I heard scammers were trying out a new game by placing SOMEONE ElSE'S rental property on Craigslist, claiming it's their own & scamming the potential renter. I didn't think it would be happening to us in San Antonio!
We received notice yesterday that one of our rental properties was on craigslist, at a reduced amount & it was now owned by someone in West Africa.
Say WHAT?
We have a house for rent in Helotes (right next to San Antonio), we DO NOT have it listed on craigslist so the scammer found our listing somewhere & posted it on craigslist. Here's the new "owner" trying to reel the potential renter in...
--- On Fri, 4/9/10, William Rich <richwm@hosanna.net> wrote:
From: William Rich <richwm@hosanna.net>
Subject: Re: $900 / 3br - Home for rent (Helotes, TX )
To:
Date: Friday, April 9, 2010, 10:16 AM
Hello
I did get your response concerning the AD I posted on craigslist.I am the owner of the house you are inquiring for. The house is still available but presently I'm not around.. I did bid for a portion of petroleum land sometimes ago in West Africa and fortunately I won the bidding so I have to move quickly down to Africa(Nigeria) to have my company set up because I will still have to rebid for it in the next 10 years. I came over here with my wife, we both built the house when we got married. As soon as we settle down here I had a thought of selling the house so I have to look for an agent, after getting one, we got a deal but later my wife advised against that. She said we may not be able to win the bidding next time, in other to keep our head when we return that we have to keep the house.
I reasoned with her and accepted her advise. So I contacted the agent back and requested for my keys and documents. Later we decided to have the house rent out, we would have given the same agent this job also but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with him later. If you notice, you will discovered that the price we are offering is far below standard price, this is enough for you to know that we are not after the rental fee but the absolute care for the property. I know there is no way I can be sure that you are the right person to live in the house because we won't be able to see physical before sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space. But I just had a feeling that anyone who knows what it takes to put the kind of structure down should know that maintaining a building is mandatory, so if you belief you can take good care of the house and handle it like yours then I will be more than happy to let you rent the house.Below is the information about my house:
BEDROOMS:3
BATHS:2
RENTAL AMOUNT...........$900
SECURITY DEPOSIT.............$900
ADDRESS OF MY HOUSE.........18524 Bandera Road Helotes, TX 78023
The Utilities like electricity, Hydro washer, warmer, Gas,etc except internet are included. I want to let you know that money is not our problem but what we are looking for is absolute care of the home when you pack into the home. We are looking out for someone that can always keep the home clean and tidy.So please I want you to stand on the agreement you will make with us.
We are kind and honest people,we don't like disappointing people and we don't want anyone to disappoint me.We spent a lot on our house that we want to give to you for rent.It is very close to Parks and Shopping.
I want to let you know that there is no one there in the state to show you the inside of the house as the keys and all documents of the house are here with us and we shall get it shipped to you via FEDEX or DHL Courier Service as soon as you are ready to move in
You can go check out the house and the neighborhood from the outside and get back to me if you really like it for more information.I will also send some of the pictures to you in my next email.
Below are the final question that you must answer to qualify for the rent of our house.
TENANT RENT APPLICATION
FIRST NAME: __________________
MIDDLE NAME: __________________
LAST NAME: __________________
PROFESSION: ________________
PHONE (____) __________ (CELL)
PHONE (____) __________ (WORK)
PHONE (____) __________ (HOME)
MARITAL STATUS: _________
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS: ___________________________
CITY: _______________
STATE: ______________
ZIPCODE: ____________
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING? ______________________________
_________________________________________
CURRENT RENT: _______
PREVIOUS ADDRESS: ___________________________
CITY: ________________
STATE: _______________
ZIPCODE: _____________
HOW LONG? ____________ IF RENTING,HOUSE.
WHY DID YOU LEAVE?
_______________________________________________________________________
PREVIOUS RENT: _______
IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________
PERSONAL REFERENCES
(LIST 3 PERSONS, OTHER THAN YOUR RELATIVES, THAT WE CAN CONTACT TO
VERIFY YOUR CHARACTER.)
FIRST PERSON
FIRST NAME: _______________
MIDDLE NAME: ______________
LAST NAME: ________________
RELATIONSHIP______________
PHONE (___) ________________
SECOND PERSON
FIRST NAME: _______________
MIDDLE NAME: ______________
LAST NAME: ________________
RELATIONSHIP______________
PHONE (___) ________________
THIRD PERSON
FIRST NAME: _______________
MIDDLE NAME: ______________
LAST NAME: ________________
RELATIONSHIP______________
PHONE (___)________________
EMERGENCY
(IN AN EMERGENCY, LIST 2 PERSONS THAT CAN BE CONTACTED STARTING WITH
NEAREST RELATIVES)
So i solicit for your absolute maintenance of our house. We want you to treat it as yours when you move in, I hope this is very clear to you? It's not all about the money but I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that we will be glad to see it neat and clean when ever we visit the country. You can stay in the house as long as you wish because we already own another house here in West Africa and will buy a house in USA before we return.I also want you to let me have trust in you as I always stand on my words. You can email me back for further discussion.
Thanks and God bless you.
Best Regards
***************************************
It is eerily familiar to the emails we all get about someone needing $ somewhere. Here's the listing on craigslist:
http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/apa/1682485895.html I reported it as spam last night but it's still up as of this AM. Our listing is 3 bedrooms but we have it up for $1800/month AND the scammer stole our picture of the home!
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