Fraudulent tourist rental housing scams in the Caribbean soar
The revival of tourism and the high demand for lodging and housing in Quintana Roo have triggered real estate frauds, most of which are carried out through social networks.
The reactivation of tourism and the high demand for lodging and housing in Quintana Roo have triggered real estate frauds, most of them carried out through social networks.
According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), from September 2021 to March 2022, 1,129 complaints were reported for this type of crime, in which the victim was asked for a cash deposit to rent a house, either to vacation for a few days or to live for a few months, only to find out that the supposed landlord did not even own the property.
The Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI), Cancun chapter, pointed out that these frauds have increased almost 40 percent in the last year, but only one out of every three victims report them. Most of them end up only complaining about social networks, either because they come from other entities and cannot follow up on their complaint, or because they simply do not want to waste time with this process.
Miguel Angel Lemus, president of AMPI Cancun, pointed out at the time that this problem is due to the informal sale that takes place through social networks, with transactions that are not validated by qualified agents or with legal guarantees. According to information obtained by Transparency from the State Attorney General's Office (FGE), 70 percent of these real estate scams occur in Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Tulum, and Cancún.
