Scam Prevention
Like many companies, Axis Referral and its employees and agents are targeted by bad actors using a variety of fraudulent schemes that mimic us or our agents in an attempt to elicit personal information from consumers. Please exercise caution when engaging or working with us or our agents and do not be afraid to double or triple-check that an email or text message is legitimate before sending anyone your personal information.
Here are a few of the most common scams that we have seen. We hope raising your awareness of these practices will help to protect you from falling victim to these schemes:
Common Scams
Here are a few of the most common scams that we have seen. We hope raising your awareness to these practices will help to protect you from falling victim to these schemes:
Scam-combating Tips
Already Believe You May Have Been Scammed?
If you’ve provided your personal financial information to someone who you later think is a scammer, call your financial institution. Whether it’s your credit card issuer, bank, or mobile payment service like Paypal or Venmo, call and ask about canceling fraudulent transactions and blocking future charges. You might also need to change your account numbers to make sure no one uses your existing accounts.
Freezing your credit reports can help ensure no one can open new accounts in your name. You can visit each credit bureau’s website to get more information about placing a security freeze on your credit report.
Here are a few of the most common scams that we have seen. We hope raising your awareness of these practices will help to protect you from falling victim to these schemes:
Common Scams
Here are a few of the most common scams that we have seen. We hope raising your awareness to these practices will help to protect you from falling victim to these schemes:
- Axisreferrral.com is our consumer-facing website. Scammers have created fake or copycat websites, such as Axis-housing.com or Axis-apartment.com, purporting to be legitimate Axis Referral site. These websites often look identical to our official site, and sometimes even include legitimate phone numbers. However, the email contacts listed on these fake sites do not belong to us, or any of our agents. Please verify you are on Axisreferral.com, and not on a copycat website by carefully reviewing the URL (it will always be reflected as Axisreferral.com or www.Axisreferral.com) prior to engaging with a Axis Referral agent. We work hard to take down these copycat/phishing sites immediately upon learning about them – but you can assist us by notifying us at [email protected] if you come across a fraudulent site.
- Scammers purporting to be Axis Referral agents have reached out to prospective buyers or renters asking them to transfer funds to them via Zelle or Venmo to a particular email address or phone number. If you receive a fund transfer request from an unknown/new email address or phone number, please contact the agent using the information provided on Axisreferral.com to confirm the legitimacy of the request before you confirm it. Do not respond or click on any embedded hyperlinks in the message. Please also know that responding to a message from a fraudster to ask if they are legitimate (instead of checking for confirmation on Axisreferral.com) confirms that your phone number or email is accurate. Further, merely clicking on the link can subject you to a virus or malware attack. FYI – most agents will not send a Venmo or Zelle request for first month’s rent or for a security deposit.
- Many Axis Referral agents have their own independent websites, while other teams direct their clients to their Axisreferral.com web presence. Unfortunately, some scammers have created fake or copycat agent websites using the photographs or signage displayed on legitimate agent sites or agent social media accounts. Sometimes, it is incredibly difficult to distinguish between a legitimate and a copycat website, but often the copycat site will not be as stable (ie: it vacillates between being online and offline in a matter of days), and it will not be as developed (it may only have one or two tabs as opposed to a fully built out website). When in doubt, go on Axisreferral.com, and contact your agent using the information provided on our website.
Scam-combating Tips
- Please do not share your password information. We cannot stress this enough. Your risk for identity theft increases with each person who can access your account or personal information.
- If you have already engaged an agent, and you receive a text or email from a different/unknown number or account, please follow up with your agent using their previous contact information or reach out to their team, to confirm the new contact information.
- If you receive a request for a wire transfer, money order, Zelle, or Venmo from an unknown number or email address, please reach out to the agent’s team, using the contact information provided on Axisreferral.com, to confirm the request was legitimate.
- If the email or text creates an (unexpected) extreme sense of urgency to get you to act, contact your agent and confirm the request. Many times, scammers hope to elicit an immediate response (provide credit card details, wire funds, provide sensitive personal information, etc.) before you have a chance to vet the request.
- Only click on links that you trust, and from senders that you know. Most malware is embedded in links that people click on without verifying – double check if you’re unsure, was not expecting the link, or is from a sender you do not know.
- Pay special attention to the spelling in any correspondence – sure, agents may misspell words from time to time too, but generally, legitimate emails will not contain several misspelled words (particularly in a hyperlink). Look out for a change in cadence/tone in correspondence as well – trust your gut, and confirm if something feels “off”.
- Also check the spelling of the email address or website the email was sent from – spammers may incorrectly spell Axis Referral as Axes or Axers, or any other deviation. Any legitimate correspondence from Axis Referral or its agents will be sent from a correct email address.
- Limit how much information you provide on social media – reconsider outlining your vacation plans or birthdays/anniversaries, phone number or home address. The more personal information you publicly display on social media, the higher risk you have of someone using that information for fraudulent purposes.
Already Believe You May Have Been Scammed?
If you’ve provided your personal financial information to someone who you later think is a scammer, call your financial institution. Whether it’s your credit card issuer, bank, or mobile payment service like Paypal or Venmo, call and ask about canceling fraudulent transactions and blocking future charges. You might also need to change your account numbers to make sure no one uses your existing accounts.
Freezing your credit reports can help ensure no one can open new accounts in your name. You can visit each credit bureau’s website to get more information about placing a security freeze on your credit report.
- Equifax: Freeze Your Equifax Credit Report
- Experian: Freeze Your Experian Credit Report
- TransUnion: Freeze Your TransUnion Credit Report It is also recommended to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
