Craig's List Real Estate Scam - your ad could be used against you!
Last month I listed a beautiful rental home in Belle Meade which is in Miami's Upper East Side. I put it on the MLS and also posted it on Craig's List. Belle Meade is an upscale gated community and homes are not exactly cheap. The home I listed has 3 beds 2 baths and a separate living and family room, amazing landscaping, everything updated with high-end upgrades. Bottom line: it is very nice (as you can see).
We were asking $2900 per month, which is reasonable for a large home in that condition and in that area. About a week later I was in a short meeting and when I came out I checked my voicemail to find a dozen messages from potential tenants who were all very interested in the home. I thought that either the market had suddenly skyrocketed faster than NASA's space shuttle or I was just very lucky. In this economy it is very unusual to have so many people call at once for a home that rents for nearly $3000 per month.
I returned the first call - he was a minister from out of state and he was relocating his family to Miami. He said he saw the home on Craig's List.
The minister seemed elated and told me "The home has everything I ever wanted; the location, condition of the home, and of course the price! I just can't believe it's only $900 per month!"
My eyes got wide and I quickly interrupted him, "Wait just a minute" I said, "the price is not $900 it's $2900 per month."
"Not according to Craig's List" he stated adamantly.
I then logged onto Craig's List and found my ad but there was also another one that looked exactly the same but the price was only $900. The person who posted it obviously copy and pasted my description and photos and made a similar ad. The fake ad stated if anyone was interested in renting the home they had to contact Mike Mason by email, Whoever wrote this ad even made it look like tenants were dealing directly with me, the true listing agent. These scammers slyly designed an email address which contained my first initial and my last name;mmason***@yahoo.com however, my real email address is Mike@MikeMason.Biz .
The only reason the minister was able to contact me is because he 'Googled' the address of the home and was connected directly to my website. The other people who contacted me did the same. I wonder how many others didn't think to do that and only contacted the bogus broker. I later found out that some people did email these scam artists and this is what happened:
The broker quickly responded by emailing them a rental application which could have been composed by a 5 year old - complete with misspelled words and horrible grammar. After the tenants filled it out they were told to rush it to the broker along with $900 which was the first month's rent. This would serve as a deposit in order to hold the house and take it off the market. The broker said once he received the money he would in turn mail the keys to the tenant. Guess where the tenant was told to mail the check? If you guessed Nigeria you are correct. That is a huge red flag! There are innumerable reports about scams originating in Nigeria...I guess this is one of their latest creations.
Most people would never fall for this but, believe it or not, someone always does. Some people who are not computer savvy may think that everything on Craig's List is legitimate when, in fact, anyone can essentially post anything they want to because the site is so loosely monitored. I know that when someone sees an amazing deal they get excited and emotional - they just want to jump on it before someone else does.
I contacted NBC-6 here in Miami and they did a consumer report warning people about this scam. Good Realtors don't need a black eye - the market has already been beaten up enough. Hopefully people out there will remember the old saying "if it looks too good to be true it probably is."
Mike Mason
Realtor and Investigative Reporter
Blog: http://investigativereportermikemason.blogspot.com/
Email: Mike@MikeMason.Biz
Website:www.MikeMason.Biz
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