San Antonio Renters Beware: Craigslist Rental Scam Comes To Town
Renters Beware.
There have been articles posted by many of my good friends in real estate about rental scams involving craigslist, but I hadn’t seen one in San Antonio – until now. I was recently contacted by a Trulia Voices user after they were in touch with one of these scammers. The home listed was under-priced (which set off the first red flag) for the area, but the prospective renters were curious. After some back and forth contact, they received the following email:
Thanks for your email and it is my gladness hearing from you. Mr and Mrs Smith [name changed as the scammer used the names of the actual owners] own the house you are making enquirer of. I am looking for responsible tenants that he/she is going to take care of the house as if it were your own and he/she will be willing to make the Property clean as we left it. Actually I resided in the house with my family, such as my wife and my only daughter before and presently we had move due to my transfer from my working place and now situated in the (West Africa Nigeria) and won’t be coming to the House until two years and that means we are renting the Property for long term and short term lease is also acceptable. And presently my house is still available for rent for $800 which the deposit is $800 dollars including the utilities like Heat, A/C in wall/window, Hydro, cable, Garbage Disposal, Fireplace, Fridge, stove, Dishwasher, Dryer, Breakfast Bar, Dining Table and Sofa Set, Refrigerator, Canopied deck overlooking nature. Internet access e.t.c.it is furnished or if u wish to move in with your furniture’s no problem. We Went for a Crusade in West Africa.
Please I want you to note that, I am a kind and honest man and also I spent a lot on my property that I want to give you for rent, so I will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house and want you to treat it as your own, it’s not the money the main problem but want you to keep it tidy all the time so that I will be glad to see it neat when I come for a check up…..I do that once in a while…I also want you to let me have trust in you as I always stand on my word.
SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENTAL APPLICATIONS FORMS BELOW
The prospective renters did fill out the application and lucky for them there was no crucial or sensitive (credit card numbers or Social Security numbers) information given on the application. I’m shocked that a rental scam on craigslist didn’t phish for more information than it did, but I am also relieved. Of course, this also makes the rental scam seem more legitimate to San Antonio renters, which is probably why they make it all seem so innocuous.
After sending in the application (via email), the renters soon got a response from the craigslist scam artist:
This is to inform you,that we found your profile very satisfactory and acceptable by my family,hence we are willing to have your family occupy our home.Kindly go through this email and get back to us on what you feel so we could proceed.We would like to send the following documents to you via FedEx 2 nd day delivery(Please quote preferred courier address,if different from the one stated on your application form)You will be given the tracking number as well.Please once again, we are entrusting our Home in your care,so please do not disappoint us and i promise you that, you will love the neighborhood.
1) Entrance and the room Keys
2) Check-in list
3) The house documentary file.
4) Full Description of the house
5) Payment Receipt(Deposit)
6) Signed Lease Agreement you are meant to also sign and return back.Our home is available for rent for 3 years,but the initial lease will run for a stretch period of 1 year,and subject to extension upon mutual satis faction of both parties,but am positive we would have a cordial relationship.Rent already includes utilities..I’m ready to accept either monthly or upfront mode o f payment.depending on the option you’re most comfortable with..Utilities include: gas, water,sewer and trash.Your monthly rent already covers utilities so you do not have to pay extra charges for that.Please note that the deposit made, is fully refundable should in case you finally gain entrance into the house after receiving the keys and documents and feel unsatisfied or uncomfortable with the interior,but i am giving you a benefit of doubt that you will love everything about this lovely home.
Here is my number:0112347027251263
Have a very wonderful day20and your prompt response is awaited….
trust God!!!
How do you protect yourself?
Protecting yourself from rental scams (and others – there are buyer and seller scams out there as well) isn’t as hard as it sounds. Take these simple steps and protect yourself, your money, and your home.
Too good to be true. Apply it everywhere in your life. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Inconsistencies. Look for inconsistencies in any information pertaining to a real estate transaction. For instance, in the above example the writer speaks of the owners and later in the email calls it “my house.” These sorts of slip ups are common in scams.
Use a Realtor® or Apartment Location Service. We are licensed to assist in these transactions. Protect yourself with knowledgeable experts who do this for a living. Don’t just rent from someone you’ve never seen. Property managers are also in place to make sure that when something goes wrong, you can get it fixed. Even if the above example were a real rental, imagine trying to call Nigeria (the phone number provided) to get a blown water heater replaced.
Don’t email credit card or Social Security Numbers. Ever. Period. I don’t care who says it’s safe. It’s not.
There are plenty of honest, hard working people out there on craigslist who are not out to scam you. Being cautious is the name of the game. If you’re not sure or feel hesitant about the rental for some reason, try looking it up on the internet. In the case above, the prospective renters took a look through the San Antonio MLS listings and found that the home wasn’t up for rent (and they also confirmed it through me). Real estate agents and apartment location services practice “due diligence” as part of their obligations to you, if you choose not to use a San Antonio Realtor®, you should be certain that you do too! Instead, why not call one and use their services (the commissions are paid by the owner/landlord – so this costs you nothing)? Some agents don’t work with rentals, but there are plenty that do in San Antonio and many offices have dedicated teams that deal with rentals and property management – my office, RE/MAX Access, has Moran Property Management.
photo courtesy of jepoirrier
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Comments
I created a rental scam detection quiz if anyone is interested finding out if they are dealing with a scammer:
http://www.rentvine.com/tools/rentalscamquiz/
Dave Dugdale
Dave – Your quiz is pretty dead on. They are definitely some of the biggest signs of a scam that I know of.
Thanks Matt!
Just wanted to ad that I have received reply emails from two separate craigslist listings that I had contacted about rental homes. They are both very similar to this example above, hence raising the final red flag for me:
“Hello
I can see you are interested in the ad I have pasted, I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the WEST AFRICA NETWORK FOR PEACE BUILDING.here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.(http://www.wanep.org). So I need a tenant to take care of it….”
“Hello Dear,
I did get your response concerning the AD I posted on craigslist. The house is still available but presently I’m not around.. I did bid for a portion of petroleum land sometimes ago in West Africa and fortunately I won the bidding so I have to move quickly down to Africa to have my company set up because I will still have to rebid for it in the next 7 years.I came over here with my wife, we both bought the house when we got married. As soon as we settle down here I had a thought of selling the house so I have to look for an agent, ….”
These were both in Massachusetts. Hope this helps others prevent being scammed!
Rachel – Well I’m certainly happy to hear that you didn’t send them your money. I can’t believe the lengths people will go to to scam some money. Amazing. The thing I find interesting is that everyone knows Africa (particularly Nigeria) is a hot bed of these sorts of internet scams…so if we all know it, why do they continue to tell you that’s where they are? Just makes the “scam flag” shoot high quickly. Thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts!
The below e-mail is a craigslist scam as well, be careful and never wire money to anyone. I can’t believe they are doing this to people…
————————————
Hi,
I did get your response concerning the AD I posted on Craigslist.
The house is still available but presently I’m not around.I did bid for
a portion of petroleum land sometimes ago in West Africa and
fortunately I won the bidding so I have to move quickly down to
Africa to have my company set up because I will still have to rebid
for it in the next 10 years.here is the address of the house
(14 Cook St.Monmouth Beach, NJ 07750). I came over here with my wife,
we both bought the house when we got
married. As soon as we settle down here I had a thought of selling the
house so I have to look for an agent, after getting one, we got a deal
but later my wife advised against that.She said we may not be able to
win the bidding next time, in other to
keep our head when we return that we have to keep the house. I
reasoned with her and accepted her advise. So I contacted the agent
back and requested for my keys and documents. Later we decided to have
the house rent out, we would have give the same agent this job also
but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it
professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with
him later.
If you notice, you will discovered that the price we are offering is
far below standard price, this is enough for you to know that we are
not after the rental fee but the absolute care for the property. I
know there is no way I can be sure that you are the right person to
live in the house because we won’t be able to see physical before
sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space. But I just
had a feeling that anyone who knows what it takes to put the kind of
property down should know that maintaining it is mandatory, so if you
belief you can take good care of the place and handle it like yours
then I will be more than happy to let you rent the house.
Please if you are ready now to occupy the house kindly provide the
information below for record purpose.
LEASE APPLICATION FORM
Full Name__________________________ ________________________
Home Phone ( ) ________________________
Date of Birth_________________________ ________
Other Phone ( ) ___________________
Current Address_______________________ ________Apt#________
City__________________ State______ Zip________
Reasons for Leaving_______________________ _____Rent $__________Phone
( ) ____________________________
Are you married_______________________ _____
How many people will be living in the house_________________________ ___
Do you have a pet___________________________ _
Do you have a car___________________________ _
Occupation____________________ ________
Move In Date__________________________ __
You can contact me on my cell phone number.+234-1822-0455.
Best Regards.
John – As you can see they seem to be following a similar pattern with slight alterations to the story. The lease application is exactly what these people got as well.
Matt,
I also created a blacklist database that people can check against to see if they are dealing with a scammers:
http://www.pickrent.com/stuff/scammerdatabase.cfm
The database is add to almost daily.
Dave
Beware of the same scammer agian in San Antonio. I emailed them back and forth and decided to google and I found this website.
Rachel – I don’t think these scams are going to go away anytime soon. If you’re looking for an apartment, I would suggest going to an apartment locator. They work in much the same way a real estate agent does, they help locate an apartment, set up all the appointments, and get paid when you rent an apartment (by the apartment complex). If you’re looking to rent a house, most real estate brokerages in San Antonio have a property management division that works with these (their own listings as well as the other listings). I typically don’t do rentals as I prefer to buy and sell homes (it’s what I took all my training for), but there are plenty of agents who do. If you need help locating on, just let me know. Thanks for stopping by the site and updating us on the Craigslist rental scam.
The same exact scam has hit the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. One unfortunately involving my mother’s house (which is for sale) and my name. We’re still trying to get the ads removed, but Craigslist is not very swift in their actions. Just beware — the scams can strike anywhere.
Don – This scam has become a nightmare for everyone. A good friend of mine, who is a Realtor® had it done to their house. They couldn’t believe anyone would be that bold. It’s such a shame that this is what craigslist has become.
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