Anybody had this happen and actually gotten the fake ad taken down fast, or is it basically just wait and flag and hope?
This happens more than people expect. Scammers scrape MLS photos automatically, usually within days of a listing going live, and repost them as fake rentals to collect deposit money from people who do not know the property is for sale.
For getting the fake ad down fast, Craigslist has a flagging tool anyone can use, but the faster path is usually a direct DMCA notice. DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and it is a formal written notice to the platform saying you own the photos and the post uses them without permission. Craigslist has a process for this at their legal contact page. Platforms tend to respond to DMCA notices faster than to general flags because ignoring one has legal consequences for them.
Whether you own the copyright depends on who took the photos. You said you took them, so you likely own them. If a professional photographer took them, the copyright situation depends on whatever contract you signed with them. A lawyer would be the right person to confirm ownership in either case, not me.
A few things worth doing right now: screenshot the fake ad with the URL visible, note the date and time, and save copies somewhere outside your phone. That record matters if the situation escalates.
One thing worth knowing for future listings: some agents add a visible watermark or subtle identifying mark to photos before uploading, which does not stop scraping but does make fake ads easier to identify and report. The strategy guide for listing content covers how photo presentation affects the professional value of your marketing, which connects here.
What platform is the fake ad on, and do you know who holds the copyright on these specific photos?
Craigslist's abuse team moves faster if you send the DMCA to legal@craigslist.org directly, not the flag button.
Probate listings are targeted more than regular ones, I think because the addresses are in public court records so scammers already have a list before the MLS even goes live. I had a flip in Cincinnati go up as a fake rental within ten days of my first open house photos hitting the syndication sites, not three weeks, ten days. The part nobody tells you is that Google's image removal tool, the copyright infringement path not the content one, got the indexed version of the fake ad delisted in about four business days for me, which at least kills the SEO tail on the scam. Craigslist itself I basically gave up on. What actually moved the needle was calling the probate attorney directly because in my case the estate had standing to file a more formal complaint and that spooked the host faster than anything I did.
Watermark every photo in the bottom-right corner with the parcel number, not your logo.
