Choi Min-jung (36, pseudonym), who was recently searching for a short-term rental for about two months during home renovations, had a bewildering experience. After verifying a real estate agent's business card and signing an electronic contract, she visited the property only to find someone already living there. Choi realized she had been scammed after hearing the resident say "I never listed this place for rent" and reading another victim's post about "being deceived by an AI-generated business card."
As tightened real estate regulations and rising home prices have caused jeonse (lump-sum deposit) listings to disappear and monthly rental demand to surge, rental scams targeting this market are evolving. Experts warn that cases are emerging where scammers use generative AI to create fake real estate agent business cards, lure victims with relatively cheap prices, collect advance deposits, and then vanish.
According to Seoul Economic Daily's investigation on May 18, similar fraud reports are mounting nationwide, from the greater Seoul metropolitan areas of Dongducheon, Yongin, and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province to Ulsan and Busan. These cases are primarily being reported on online platforms such as Naver Cafe and Danggeun (Karrot).
The scammers use AI to sophisticatedly forge licensed real estate agent business cards and property registration documents to gain trust, then disappear after receiving preliminary contract deposits. They specifically target short-term renters who need housing urgently, enticing victims with relatively low prices. Because the amounts involved are small and victims often do not file proper reports, the fraudsters continue the same scam by switching IDs on online platforms.
Victim A, who recently contacted this newspaper, said, "They sent me detailed photos of the rental along with a real estate business card, so I never imagined it could be a scam. Ordinary people cannot tell [that the business card was AI-generated]. About 10 people have contacted me saying they fell for the same scam."
Another victim B said, "The amount I lost was only about 500,000 won, so I didn't file a report. I heard they're difficult to catch because they constantly change identities using burner phones and fraudulent bank accounts."
While cases of scammers impersonating real estate agents or landlords to collect advance payments before disappearing have existed before, they are now evolving to exploit recently advanced AI technology. The diversification of such scams is attributed to the recent increase in monthly rentals. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, monthly rentals accounted for 63.0% of all jeonse and monthly rental contracts nationwide last year, up 5.4 percentage points from 57.6% the previous year. This marks the first time the monthly rental share has exceeded 60%.
Lim Jae-man, a professor of real estate studies at Sejong University, advised, "The jeonse ratio has been declining steadily since 2010, and it is highly likely to gradually disappear. When signing a monthly rental contract, it is essential to verify whether the person is the actual landlord and whether they are a properly registered licensed real estate agent."
