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 26, 2009
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!
