THIS COLORADO SPRINGS LENDER thought he had seen it all. That is until he was talking to a Realtor today who had uncovered a new and albeit creative scam.
This particular Realtor had been driving by one of his listings when he noticed a family out looking through the windows as if interested in the property. Sensing an opportunity to meet a new customer he stopped to chat. From here things take a turn for the worse.
The wife explained that they had seen this home listed for rent on Craig's list for the unbelievably low sum of $800.00. They had responded to the e-mail address in the ad, sent in an application,(thank God they didn't give any social security numbers), and were waiting to see where they needed to send their deposit and first months rent. The ad, to make things more interesting, had the seller's names listedby the seller's maiden name which is how she took title prior to getting married.
The Realtor, let the folks know that the home was for sale and not for rent. The husband reminded his wife he had told her this was too good to be true. Upon further questioning the Realtor discovered that the e-mail had originated from Nigeria. Where have we seen this before? Apparently, now that all the millions of dollars of inheritance money has been safely moved out of Nigeria (yeah right lol) to safe havens in the U.S., the new tactic is to track new listings and offer them for great rental rates to the unsuspecting.
Fortunately for the couple in our scenario, they had not sent any money or done anything else to compromise their money or identity.
This COLORADO SPRINGS LENDER reiterates the maxim, "if it is too good to be true" it probably is not.
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