BEWARE Rental Scams On the Rise

We have recently received a number of complaints regarding an internet rental scam that has been taking place across the country and is now affecting our area as well.  Scammers are copying information from legitimate online rental ads and then posting that information on Craig's List for a reduced price with their contact information in place of the property managers.  The scammers are often operating outside the country but many cases have also involved local scammers who are able to meet potential tenants in person.  In international cases, the potential tenants are usually required to send the deposit and first month's rent through Western Union and are promised that the keys will then be over-nighted to them.  In one situation the unsuspecting tenant was actually able to move into an apartment without the knowledge of the legitimate rental company.  The legitimate rental company was only alerted to the problem when the new tenant called to request that the "For Rent" sign be removed from their front yard. 
 
The FBI has received numerous complaints about this type of scam but the local Norfolk office explained that this type of crime is low on their list of investigative priorities.  The best thing you can do if one of your properties gets caught in this scam is to visit www.IC3.gov and report the crime.  The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).  IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime.  If you encounter a potential tenant who has been scammed and made the mistake of providing sensitive personal information such as their social security number, it is highly recommended that they go ahead and put a freeze on their credit.  Virginia recently passed a law which helps to make the credit freeze process even easier.