Renters ... Beware the Scammers

In the past two weeks of house hunting, I have come across scam ads three times on Craiglists! Pretty high percentage, don't you agree?

This is what they are doing now ... finding houses that are for SALE, copying their photos and often the verbage and then posting in the For Rent section. Some are really stupid and ask you to send money "and then we will send you the key" The only thing lost here is the time between answering the ad and them saying this. Still, it is annoying, especially if initially you like the looks of the house, location, etc.

But the more clever ones are now "just" asking that you fill out a form, with most of your information on it "and then we can meet to look at the house". This one is an identity theft scam.

The quickest way to get rid of them is to insist on meeting them, or getting the key before giving them the information.

It's funny how quickly they disappear. Otherwise they keep sending emails.

These days I will not give anyone any information about myself until we meet, I see the house and we agree to rental terms. Geeee ~

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Posted in reply to the post by aFlowerChild:

In the past two weeks of house hunting, I have come across scam ads three times on Craiglists! Pretty high percentage, don't you agree?

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The following is the text sent to me by one of the scammers ... it seems that STACY has moved on to yet another house. I just wanted you to see it for yourselves. Everything sounds so nice and friendly and pretty normal. Except ... click on the link ... it leads you to a 'free credit report' ... all of your information ... IDENTITY THEFT.
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Hello, I apologize for not responding to you earlier, I have been extremely busy the last few days!
The good news is that the rental is still available! We had a tentative agreement from the first person we showed it to, but now it seems that they changed their mind, so we need to lease it as soon as possible. You were the second one to email me about it, so its only fair to give you the first shot.
We know you will want to do a walk through of the property, but my husband doesn't want me to advertise the address as a measure of safety. Last time we did that without verifying people, the empty property was broken into and vandalized. We don't want that to happen again! You will be responsible for cable, internet, and phone, if you decide to have these services. Just to confirm, we DO allow pets at this property.
The rental term is 12-month lease, but can be switched into a 6-month lease if preferred. We just ask that you give us fair notice if you are moving out.
If you would like to set up an appointment, go to the link below and request the free copy of your rental report. We use this site for all the properties we manage. Just fill out the form and indicate that you want the free report. The actual scores aren't important to us, it's more of a formality to have it on file, to make sure there are no previous proerty related issues.
Get your report here: FULL REPORT

Remember, we only need to see the page about the rental history. That will be all you will need to bring with you to the showing.
As far as getting together to see the property goes, I am available to show it any time from 10:00 am on, for the next few days. Let me know once you have it printed out, and we will set up a time to do your walk-through.
Thank you once again for your interest!

Stacy

Yes, I've had similar experiences only when I posted I had a room for rent. I must have received 7 scammers at once from ad on Craigslist, and they all were almost identical. I was really stunned that people will do anything to scam someone. I found a site where many unsuspecting people like us had similar experiences with almost the same identical dialogue from these low lifes. Thanks for bringing it to the attention of those who might have fallen for it if not for your post.
:thumbsup:

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Posted in reply to the post by aFlowerChild:

In the past two weeks of house hunting, I have come across scam ads three times on Craiglists! Pretty high percentage, don't you agree?

This is what they are doing now ... finding houses that are for SALE, copying their photos and often the verbage and then posting in the For Rent section. Some are really stupid and ask you to send money "and then we will send you the key" The only thing lost here is the time between answering the ad and them saying this. Still, it is annoying, especially if initially you like the looks of the house, location, etc.

But the more clever ones are now "just" asking that you fill out a form, with most of your information on it "and then we can meet to look at the house". This one is an identity theft scam.

The quickest way to get rid of them is to insist on meeting them, or getting the key before giving them the information.

It's funny how quickly they disappear. Otherwise they keep sending emails.

These days I will not give anyone any information about myself until we meet, I see the house and we agree to rental terms. Geeee ~

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Posted in reply to the post by Deenie Venditti:

Yes, I've had similar experiences only when I posted I had a room for rent. I must have received 7 scammers at once from ad on Craigslist

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I take the safety and integrity of all posts and replies on WaccoBB.net very seriously in order to prevent such scams, including warning the community of any known problems such as the tenant from hell (for which I was sued).

Thanks for watching out for us, Barry. Sorry it got you sued.
Whadda woild, eh?

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

I take the safety and integrity of all posts and replies on WaccoBB.net very seriously in order to prevent such scams, including warning the community of any known problems such as the tenant from hell (for which I was sued).

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NEW RENTAL SCAM: Empty, foreclosed homes are being broken into and having by the locks changed unscrupulous types. The guys then turn around and rent out the homes, collect the deposits and then disappear. Renting a house? Do a background check on the 'owner' and the address of the house.