LEE COUNTY, Fla. – Investigators tell WINK News home for rental scams are common and it’s very difficult to catch the crooks. “They cut and paste off of other legitimate real estate websites,” said Beth Schell, a fraud specialist with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Schell says the rental scam starts like this: crooks use information from real listings to create fake for rent ads on websites like Craigslist, Zillow and Trulia. Then, they claim they’re the owner. “Scammer says ‘oh well, by the way I’m out of the country you can have the place if you want. Go ahead and wire transfer your deposits to me and I will send you the keys,'” said Schell. But, typically those keys rarely come. Instead, the victims are out hundreds, even thousands of dollars and have no place to live. Schell says there are red flags to watch out for. “MoneyGrams, Western Union, Green Dot Cards, those are all red flags when someone you don’t know is asking for payment that way.” Schell says people can also check the Tax Collector’s Office to make sure the person renting the property actually owns it and she recommends potential renters meet the actual owner. She also says it’s important to report any scam or potential scam to their fraud line at 239-258-3292. The report is then forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission.