Are listing photos a security risk? What to hide, remove and know

What the evidence says

The warnings come from police and security people, case by case. We found no study that measures how often listing photos lead to a burglary, so treat the risk as real but unmeasured.

• San Marino, California (2016). After arresting two burglary suspects, San Marino police found suspected stolen goods from several homes that were for sale, "with online pictures revealing they were unoccupied," NBC Los Angeles reported. Det. Sgt. Tim Tebbets said police were looking at the suspects "using real estate websites, Zillow or anything else that shows pictures of the actual house to see if it's occupied or not."
• Hamilton, New Zealand (2008). New Zealand Police said a man arrested there had studied billboards and websites advertising homes for sale, looking for pictures of electronics, and asked vendors and agents "to think about security issues before they publish photos of properties, particularly of home interiors."
• Bangor, Maine (2025). A Bangor police spokesperson told the Bangor Daily News the department hadn't encountered a case where photos of a property's interior contributed to a crime, but that it "regularly" gets reports of fake apartment listings online.

Security companies quoted in the same Bangor Daily News article point to what photos give away: "entrances that aren't visible from the road or whether the home has a security system," and safes or jewelry boxes that show where valuables are kept. NAR's consumer guide on privacy when selling adds the personal side: family photos, calendars, mail, "computer logins, wi-fi passwords and documents with sensitive information."

What's in the photo, the risk, and the fix before the shoot

Most fixes take minutes and also make better photos, because a clear room reads larger. Our real estate photo prep checklist has the room-by-room version.

How scammers use listing photos

The documented abuse of listing photos is rental fraud. The FTC's consumer page says: "Scammers copy the pictures, description, or virtual tour from a real online rental listing," then replace the agent's contact information with their own and post the ad on another site. The FTC adds that some copied ads are for homes that are really for sale, not for rent, and that a home "listed for sale instead of for rent" is "a big red flag."

The scale, from the government's own data:

• FTC: nearly 65,000 rental scams reported to the FTC from 2020 through June 2025, with about $65 million in losses and a median reported loss of $1,000 (Data Spotlight, December 22, 2025).
• FBI: 12,368 real estate fraud complaints to its Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, with $275.1 million in losses. That category covers rental and timeshare fraud as well as real estate investments, so not all of it is copied listings.

As an owner you can't stop someone copying a public photo, but you can catch it. While the home is listed, search your address on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, and run your main photo through a reverse image search. If you find a fake, report it to the site where it was posted, to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your local police, as the FTC suggests, and tell your agent. Hiding the photos after closing also takes away the material for the next copy.

How long listing photos stay online, and how to remove them

Often for years. Redfin's help center says that when a home sells through the MLS "the photos are still archived in the MLS system," and the feeds include them unless the MLS hides or removes them. Some MLSs keep them for good: SmartMLS says a closed listing's photos are "part of the permanent record" and that no one, "not even SmartMLS staff," can remove them, though since June 9, 2021 its IDX websites may no longer show extra photos of permanently off-market listings.

What an owner can do, in short:

• Zillow: claim the home, then hide or delete the photos under Edit Facts. Some recently sold homes can only hide all but the main photo.
• Redfin: claim the home, then check Hide listing photos under Edit Photos (website only). Redfin keeps the first photo until you ask support, and it can remove an old 3D tour or floor plan on request.
• Realtor.com: claim the property and ask for the images to be removed during the claim, SmartMLS says.
• Google and Bing: removed photos can linger in image results; Redfin says it "can take some time" for search engines to notice. Google's Refresh outdated content tool lets you ask for an image result to be updated.

Each site is separate, and nobody can change the photos on the portals while the home is still listed: that goes through your agent and the MLS. The click-by-click steps are in how to remove or update listing photos on Zillow, Redfin and the MLS. To see what is still out there, use the same routes a buyer would, in how to find old listing photos. The photos usually belong to the photographer, not to you, which is why removal is a request rather than a right; see who owns listing photos.

Is it legal to take pictures of someone's house?

From a public street, generally yes. The ACLU's Know Your Rights page says: "When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view," and adds that "On private property, the owner may set rules related to photography or video."

Two limits matter for a home:

• Zooming into private spaces. The Digital Media Law Project (a Berkman Klein Center project, no longer updated) explains that intrusion on seclusion, a privacy claim each state defines in its own way, can be met "by an electronic or optical intrusion, such as using zoom lenses or highly sensitive microphones to photograph or record a person who has a reasonable expectation of privacy." A bedroom or bathroom is the kind of place it names.
• Your own property. On your driveway, in your yard or inside, you set the rules. If someone is on your property taking pictures and won't leave, or you feel unsafe, call your local police.

Real estate agents and photographers shoot the inside of a home with the owner's permission, normally as part of the listing agreement, and you can say which rooms or items stay out. Buyers at showings are another matter: NAR's consumer guide says buyers may wander and take photos, and suggests asking your agent to put a "No Photography" note in the MLS and placing polite signs in the home.

Can a landlord take photos of your apartment?

It depends on your state and your lease. State laws set when a landlord may enter, and the two we read don't mention photos at all:

If your landlord wants listing photos while you live there, ask what will be shot, and move what you don't want online out of the frame first, using the table above. Your lease may have its own rule on photos or showings.

Taking the photos with October

If you take the photos yourself with the October app on an iPhone 12 or newer, the app shows a short checklist before the first room: tidy away what doesn't belong, switch the lights on, open the curtains and ask people to step out. An AI image model then draws each finished photo from your capture and leaves out small loose items such as papers, cables, bottles and towels. The model is told to keep the fixed parts of the room, so an alarm panel, a camera or a built-in safe stays in the photo: close the closet over a safe before you start, and check every finished photo for panels and cameras before you publish it, and label it as AI-altered where your MLS or listing site requires.

The finished photos usually come back within a few hours. A place is up to 6 rooms: $49 for photos, $99 with a walkthrough video, and your first place is free. See pricing.

Step by step

1. Walk the house as a stranger would

   Look for valuables, a safe, the alarm panel, cameras, side entrances, documents, keys, medication, family photos and children's names.

2. Put away or lock up

   Move small valuables, documents, keys, medication and firearms out of sight, and take down Wi-Fi passwords, calendars and name letters.

3. Frame out what stays

   Keep alarm panels, cameras, safes and close-ups of doors and locks out of the frame, and check window views for house numbers and car plates.

4. Watch for copies while listed

   Search your address on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and reverse-search your main photo. Report fakes to the site, ReportFraud.ftc.gov and local police.

5. Hide the photos after closing

   Claim the home on Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com and hide or remove the photos on each, then ask Google to refresh any image results that linger.

Questions