How PRE-Crime™ Technology Could Have Exposed the Black Axe Landlord Scam

Black Axe Rental Trap: One Zelle Click, $3,600 Gone!

Rocky the raptor here, RPost’s cybersecurity product evangelist. I must say, cybercriminals are quite opportunistic. They seem to prey on current trends and seasonal timing. For anyone with kids (loosely defined, folks up to their mid-20’s), you ought to share this article --- before it is too late for them.

Now to be clear, what may break the bank for a 20-something, sending a few thousand dollars to a cybercriminal accidentally (or after being lured) may be just as painful as a large company paying 10’s of millions of dollars in ransomware payoffs. The amount of money lost compared to the level of pain is a function of one’s resources.

With the current scramble for college students, graduate students, and recent graduates relocating to new cities or folks simply deciding to move out of their parents’ house, summer time is busy. Most scramble to get their situation sorted in May, June and July for August or September. And, the cybercriminals know this.

Further, most in this younger generation never had any cybersecurity training. Sure, they know everything about using AI to write school papers, how to use Google and various phone apps, but they tend to be very trusting when it comes to technology communications – what they see they believe. When they speak to someone on the phone, they believe what they are told.

Here is the tale of one young victim in what we’ll call here, the Landlord Ghost scam.

Here, the young victim was excited to move out of his parents’ house. Searching on Craigslist for apartment rentals, he found a reasonable spot in Los Angeles. He responded to the advertisement. He received an email response with someone to call to discuss his interest. He called the number and spoke with a chap in Alabama. The chap (fake landlord with Alabama accent) put him (prospective renter) in a defensive position, explaining that there were many people looking at the apartment and that the landlord wanted someone reliable, good credit rating, etc.

This tactic makes the prospective renter – in their mind – feel they need to be polite and responsive to the landlord’s request for the opportunity to get chosen.

The conversation via email and phone continued, and innocently enough — the prospective renter was asked to send by Zelle bank transfer an $1800 security deposit to the purported landlord. Normal stuff, right? Then they asked for the first month’s rent through the same Zelle account. Another $1800. 

But plot twist: Bank of America said “Nope.” Not with words, of course — just a quiet digital denial. Apparently, the account was already flagged as fraudulent but Bank of America did not explain – it would have been stellar if they had told the prospective renter of course.

Not one to give up, the renter did what any trusting, mildly desperate renter would do — he asked the landlord for another Zelle account and sent the money to a second Zelle account. Funds sent. Total: $3600 sent so far.

But then another “Leasing Agent” contacted the renter to ask for another $1800 for the “last month rent guarantee”. It took forever to process. Why? Also flagged as fraud. Still no alerts, no emails, no red flags from the bank — just the renter continuously refreshing the app like a confused contestant on a financial game show. 

And the Zelle transfer eventually bounced back. And that’s when it all clicks. The “landlord” was a ghost, an impersonation. 

$3600 sent into a black hole. Ouch.

And who’s likely behind the curtain? Black Axe — a well-known Nigerian cybercrime syndicate infamous for scams just like this. They're not just some guy in a hoodie in a basement; these are organized, dangerous operatives who’ve built an empire of fraud using fake rentals, romance traps, and money mules. 

At one point, I joked to a friend, “What if I just flew to Nigeria and confronted them to get my money back?” They laughed nervously. Then got real quiet. Because the truth is, if you go looking for Black Axe on their turf, you don’t come back with your rent — you might not come back at all. 

So, for now, what to do? File a police report that will go into a tall stack of police reports that no one will do anything about (unless your last name perhaps is Kardashian). International cybercrime task forces certainly are not going to fly to Nigeria to try to retrieve the $4000 mis-payment.

By the way, at the end, the "Ghost landlord said, "Hi, I am in Boston working on a condo project, could you send me $1800 in Apple gift cards?" This was, of course, entirely out of context and was a "tell" -- the prospective renter knew at that point, this was a scam...but $3600 too late. 

Context is king. Wrong context, no lure. Right context, successful cybercriminal lures.

Of course, had the renter used RPost’s PRE-Crime™ technology (see 2-page brochure), they would have instantly seen what they could not see --- that the landlord was an impersonation. PRE-Crime™ saves individuals thousands of dollars and companies millions. RPost was Recently Recognized by Gartner as a Visionary for its PRE-Crime Preemptive Cybersecurity.

Learn more about RPost PRE-Crime™ preemptive cybersecurity solutions and Double DLP™ protection.

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