weight and the FTC source. Click Start with the prefilled example to see it work.

This is an automated screen for warning signs, not a finding that any listing or person is fraudulent. A zero score doesn't mean a listing is genuine; every row carries this disclaimer. Emails and phone numbers are masked in the output.

What does Rental Listing Scam Checker do?

• ✅ Payment red flags: wire transfer, Western Union, MoneyGram, gift cards, Bitcoin or other crypto (30 points); Zelle, Cash App, Venmo or PayPal friends & family for a deposit (15). Move-in gift card specials, wire shelving and pre-wired units are ignored, and so is Zelle rent paid after signing a lease.
• ✅ Money before viewing (25): deposit or holding fee before a tour, "can't show the house", drive-by only. "Virtual tours available" isn't flagged.
• ✅ Absent owner (20): out of the country, on a mission trip, deployed or transferred, keys mailed or couriered, "my lawyer will handle it". Study abroad mentions are ignored.
• ✅ Fake platform protection (20): "Airbnb will hold the deposit", "Zillow payment protection".
• ✅ Early personal data requests (15): SSN, driver's license, credit report screenshots, credit check through a link the poster sends.
• ✅ Contact and pressure (5-10): WhatsApp or Telegram only, "first to send the deposit gets it", "many people are interested", and story patterns like "God-fearing" owners.
• ✅ Price check across the run (15-25): rent under 50% (or 35%) of the median for the same city and bedroom count, when at least 5 such listings are in the run.
• ✅ Copied listings (15): the same description text in another listing in the run with a different price or contact.
• ✅ Output per listing: scamSignalScore (0-100), signalLevel, signalCount, categoriesFlagged, signals (signalId, weight, quote, context, sourceUrl, whyItMatters), price, bedrooms, city, marketComparison, notes, checkedAt and a disclaimer.

Who is it for?

• Renters and relocation services checking listings before contacting a landlord.
• Rental marketplaces, classifieds and community moderators triaging reported or new listings.
• Property managers and landlords looking for copies of their own listings with someone else's contact details.
• Researchers, journalists and consumer groups measuring rental scam patterns in scraped listing data.

How to check rental listings for scam signs

1. Click Start with the prefilled example (one listing with several warning signs, one ordinary listing).
2. Replace the example with your listings: title, text, and optionally price, city, bedrooms, id and url. Or paste a landlord's message into Texts only.
3. Or enter a Dataset ID from a Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Zillow or Apartments.com scraper. Common field names, including nested ones like listing_price.amount, are found automatically; use Field map (dotted paths work) for others.
4. For the price check, run listings from one area together so each city and bedroom group has at least 5 listings.
5. Turn on Only save listings with signals for big runs; you only pay for saved rows.

Input example

This is the prefilled input:

{
  "listings": [
    {
      "id": "EXAMPLE-1",
      "title": "Example 2BR house, utilities included",
      "text": "I am currently out of the country on a mission trip, so I can't show the house. Keys will be mailed to you once you send the deposit first via Zelle or gift cards. Text me on WhatsApp. Many people are interested so decide today.",
      "price": "$850",
      "city": "Example City",
      "bedrooms": 2
    },
    {
      "id": "EXAMPLE-2",
      "title": "Example 1BR apartment near the park",
      "text": "Second-floor one bedroom with in-unit laundry and parking. Schedule a tour with our leasing office; 12-month lease, apply online. Move-in special: receive a $200 gift card when you sign.",
      "price": "$1,450",
      "city": "Example City",
      "bedrooms": 1
    }
  ]
}

Dataset mode:

{"datasetId": "YOUR_DATASET_ID", "fieldMap": {"text": "postingBody", "price": "listing_price.amount", "city": "location.reverse_geocode.city"}, "onlyFlagged": true, "maxItems": 5000}

Output example

Real output from a run of the prefilled input on 2026-10-30 (long finding lists are shortened here; the run returns all of them):

[
  {
    "itemNo": 1,
    "listingId": "EXAMPLE-1",
    "url": null,
    "title": "Example 2BR house, utilities included",
    "scamSignalScore": 100,
    "signalLevel": "many scam signals",
    "signalCount": 6,
    "categoriesFlagged": [
      "Absent owner",
      "Contact pattern",
      "Payment method",
      "Pressure",
      "Upfront money"
    ],
    "signals": [
      {
        "signalId": "wire_giftcard_crypto",
        "category": "Payment method",
        "weight": 30,
        "quote": "gift cards",
        "context": "...once you send the deposit first via Zelle or gift cards. Text me on WhatsApp. Many people are intere...",
        "sourceUrl": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/rental-listing-scams",
        "whyItMatters": "Asks for payment by wire transfer (Western Union, MoneyGram), gift cards or cryptocurrency. The FTC warns that requests to pay a deposit, fee or rent this way are a common sign of a rental scam, and such payments are hard to get back."
      },
      {
        "signalId": "pay_before_viewing",
        "category": "Upfront money",
        "weight": 25,
        "quote": "send the deposit first",
        "context": "...e house. Keys will be mailed to you once you send the deposit first via Zelle or gift cards. Text me on WhatsApp...",
        "sourceUrl": "https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/rental-listing-scams",
        "whyItMatters": "Asks for a deposit, first month's rent or a 'holding fee' before you've seen the place or signed a lease. The FTC says not to pay for a property you've never seen."
      },
      {
        "...": "4 more findings: owner_away_keys 'I am currently out of the country', payment_app_deposit 'Zelle', off_platform_contact 'WhatsApp', pressure_urgency 'decide today'"
      }
    ],
    "allMatches": 9,
    "price": 850,
    "bedrooms": 2,
    "city": "example city",
    "marketComparison": null,
    "notes": [
      "Price comparison skipped: fewer than 5 listings with the same city and bedroom count in this run."
    ],
    "checkedAt": "2026-10-30T11:28:43+00:00",
    "disclaimer": "Automated screen for scam warning signs described in public FTC consumer guidance. A..."
  },
  {
    "itemNo": 2,
    "listingId": "EXAMPLE-2",
    "url": null,
    "title": "Example 1BR apartment near the park",
    "scamSignalScore": 0,
    "signalLevel": "no listed signals found",
    "signalCount": 0,
    "categoriesFlagged": [],
    "signals": [],
    "allMatches": 0,
    "price": 1450,
    "bedrooms": 1,
    "city": "example city",
    "marketComparison": null,
    "notes": [
      "Price comparison skipped: fewer than 5 listings with the same city and bedroom count in this run."
    ],
    "checkedAt": "2026-10-30T11:28:43+00:00",
    "disclaimer": "Automated screen for scam warning signs described in public FTC consumer guidance. A..."
  }
]

How much does it cost to check rental listings?

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing: $0.003 per listing saved plus a $0.00005 start fee per run, plus small platform usage paid by you (a few hundredths of a cent for small runs). That's about $0.30 for 100 listings and $3 for 1,000 listings plus usage. With Only save listings with signals on, listings with a score of 0 aren't saved or charged. You can set a maximum cost per run in the run options.

Use it through the API, integrations or AI agents

• Run it and get results in one call: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ultimatemc~rental-listing-scam-checker/run-sync-get-dataset-items
• Use it from AI agents through the Apify MCP server: https://mcp.apify.com?tools=ultimatemc/rental-listing-scam-checker
• Schedule it after a daily Craigslist or Marketplace scrape, send high-score listings to Slack or email with webhooks, or connect it to Make, Zapier, n8n or Google Sheets.
• Chain it after a listing scraper by passing the scraper's dataset ID.

How it works

Signals are deterministic text patterns and simple statistics based on the FTC's public consumer guidance on rental listing scams, checked on 2026-10-29. No AI and no outside calls are used, so the same input always gives the same result. Each signal type counts once per listing, and the score is the sum of the weights, capped at 100. Levels: many scam signals (45+), some scam signals (20-44), few scam signals (1-19), no listed signals found (0). The price median and copy check only use the listings in the same run.

Sources:

• FTC: Rental listing scams
• FTC consumer alert: Avoiding rental listing scams (July 2024)
• FTC Data Spotlight on rental scams (2025, PDF)

FAQ

Does a high score mean the listing is a scam?

No. It means the text matches patterns the FTC lists as warning signs. Real landlords sometimes use payment apps or are away. Use the score to decide what to check: confirm ownership with county property records, see the place in person and never pay by wire, gift card or crypto.

Does a score of 0 mean the listing is safe?

No. Many scam listings copy a real ad word for word and only reveal the payment request later in messages. Paste those messages into Texts only to check them too.

Is it AI?

No. It's a fixed rule set with weights, so results are repeatable and explainable, and runs are fast and cheap.

Why didn't the price check run?

It needs at least 5 listings (or your Min listings for price comparison setting) with the same city and bedroom count in one run, each with a price.

Does it store or output personal data?

It only reads the listing text you supply. Emails and phone numbers are replaced with [email] and [phone] in quotes and titles, and the full description isn't copied to the output.

Limitations

• Text only: it doesn't check photos (often stolen from real listings), the poster's account age or property records.
• The price check compares listings within one run, not market data, and is skipped for small groups.
• Duplicate detection compares descriptions within the same run only.
• English text only, tuned for US listings. Signals reflect FTC guidance as of 2026-10-29.

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Found a false positive or a missed scam phrase? Open an issue on the Issues tab with the listing text (remove personal details), and we'll review the rule.