Public Mediation

Zillow.com Dispute-- INTERNET FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY--ILLEGAL REPRESENTATION

S. M. vs. Zillow.Com
Russell Investment Center, 1301 2Nd Ave Fl 31, Seattle, Washington, 98101-0003, United States
Amount Involved: $3,517.98
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Zillow.Com
    • Claimant Seeks: View.
    • Claim #: 1530284
    • Amount Involved: 3,517.98
    • Filed On: Jun 11, 2014
    • Posted On: Jun 22, 2014
    • Complaint(s):
      • Commercial / Other dispute
      • INTERNET WIRE TRANSFER FRAUD
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (2) - View
Claimant says:
"My husband and I thought we were renting a home in Charleston, SC from 8/1/14- 9/30/14, which we located on the Zillow.com web site.
The "alleged agent" gave us the wire transfer information to secure the rental, which was confirmed as received. $3,000.00 was wired successfully to the "alleged" owner's bank account" on May 21, 2014.

It came to our attention after the fact by trusted real estate agents in Charleston, SC, that the property we thought we were going to rent was for Sale only and NOT for rent.
We were also advised that Charleston County property tax records indicated that Another person actually owns this property and NOT the "ALLEGED" owner listed on the zillow.com web site who received our $3,000.00 in wired funds.

I contacted my bank on May, 29, 2014 and advised them of the fraudulent activity.
They contacted the perpetrator's bank and a wire recall was issued on May 30, 2014.

We were able to locate the perpetrator of this fraudulent activity who posed as the Charleston, S.C. property owner, by tracing his bank account routing ABA # to Sarasota, Florida, from the information given to us for the wire transfer.

The perpetrator's bank fraud dept. was notified by phone on June 9, 2014 and we were told there is a case opened on this issue, but they could not disclose any further information to us.
They have agreed to escalate this complaint to a higher authority in their bank to look into this matter further.

Additional Fraud Reports have been completed to the following:

1) Zillow.com- customer care dept-May, 29,2014- Case # 02168756-
we have gotten NO response to date except for receipt of the complaint and the case #.

The "alleged agent" for this property in question from Zillow. com is Not responding to our request for a full refund. The "bogus rental agreement" indicates we are entitled to a full refund at this point in time.

2) Charleston, SC White Collar Crimes Dept. - Filed May 31, 2014
-- NO response to date.

3) FBI- IC3 -internet crime complaint center report -Filed May 31, 2014-
-- IC3 Complaint # l1405311610312922- No response to date

4) Federal Trade Commission-- Filed June 6, 2014
-- Reference # 53972648 --NO other response to date"
...
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Additional Communication Between Claimant and Zillow.Com Hide
  • Jun 17, 2014, Zillow.com (responding party) added:

  • The rental listing you reference was posted on the Zillow website by a third party, not Zillow. Zillow promptly removed the rental listing upon receiving notice from you that it was fraudulent. Every rental listing on the Zillow website includes language warning customers to beware of rental scams. In addition, the Zillow website includes an entire page dedicated to educating consumers about rental fraud/scams: http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Beware-of-Scams-and-Other-Internet-Fraud/.

What Claimant Wants Hide
1. recovery of wired funds Jun 27, 2014 $3,000.00
2. For my time reporting fraud Jun 27, 2014 $250.00
3. For loss of rental Jun 27, 2014 $250.00
4. Postage to send this report Jun 27, 2014 $9.99
5. public posting fee Jun 27, 2014 $7.99
Cash total : $3,517.98
  • 0
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Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with no explanation. This claim will remain posted until resolved.
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Do you agree with the respondent’s Response?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
Offer History
Jun 12, 2014
Claimant's Terms of Settlement to Zillow.com
Jun 11, 2014
Claimant's Terms of Settlement to Zillow.com
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  • Question: by Mark Deuitch (21 points) — Online mediator
    • On: 03-16-2017
    View more
  • Zillow should respond-- but could this be a scam perpetrated by someone other than Zillow?  
  • 2
  • Contributed Solution: by Claimant On 03-16-2017
    View more
    Cash reimbursement for the alleged cost of the rental --$3,000.00. I will forego my other financial demands at this time.
If you are a party to this claim, click here.
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