You are interested in a property to rent and you are asked to sign a contract and put down a deposit.

Somewhere at the end of the contract, in very small print, the scammers add: “The deposit will not be returned if the references are not satisfactory” (or that it will be returned, minus a certain fee). If you don’t read the contract with extreme caution, don’t be surprised if after a few days you’ll be required to leave the house, without getting the deposit back.

Scammers will come up with fake stories that they found out about you and they might be doing this to several victims per month, making thousands of dollars.

How to avoid: always ask the landlord to check the references before you sign the contract and then to remove the fine print. If he is unwilling to do this, rent elsewhere.