SPANISH FORK, Utah — People across Utah are struggling to find a place to rent. Many people have sent FOX 13 News their concerns about scams that don't make the search any easier, so we went to get answers.
“Thought we had a place to live. We got a deed for the place. It all started out with the guy saying if we want to hold the house, we have to put a deposit down,” explained Matthew Seamons.
Seamons has been looking to make the move from Nephi to Spanish Fork with his two children.
“The whole purpose was to get closer to my employment,” he explained.
While searching for a rental on Facebook, Seamons saw an ad and called the number listed to start his rental application. At first, the process included all the usual steps.
“Until he wanted me to actually send the money through an ATM to him," Seamons shared. "I was like, 'Why can’t I send it through Venmo, or why can’t I meet you?'
"He said, 'Well, I can’t meet you for about a week.'”
Seamons said the lister explained that he couldn't meet in person because of his job, so he trusted him and continued with the rental process.
“It’s really hard to forgive myself,” he said Tuesday.
When it came time to move into the location, the door code didn't work.
“By the time you think you can get one, you find out you just got scammed,” Seamons shared.
Seamons wasn't the only one who was left devastated by the scam. His son was crushed as well.
“It just broke his heart to know that our dreams were going to be kind of… shattered,” he said.
After doing his own research, Seamons learned he's not the only one who had been taken by the scam.
“Three to four times a day, just in that home alone, just in that one home. So some guy out there is making a lot,” he said.
The Spanish Fork Police Department acknowledged that there have been a handful of ongoing scams that they're investigating.
"Some of [the victims] have sent a rental agreement that they have filled out. The problem is they’ve never met with an actual person,” said Lt. Corey Slaymaker.
Most of the time, Slaymaker said, the money ends up out of the country.
“They’re taking a legitimate ad, turning it into their own fake ad, and then getting people to buy off on it,” he said.
“After they scam you, they relist it under a different phone number and after they got me, they actually listed it twice,” added Seamons.
Spanish Fork Police stress that when in doubt, reach out to your local police department, especially if something seems off.
“The last thing we want to do or see is you become a victim of some type of a fraud or scam,” Slaymaker said. “You know the old saying of buyers beware.”
