Fake ads, altered photos: Abu Dhabi tenants scammed by fraudsters
Seemingly attempts were made early this year by Dubai to implement new regulations that restrict real estate agents across the board from placing advertisements with listings of non-existent properties and gave them a timeframe to clear all unlisted properties.
When Abu Dhani’s Hanil Sajad was looking for an apartment in Madinat Zayed, he found one such infamous website that had a listing of a building which provided shaded parking. “I was intrigued because it is almost impossible to find parking in that area and this building was advertising shaded private parking,” “However, when I went there, it was just the Mawaqif parking and because the buildings shadow fell on it they called it shaded parking.”
Many rest of the residents in Abu Dhabi - out of curiosity - were not new and reported that property agents were seeking them out and attempting to bring them alternative manipulation of the pictures when it was quite oppositional. Some even post houses for rent at unrealistic and unrealistic sizes that potential renters only find out once at the house.
Numerous areas have been purchased since 2022, recounted Hanil, who has become tired of searching for a new house. “One time, I found a listing for an apartment that was said to be 1500 sq. ft,” he narrates. “But when I reached the place, the room was as small as a shoe box. When I enquired about the dimensions with the agent, he said it was the inclusion of the outdoor balcony and some of the corridor where the cycles or plant pots of the residents are kept.”
Moving on to February this year; Dubai in this month issued orders to real estate agents refraining them from placing false advertisements and also gave them a time frame of three days within which claims of non-existent properties were to be withdrawn.
An employee of a major real estate website reported that in Abu Dhabi, local authorities are also working to change this site.
"We understand how prospective tenants or buyers must have experienced before and that is why listings that are fake either in terms of price or photos can cause a negative perception towards the market,” said Ari Kesisoglu, President of Property Finder. “If we do nothing about the problem, it is going to remain. Thanks to the support of the government, we have already achieved a lot of progress in Dubai and we expect the same in Abu Dhabi with regards to accurate and honest real estate listings.”
They like to string us along
Last year, when Mohammed Azhar was looking for a house in Al Raha area ‘he found similar duplicitous practices by a number of agents.’ “Once you see a listing they put up online, you can call the agent and he says come and see.” “Then you look at it and it’s a good apartment but the next day you are told the apartment is no longer in the market. Next thing you know, They bring some units for you, mostly some have been taken and when you call them back, all the ones shown are told to you are occupied. So they keep on playing with you until the very last minute and the last bit of your patience and you are now ready to accept some lousy house any day.”
Manifest Real Estate CEO Jeff Raju Kuruvilla said those who come in sets their frustration in their searches in most of the cases resolve it upon their arrival. “One such client indeed visited a property after looking at an online advertisement but standing outside the house the agent told the client that the property in question was already off market,’ he said. ‘Other choices existed but then the price was to be higher than he was used to. So, he reached out to me having been buying property in Dubai through me in the past regarding different options in Abu Dhabi but within the same belt.”
How to spot fakes
In Ari’s opinion, home buyers must remain vigilant while looking for their plots. “We have developed such features as Data Guru, which provides and analyzes the data on properties for better decisions and easier searches for home seekers, giving seamless answers to all their queries,” he said. “We also have Super Agent, agents who have the most current and updated property listings in the market.”
Jeff also mentioned that it is essential to pay attention to the poorly quality pictures and the too general details. “Scammers make use of the property image by borrowing or using stock pictures,” he said. “Most of the time, such listings would have hyper-detailed descriptions. Listings that are poorly written with vague description are mostly fraudulent as they try to cover up the reality of the property being advertised or of its availability. Also, real properties with barely reasonable price reductions are most likely scam properties trying to catch off guard recently arrived buyers.”
He also urged renters and buyers to “always interact with verified real estate agents” bearing broker ID and registered in recognized agencies and report any suspicious ads on the platform or official institutions.
Comments