Case Studies

Detecting & Preventing Fraud

Red flags among rental applicants is nothing new in the property management space, however detecting fraud used to be much more challenging and cumbersome.
Kayla Gilmour
3 minute

Overview & Objective

Red flags among rental applicants is nothing new in the property management space, however detecting fraud used to be much more challenging and cumbersome. It was much easier for applicants to forge documents, circumvent fraud detection triggers and obscure information during traditional screening processes. Early detection is a significant priority for VeriFast, and our system is designed to detect these types of falsified and misleading applications. Here’s a highlighted example of the triggers detected through VeriFast’s bank check reports that alerted us to a clear example of a fraudulent application.

The applicant in question had indicated they were working two different jobs from large well-established, multinational businesses, however zero payroll transactions were detected from the provided bank account. Instead a year’s worth of unemployment benefits and other government subsidies were received. Additionally, the applicant indicated they were paying $950 in rent payments every month at their current address, but zero rent payment transactions were detected. Another common issue property management faces is applicant’s denying they have pets when they in fact do. This applicant was no exception, claiming they did not own pets even though 45 pet-related transactions were made from the account. At times applicants try to trick property management into renting to them is by lying about their status of employment. Often, this is done by providing fake pay-stubs, but since VeriFast’s system utilizes a direct connection to the applicant’s bank account to pull a list of past transactions, fraudsters try different tactics to obscure their information. In fact, this particular applicant provided someone else’s bank account. The name on the bank account was not the name of the applicant but instead was the name the applicant indicated on their application as the name of their current landlord.

Fraudulent Bank Account
0 Payroll Transactions
0 Previous Rent Payments
12+ Months Unemployment Payments Received
45+ Pet Transactions

Red-Flag Triggers

The name on the application and driver’s license did not match the name on the bank account.
The address provided did not match the address with the bank.
No payroll was detected despite the applicant’s employment claims.
45+ pet related transactions were detected.
Unemployment benefits were received.
No rent payment history was detected.

Detecting & Preventing Fraud

The Final Results

Because of the clear discrepancies between the applicant’s pre-screening questions and the transactional information provided by VeriFast’s Bank Check Report, this applicant was rejected, avoiding future non-payment or other issues if they had moved in.

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