Social media real estate scams on the rise

EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — Experts are warning potential homebuyers about a new scam circulating on social media like Facebook Marketplace.

It’s no secret if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, you’re going to be spending a pretty penny that’s what led many people to do it themselves on social media.

Sites like Facebook Marketplace allow people to buy and sell pretty much anything but it can also be a hot spot for scams.

“In the last six months, we’ve seen a significant increase in properties listed on Facebook Marketplace and we are getting phone calls with people asking us about properties that we are unable to find or locate,” stated Yarrow Wilkins, president of Pocono Mountains Association of Realtors.

Yarrow Wilkins is the president of the Pocono Mountains Association of Realtors . She says scams they’re seeing include home title fraud for both residential and rental properties.

“People will send a deposit, they’ll send in something to hold it and either the property is not legitimately for sale or they don’t own the property, whoever was putting that out.”

However, these scams aren’t only targeting interested buyers.

This home in Mount Pocono is up for sale on Facebook Marketplace listed by Quincy Williams , a real estate investor in the Poconos. Williams has sold more than a dozen homes through the site but he says has run into his fair share of scammers.

“They’ll send you checks, they’ll come in and say that they’ll give you a full price offer or they’ll give you some ridiculous number more than you what you ask for and say that they’ll just send a check-in. So you just kind of got to look out for that.”

Whether you’re looking to buy through a realtor or online make sure to take precautions to protect yourself and do research.

“As long as you come in and see them and they see you, you’ll be able to build a connection and the chances of you getting scammed will reduce if you meet the people in person,” explained Williams.

“If it sounds too good to be true, that’s probably exactly the case,” said Wilkins.

Learn more tips on how to avoid scams from the Better Business Bureau website .

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