Details are a little sketchy from the news article, but it appears a couple from Cincinnati, OH tried to rent a condo in Miami, FL from a source in Lancaster, PA. The couple sent two cashier’s checks “totaling $2,300, to the alleged renter’s address, which is in Lancaster County.”
The couple arrived in Miami, and found out that the condo was in fact not for rent. That might change your holiday plans.
A scammer was targeting a partner at a large CPA firm in Boise, Id. The Boise business man had a property advertised on craigslist and received an email from “a professor of paleontology from the Netherlands who was moving to Boise for a year and needed a house for himself and his family.”
The professor sent the Boise business man “a $5,000 cashier’s check from a U.S. bank. ‘I’ve been in banking, and this check looked real — the routing numbers were in the right place and everything.’” (more…)
Dr. Jack Fred sounds like he is a real doctor like Dr Pepper is a real doctor. Dr. Jack Fred is advertising houses for rent on craigslist that are really other people’s homes that are listed for sale. From Cleveland.com:
She learned of the ad after her Realtor received a call from a woman who responded to the online ad. The woman said she got an e-mail back from a “Dr. Jack Fred,” who said he had just got a job in Nigeria but would send keys if she wired him a $600 deposit. (more…)
From the Pawtucket Times, a couple from Lincoln, RI inquired about a property they saw on Craigslist by emailing the person who posted the property. A pastor by the name of Thomas McNulty was the man who responded. Apparently, the home was for rent because he was out of town on a crusade in Africa. Really, you don’t say? If I were a betting man, I would wager an infinite amount of money that he wants you to wire some money to Nigeria.
McNulty wrote in broken English, “Pls, i want you to note that i am a kind and honest man and i also spent a lot on my property that i want to give you for rent, (more…)
The Washington Post reports that there has been a sharp rise in the number of people being victimized by rental scams in recent months. One particular example quoted below is particularly astonishing that someone got away with this scam for so long.
Some of the schemes are astoundingly brazen. In July, Fairfax County police arrested Fauquier County resident Richard Hiner and accused him of breaking into empty, bank-owned homes, changing the locks and posting them as rentals on Craigslist. He accepted payment on nine properties, police said, including one he “rented” to two families that tried to move in on the same day. (more…)
If you are still getting calls after you have rented your property, it might be a good idea to double check the rental listing boards to see if someone has reposted it as a rental scam. From Hartford, CT’s WSFB.com
Elisabeth Medaris said someone appears to have stolen images from her old online posting and is using them in an effort to get people to send money by Western Union to Nigeria. (more…)
From Memphis, TN, Waymon Kinchen attempted to rent a house from craigslist. He was very excited about the property because the house was a good deal for the area. Kinchen called the person who posted the ad, and found out that
the man who listed the property told Kinchen he had moved to Africa.
Does this sound familiar at all??? Anyway, the man wanted Kinchen to wire the security deposit to him in Africa, so he could mail Kinchen the keys. Kinchen wired half the security deposit because he was skeptical of the situation. The phone number has since been disconnected, and Kinchen has not received his keys.
This rental scam is definitely growing in popularity. Someone from West Africa finds a property on the web and posts it on a website like craigslist.org as thier own. They make up some sob story of why they are in Africa and ask you to wire transfer your security deposit via Western Union. From Idaho’s KTVB News,
The home at the center of this scam was originally for sale back in October. It was listed on the Boise Multiple Listing Service Web site — a site used by legitimate realtors.
That’s where homeowner Melissa Gifford believes the scammers got so much information about her house. (more…)
From UPI.com, some would be renters are getting scammed out of their security deposits by a scam based out of Nigeria.
“First of all it’s not his house, whoever this person is; it’s not their house,” Kurowski said. “Second of all they have no right to use my house as part of a scam.”
Kurowski said when his real estate agent inquired about the offer, a reply said the home owner was in the West African country of Nigeria but was accepting rental deposits. (more…)
It seems this rental scam is making its way across North America. From Black Press British Columbia, a
$700-a-month, one-bedroom apartment for rent in Kamloops listed on the ever-popular craigslist.ca has been deemed fraudulent.
The original advertisement was posted on Tuesday and, not 24 hours later, it was flagged as a scam and pulled off the website — but not before KTW had a chance to inquire about the seemingly great place that boasted stainless-steel appliances, unique design, wood flooring and many upgrades. (more…)
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