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April 23, 2009
April 15, 2009
Philip Pareigis in Lagos, Nigeria
He likes Craigslist, fake rental ads, Western Union and scamming people. If you receive a response from Phillip, please don’t send him money because he really does not have a property for rent.
There isn’t much authorities can do once you send a rental scammer money via Western Union.
Source: Scammers hijack home rental ads
Great article by the way on rental scams and scammers.
March 26, 2009
Deceased Pittsburgh Homeowner Posts Property For Rent
No, the dead are not coming back to life. A nigerian rental scammer has posted a house for rent claiming to be the deceased owner of the property. The scammer was able to research public records and find out who has owned this particular property in Pittsburgh. The scammer created a fake email address with the deceased owner’s name, and was attempting to rent the property. The current owner of the property has been notified of the fake ad.
March 13, 2009
The Foreclosure Rental Scams Continue…
Tim Dodge out of Columbus, OH was bamboozled into renting a house from a woman who did not own the home.
“I paid her $1,100 up front for the first two months rent,” Dodge said.
The scam was foiled when the owner who just filed for bankruptcy worked out a deal with his mortgage lender to prevent the house from being auctioned off. He arrived to find a unknown family living in his house. How awkward would that be to find a family living in your house? Anyhow, the two parties are working out a short-term rental agreement to allow the Dodges some time to find another place to rent. The fake woman landlord is still at large.
Source: Scammers Evolve, Use Craigslist To Pose As Landlords
March 9, 2009
Signing a Lease with a Tenant
Signing a Lease with a Tenant
1) Rental Application
2) Credit Check
3) Signing the Lease
4) Security Deposit
Rental Application
When you have someone interested in renting your property, have them fill out a rental application. A rental application will provide the information you need to pull a credit report, verify past rental history, verify current employment, check references and anything else that might be helpful for you to make a decision on renting to this person.
Here is a sample rental application:
http://www.citicredit.net/applications/Free_Rental_Application1.pdf
Credit Check
(more…)
March 7, 2009
Fake PayPal Email - Phishing Scam
It has been a while since I have received a fake PayPal email. Here is the one I received today:
Dear PayPal Member,
As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding your account.
For your protection, we have limited access to your account until additional security measures can be completed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
This might be due to either of the following reasons:
1. A recent change in your personal information (i.e. change of
address,e-mail address).2. An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within our processors.
Please update and verify your information by checking the link below: (if you can’t open it just copy the link in your internet browser) (more…)
March 4, 2009
$500 Rental Deposit + $51 Western Union Fee = Scammed!
A woman in Madison, WI fell victim to the the old Nigerian rental scam. A scammer by the name of Mike Moore from Lagos, Nigeria posted a property for rent that he did not own. The scammer convinced the woman to wire the security deposit to him in Nigeria. He later asked for another $1,400 for “complications” with the property. She contacted the police after he wanted the extra money.
Anyone else come across this scum bag, Mike Moore? If so, please post any emails that you have received from him, so we can warn others before they are scammed!
February 28, 2009
African Rental Scams - Don’t Rent from…
1) Ezekiel Linsey
“We are looking for a responsible person or family to occupy and maintain the apartment until we are back home,” wrote the person who proclaimed to be the owner, Ezekiel Linsey, in an e-mail. “Myself and wife just traveled to Africa for a program called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education, the program is taking place in three major countries in Africa which are Rep. of Benin, South Africa and Nigeria.”
2) Shantal Petersen (more…)
February 25, 2009
Why is the Same Property For Rent at Two Very Different Prices?
A local real estate brokerage in Greesnboro, NC received this question when their property was one price in one ad and significantly lower in another. The problem that the real estate company is running into is that rental scammers especially in Nigeria are re-posting rental ads by legitimate property managers and landlords at bargain rent prices hoping that they can scam you out of a security deposit and upfront rent. A similar example of this happened in Memphis, TN. A renter was tempted by a rental scammer who advertised a house for rent that was legitimately for sale. The scammer even made up a phony email address with the owners name in a attempt to appear to be the real owner. See dave.erickson34@yahoo.com - Watch Out For This Scammer for more details. (more…)
