Short answer: If you are moving to Miami from Canada for the winter, the fake listing is built exactly for you: it copies a real condo, cuts the price, and asks for the deposit before you land. The numbers show the shape of the trap. The FTC counted nearly 65,000 reported rental scams in the United States from January 2020 to June 2025, with about $65 million in losses — and in the last 12 months of that period, about half started with a fake ad on Facebook. A legitimate 2-bedroom in Miami rents at a median of $2,900 a month, unfurnished (Zumper, October 2026). A furnished winter 2-bedroom advertised at $1,800 is not a deal. It is 38% below the unfurnished median, and that discount is the product being sold.
Updated: October 24, 2026.
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Moving to Miami from Canada: what a fake winter listing actually costs you
The FTC median rental-scam loss is $1,000. A snowbird’s exposure is much larger, because you pay a full season’s entry money at once, from another country, in another currency.
| If you wire the entry money on a fake $3,000 listing | Amount |
|---|---|
| First month, with the 13% transient tax | $3,390 |
| Security deposit (one month) | $3,000 |
| Total wired to a stranger | $6,390 |
| That total in Canadian dollars (Bank of Canada, 1.3993 on Oct 23, 2026) | C$8,941.53 |
That is roughly nine times the FTC median loss — before the second cost: you still need a real place, in peak season, at peak prices, because the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warns that in the worst cases victims only learn there is no rental when they arrive.
The verification that prevents it costs $0 and about 30 minutes. The rest of this guide is that sequence.
The 5 fakes you will actually see
1. The copied listing. The scammer steals the photos and description of a real rental and reposts them on a different site or a Facebook snowbird group with their own phone number and a lower price. The FTC describes this as the standard pattern. The unit exists. The “landlord” has never had its keys.
2. The phantom condo. The unit does not exist, is not for rent, or is listed for sale — not for lease. Florida’s own consumer protection agency (FDACS) describes the vacation version plainly: you send a deposit, usually by wire, and on arrival the property does not exist or looks nothing like the photos.
3. The owner who can never show it. He is “traveling,” “in the military,” or “closing from abroad” — interesting, because so are you. He can mail you the keys after the wire. A real owner has a manager, a broker or a neighbour who can open the door. A scammer has only excuses, because he cannot get inside a home that is not his.
4. The credit-check funnel. Before any lease, you are pushed to a cheap “credit check” link or asked for screenshots of your credit score, your passport, pay stubs and banking details. The FTC warns these links can enroll you in a paid membership with recurring fees — and the documents themselves are the real prize: identity theft layered on top of the deposit.
5. The price that breaks the cost of living in Miami. Furnished seasonal rentals price above unfurnished annual medians, not below them. When a furnished ocean-view 2-bedroom in January costs less than the $2,900 unfurnished median, the listing is not competing with the market. It is competing for your wire.
The SETTLE verification sequence: 5 checks before any money moves
Check 1 — the owner, in the county record. Search the exact address in the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s property search (in Broward — Hallandale, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale — use the Broward County Property Appraiser). The registered owner should match the person renting to you, or the paperwork should show a manager authorized by that owner. A name that matches nothing is a stop, not a detail.
Check 2 — the licence, in the state record. Anyone renting other people’s property for compensation in Florida works under a licensed broker. Search the name in the Florida DBPR licence search at MyFloridaLicense.com and confirm the record reads current and active, with a brokerage attached. Our guide to renting a furnished condo in Miami from Canada walks through the full paperwork package a legitimate process asks for — compare it with what your “landlord” is asking.
Check 3 — the address, across the open web. Search the address plus the owner’s and the company’s names, exactly as the FTC advises. If the same photos appear at a different price, with a different contact, or on a for-sale listing, you are looking at a copy. And if the property does not appear on the rental company’s own website, treat the ad as fake until proven otherwise.
Check 4 — eyes inside the unit. Never pay for a property you have not seen: that is the FTC’s rule, and distance does not repeal it. If you cannot be there, the test is a live video walk-through — the person opens the door, shows the unit number, the view from the balcony, and a dated detail you choose in the moment — or a trusted person touring in person. Recorded videos and photo sets prove nothing; a scammer’s whole inventory is recorded video and photos.
Check 5 — the payment, only after a signed lease, and traceable. Pay by credit card where possible: the FTC is explicit that it gives you the best protection. Wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency and payment apps are the scammer’s menu because they are hard to reverse. And the amounts should match Florida’s real process: a condo association approval fee is capped at $150 per applicant (Section 718.112), and a real landlord must tell you in writing, within 30 days, where your deposit is held (Section 83.49). We break down every legitimate layer in how Miami security deposits actually work.
What most people don’t know
1. Your Facebook snowbird group is the top hunting ground, not a safe zone. About half of the rental scams reported to the FTC in the 12 months ending June 2025 began with a fake Facebook ad, and another 16% with Craigslist. A listing posted inside a Canadians-in-Florida group feels vetted. It is not — groups do not verify landlords, and scammers join the same groups you do.
2. Staying inside a platform’s payment system is a real protection — leaving it voids the protection. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s rule: when you book through a trusted service, pay only through that service’s own payment provider, or you lose eligibility for its refund and cancellation policies. The moment a “host” asks you to move to email and wire the money “to save the platform fee,” you are outside every protection that made the platform safe.
3. The exchange rate quietly raises your loss by 40%. At the Bank of Canada’s October 23, 2026 rate of 1.3993, every US$1,000 wired to a scammer is C$1,399.30 out of a Canadian account — and recovery, if it happens at all, happens in US dollars after a bank investigation. We do the full Canadian-dollar math of a Miami season in what US$3,000 rent really costs you per month in CAD terms.
4. A real Florida deposit comes with paperwork a scammer cannot fake convincingly. Within 30 days of receiving your deposit, a Florida landlord must notify you in writing of the bank where it is held and whether it earns interest (Section 83.49). Ask before you pay where the deposit will be held and expect the written notice after. Scammers go quiet at this question, because there is no bank.
5. If you already paid, the first call is your bank — not the scammer. Stop all contact, save the listing, messages and receipts, and call your bank or card issuer immediately: reversal windows are short. Then report it in both countries — to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s IC3 in the United States, and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 in Canada. If you shared identity documents, the CAFC also advises contacting Equifax and TransUnion. Canadian snowbirds planning the season itself will find dates, taxes and stay rules in our Canadian snowbird guide to a Miami winter.
Where Canadians should actually look
The safe lanes are boring on purpose: licensed brokerages you can verify in the DBPR record, building-managed rental programs in the best neighborhoods in Miami for a winter stay, and platform bookings paid inside the platform.
The dangerous lane is always the same shape: a private “owner,” a price below the unfurnished median, urgency tied to the season, and a wire requested before a signed lease.
Run the 5 checks on any listing, from any source — including listings we send you. And browse the full playbook in our Miami relocation guides hub.
Frequently asked questions
How do I verify a Miami rental listing from Canada?
Run the 5 checks: match the owner in the county Property Appraiser record, confirm the broker’s licence is current and active in the Florida DBPR search, search the address online for duplicate or for-sale versions of the same photos, get a live video walk-through or an in-person tour by someone you trust, and pay only after a signed lease, by a traceable method.
Is a below-market price always a scam?
Not always — but a furnished seasonal rental priced below the unfurnished annual median ($2,900 for a Miami 2-bedroom in October 2026) has no legitimate business model behind it. Treat any price more than about 20% below comparable real listings as a verification trigger, not a bargain.
A landlord in a Facebook snowbird group wants a wire before the lease. Is that normal?
No. About half of the rental scams reported to the FTC in the year ending June 2025 started on Facebook. A legitimate process signs a lease first, caps the condo approval fee at $150, and can tell you where your deposit will be held under Florida law. A wire before a lease, to a person you cannot find in any official record, is the scam’s signature move.
I already sent money. What do I do first?
Call your bank or card issuer immediately — reversal windows are measured in hours and days, not weeks. Save everything, stop contact, and report to the FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov), the FBI IC3, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501). If you shared passport or banking documents, also contact Equifax and TransUnion.
Yara Coker — SETTLE, relocation services in Miami.
Want help with your move to Miami?
Send SETTLE the listing before you send anyone the deposit. We will run the owner, licence and address checks, arrange eyes inside the unit, and price the real season — deposit, tax and Canadian-dollar cost included — before you sign. More guides like this one live in our Miami relocation guides hub.
Sources
Rental scam scale (nearly 65,000 reports, about $65 million in losses, median loss $1,000, about 50% of the last 12 months of reports beginning on Facebook and 16% on Craigslist, ages 18–29 three times more likely to report a loss, figures covering January 2020 to June 2025 and described as a fraction of actual harm): Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Protection Data Spotlight and press release, December 2025, consumer.ftc.gov. Scam mechanics (copied legitimate listings reposted with the scammer’s contact, invented listings, pressure to pay application fee, deposit and first month before seeing the property, disappearance after payment), verification steps (search the address and names, check the property appears on the rental company’s own site, never pay for an unseen property) and payment guidance (credit card best; gift cards, wire transfers, payment apps and cryptocurrency hard to reverse; credit-check link membership trap; identity documents collected for theft): Federal Trade Commission, “Avoiding rental listing scams,” consumer.ftc.gov, checked October 2026. Vacation rental scam (deposit by wire for a property that does not exist or is far inferior on arrival): Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, “Travel Scams,” fdacs.gov. Canadian guidance (victims may not know until arrival; do not send money to strangers; pay only through the trusted service’s own payment provider to keep refund protection; contact Equifax and TransUnion if sensitive information was shared; report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca): Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, vacation rentals bulletin. Owner verification: Miami-Dade Property Appraiser property search (miamidadepa.gov) and Broward County Property Appraiser. Broker licence verification (licence type, number, current and active status, associated brokerage): Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, MyFloridaLicense.com “Verify a Licensee.” Miami rent medians (overall $3,000; 1-bedroom $2,500; 2-bedroom $2,900; 6,297 rentals), updated October 23, 2026: Zumper rent research, Miami, FL. Transient tax of about 13% on leases of 6 months or less: Florida Statutes Section 212.03 and Miami-Dade combined rates. Deposit notice (landlord must notify the tenant in writing within 30 days of where and how deposit money is held) and no state cap on the landlord’s deposit: Florida Statutes Section 83.49. Condo association approval fee capped at $150 per applicant: Florida Statutes Section 718.112(2). Exchange rate USD/CAD 1.3993, daily rate for October 23, 2026, and the SETTLE loss model ($3,390 first month with tax plus $3,000 deposit = $6,390 = C$8,941.53): Bank of Canada daily exchange rates.
Versión en español: Estafas de Renta de Invierno contra Canadienses: los Anuncios Falsos de Florida que Debes Evitar
