First let me say ~ I really like Craigslist. I advertise my listings there and I've bought some great deals from honest folks advertising on the site. BUT, here's the thing, scammers like Craigslist too.
For the third time this week I've received a call inquiring about a listing found on the internet. I pull up the listing and explain to the caller that this property is a bank-owned property currently listed for sale.
The callers then explain that they saw the home listed for rent on Craigslist and when they responded to the ad they spoke with a woman who "pre-qualified" them to rent the home and then instructed them to wire the first month's rent and security deposit.
WHOA...can you see that red flag a-flappin?
I encouraged all of the callers to contact Craigslist so that the ads could be investigated and removed.
I encourage anyone looking for a home rental on Craigslist to be extremely cautious about giving out any personal information and please don't wire any funds to anyone you don't know.
How can you tell if a rental offering on Craigslist is real? Well, there are several signs that should make you wonder.
- Is the rental price to good to be true?
- Is the contact number a toll free number WITHOUT the name of the company offering the home for rent?
- Does the listing lack a description or location? (although this is changing as scammers copy for sale listings off the internet)?
- If the address is provided, do the photos match the actual home if you run a Google Earth or similar search of the address? (if they do match...still not an endorsement as scammers are copying information from for sale listings right off the internet, pictures and all)
- Does the title of the listing have a ton of exclamation points or other symbols used to grab attention?
- Some scammers intentionally use typos and poor spacing to make it look like it's a "real" person posting the ad. I don't really get this...I mean, does that mean regular people have poor writing and typing skills?
Bottom line~ RENTER BEWARE and do a little research before sending a stranger your hard-earned money!
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