Travel nurse housing scams and how to avoid them

How rental scams usually work

• Copied listings. The FTC describes scammers copying the photos and description from a real rental listing and swapping in their own contact details. The home exists; the person you're talking to doesn't own it.
• Fake listings. A place that isn't for rent, or doesn't exist, often with rent well below similar homes nearby.
• The absent owner. The "owner" is out of the country and can't show you the place, but will mail the keys once you pay.
• Pay first, see later. You're asked for a deposit or first month's rent before you've seen the home or signed anything, by wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or an instant payment app.
• Moving off the platform. Early on, the person asks you to switch to text, personal email or another app, which takes the conversation away from the site's records and warnings.
• Pressure. Another nurse is about to take it, so you need to pay today.
• Too much personal information. The FTC points out that a landlord doesn't need your Social Security number until you've agreed to rent the place.

The FTC puts the payment issue plainly: wiring money, sending gift cards or paying in cryptocurrency is the same as sending cash. Once it's gone, it's very hard to get back. Instant payment apps that send money straight to a stranger carry a similar risk.

Scams also run the other way. A fake renter may send a check for more than the deposit and ask the host to wire back the difference. Hosts shouldn't send money back on an overpayment at all, because a deposited check can appear to clear and still turn out to be fake weeks later.

How to verify a host and the home

1. Search the address with the owner's name. If the same home shows up under a different name, at a different price, or listed for sale, stop.
2. Check ownership. County property or tax assessor records are usually searchable online and show who owns the home. If the host is a manager or relative, ask how they're connected to the owner and get it in writing.
3. Search the host's name with words like "scam," "complaint" or "review."
4. See it live. Visit in person if you can. If not, ask for a live video walk-through where the host shows the street, the building number and the view from a window, then lets themselves in.
5. Ask someone local. Your recruiter, or nurses who've worked at the hospital, may know the building or the host.
6. Get a written lease with the address, dates, rent, deposit, refund terms and the host's legal name before you pay anything.
7. Pay a traceable way, after the lease is signed, using a method that gives you a record. Never by wire, gift card or crypto.

Have a backup plan for arrival day

Even with careful checks, plan for the worst case, because you'll often arrive the day before your first shift:

• A few days before you leave, confirm the move-in time and how you'll get in, through the same messaging thread you've used all along.
• Know the name of an extended-stay hotel near the hospital that you could book on the spot.
• Keep enough room on a credit card to cover a few nights.
• Don't give up your current place, or cancel other options, until you have a signed lease from a host you've verified.
• If the home isn't what was described, or the person who meets you isn't the host you've been talking to, don't move in. Take photos and contact the platform.

What Med Pro Housing does

Some protections are built into the site, based on how these scams usually play out:

• Hosts never see renters' email addresses. Conversations happen in in-app messages.
• Renters don't see a host's exact street address until they arrange it with the host.
• Messages that ask for payment by wire, gift cards, crypto or similar methods show a scam warning.
• Renters can report a host and block anyone they're messaging.
• Listing photos are stripped of location metadata.
• Hosts pay for a yearly plan, and listings can be held for admin review before they go live.

None of this replaces your own checks. Med Pro Housing doesn't process rent or deposits, so payment happens directly between you and the host, and that's the step where you should be most careful. Keep the conversation in the app until you've verified the host. Our safety page has more.

If you think you've been targeted

1. Stop paying and stop sharing information. Be wary of anyone who contacts you offering to recover your money for a fee.
2. Report the listing or host to the site where you found it. On Med Pro Housing, use the report option and block the sender.
3. Contact the payment company right away. The FTC's advice depends on how you paid. Ask your bank or card issuer to reverse the charge, report a wire to the wire transfer company, and report an app payment to the app. For a gift card, call the number on the back of the card and keep the card and receipt.
4. Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
5. If it happened online, file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
6. Tell local police and your state attorney general, which the FTC also suggests for rental scams.
7. Tell your recruiter. They may be able to help with short-term housing while you sort it out, and warn other travelers headed to the same area.

For more on the FTC's guidance, see its consumer article on rental listing scams.