Comments on: San Antonio Renters Beware: Craigslist Rental Scam Comes To Town

By: dee

dee — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:16:09 +0000

i live in the central valley, ca. i just recently replied to an ad on craigslist. drove by the house, found it was gorgeous and was surprised to see the “owner” responded quickly to my email. he told me he was on a missionary in west africa but to fill out the application. like an idiot, i did. thank god i didn’t give them my s.s. or any kind of credit info. i did, however, provide them with my current address and contact info. after i talked it over with my boyfriend, he asked me if i thought it was scam. to be honest, it never crossed my mind. i decided to research it and sure enough, i came across a website with victims across the country. i felt sick to my stomach, now this man has my address, birthday, telephone number, he knows where i work. i filed a complaint with a branch of the FBI (can’t think of it right now) and messaged the “owner” back. I stated I knew he was trying to scam me and I hope he gets caught. His reply “you’re a big fool if you think i am ever going to get caught. how do you think they’re going to track me?”

I think the worst part for me is that I feel like I am getting no support. I have placed several complaints to craigslist. I don’t hold them responsible but I did explain the situation to them. I marked my email 911 and asked them to remove the post to prevent this from happening to anyone else. This was Thursday and today is Sunday, his post is still up.

I found what I think is the REAL listing for this house. The asking price is $200 more than what he posted. I still really want this house but now I am too scared to even ask for any info on it. Its listed on rentals.com and doesn’t give a name to contact but only a 1-800 number.

By: rerockstar

rerockstar — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:26:20 +0000

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.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:20:10 +0000

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.

By: rerockstar

rerockstar — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:25:24 +0000

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.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:15:23 +0000

Beware of the same scammer agian in San Antonio. I emailed them back and forth and decided to google and I found this website.

By: Dave Dugdale

Dave Dugdale — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:57:30 +0000

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

By: rerockstar

rerockstar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:13:28 +0000

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.

By: John

John — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:55:18 +0000

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.

By: rerockstar

rerockstar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:50:10 +0000

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!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:32:25 +0000

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!