Yes. ShowMojo is a real software company that landlords and property managers pay to schedule rental showings, so a ShowMojo link usually means the person listing that unit uses it to book tours. What the link cannot tell you is whether the ad you answered was posted by the actual manager. That part you verify yourself.
Why am I seeing ShowMojo at all?
Because whoever listed the unit bought the software. The texts, the booking link and the ID step come from a scheduling tool the landlord or property manager licensed. ShowMojo, Inc. has a Better Business Bureau business profile listing it under Real Estate Services and Computer Software Developers with a phone number in Chicago's 312 area code, and the Internet Archive's oldest capture of its website, from July 2009, advertised showing scheduling. Both are public: bbb.org and web.archive.org.
How do rental scams use a real showing tool?
By borrowing its credibility. The FTC's rental listing scam guidance says it plainly: "While rental scammers generally won't meet you in person, they may set you up with a self-guided tour to help convince you they're legit by copying listings from landlords who use self-tour services." The usual shape is a copied ad: real photos, real address, real tour, a different person collecting your deposit.
The losses are documented. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 9,359 real estate complaints in its 2024 annual report, with $173,586,820 in reported losses, up from $145,243,348 in 2023. IC3 defines that category as "loss of funds from a real estate investment or fraud involving rental or timeshare property," so rental scams are one slice of that total, not all of it. Complainants aged 60 and older filed 1,765 of those complaints and reported $76,324,236 in losses.
How do I check that a rental listing is real?
The FTC's checklist takes about ten minutes and works on any showing tool.
- Search the address with the name of the owner or management company. If that address turns up under a different company name, the FTC calls it a sign of a scam.
- Find the unit on the management company's own website, then call the number published there rather than the one in the ad.
- Compare the rent to nearby units. Well under market plus pressure to decide today is the oldest version of this.
- Renting from a private landlord? Look up the owner on the county tax assessment site and check the ID matches.
- Never pay by wire transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency. The FTC's wording is that this is the same as sending cash, and you probably cannot get it back.
Is an ID check before a self-showing normal?
Yes, and it is one of the better signs the operation is real. A self-guided tour hands you access to an empty home, so the manager confirms who is walking in before the door opens. A legitimate request stays inside the booking flow you were sent and asks about your identity only.
A phishing request behaves differently. It wants your Social Security number, paystubs or a credit-score screenshot before you have agreed to rent anything, or a deposit to hold the place sight unseen. The FTC says that until you have agreed to rent, a landlord does not need your Social Security number or credit score, and most landlords pull credit themselves.
What should a property manager take from this?
Applicants search the name of every tool you send them to, which is why this page gets read. LetHub sells leasing software, so treat this paragraph as a vendor's view: verification is the part that settles both sides. LetHub answers rental inquiries in about 30 seconds by text, chat or phone, books the showing, and runs bank-level ID verification before access is released. It works with smart lockboxes and with offline locks, where the code is rotated after the visit. If your ads are being cloned, the playbook is in stopping rental listing scams before the showing.
FAQ
Does a ShowMojo link mean the listing has been verified?
No. The software schedules a tour for whoever opened the account behind that listing. Confirming the ad came from the real manager is still your job, and the fastest version is finding the same unit on the management company's own website and calling the number published there.
Is it safe to hand over ID for a self-tour?
An identity check before door access is standard for self-guided showings. Do the listing check first, then verify through the booking flow you were sent rather than emailing documents to a personal address. And no legitimate manager needs a deposit from you before you have seen the home.
I already sent money. What should I do?
The FTC says to report a rental listing scam to your local law enforcement agency, to the site where the ad was posted, to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and to your state attorney general. Call your bank the same day. Wire transfers, gift cards and crypto are rarely recoverable.
I manage the property. Will renters think my showing links are a scam?
A few will ask, and that question is healthy. List the unit on your own site, publish a leasing number a renter can reach, and keep the identity check inside the booking flow. A prospect who can verify you in two minutes stops stalling. See how LetHub runs it.
