The same thing happened to me just this week.  Thank goodness I am doing my research.  I am a renter and found a posting on craigslist for a unbelievably good priced 'condo'.  $1200 per month for a normally $2600 per month rent.  This guy, of all names, Cole Smith, cole01smith@hotmail.com, said that he is trying to rent his condo that he owns.  Problem is he lives in London, he wants to rent it out by the end of the week, won't give out his phone number/address, and he wants money Western Union'd to him.  He took off the posting the day after it was posted, so I bet he had a lot of inquiries.

By the way, I live in California...this guy needs to be taken down!!!  Awful, awful person

The same thing happened to me I call for a rental near Claremont,Ca  the scammers are asking $180 when asked why that much,(before even knowing the address), and what will happend to my money if I don't like it? They said some of the money will be refund when ask how much?? They only stick with "refundable. The company's name is Diamond Point Property, at 5456 Riverside Dr, Chino, Ca 91710, and the guy I talked to is "Alfredo" phone number 909-591-7272. I google it and guess what??? NOTHING! I also send an email (last week) to craigslist and nothing happened... they are still out there scamming people, another one to BEWARE is SEANA AT 909-244-4010, she will get your money to "suppose" check your Credit Report, then if you are lucky as I was (excellent Credit) she give you an address and the owner of the house never heard about her and neither the Company she work for. The problem I find is when you try to post a "beware" about the scammers, craigslists take you down...What can we do to help others????

In response to the post by "Spankerit" --

I was looking through the rental ads in yesterday's Pennysaver and guess what? The ONE ad I circled and meant to call on today just happens to be from the same Diamond Point Property you mentioned!

The way I found out was quick and easy: I did a reverse phone search on Superpages.com and I got the info. Now that I know it's an agency (they always make me leery anyway) and especially now that I've read your post on this particular agency, I won't waste my time.

I am also familiar with that "Seana" person. I see numerous ads from her on Craig's List all the time. The funny thing is, one of her Craig's List ads was for a house for rent that I previously saw on the MLS. I thought perhaps she works at the real estate office that was listing the rental. Either that or she is a competing agent posting Craig's List ads for other agents' listings, hoping to bring in the renters for a share of the commissions.

It's true -- if the rent seems too low, there's probably some sort of catch.

Well....I came across this company today on Craigslist.  They have 4 listings on the OC craigslist.  It seemed too goog to be true, but with today's market full of foreclosures-i thought maybe it was possible. 

So I called the number and he stated that we need to come to his office in Chino to fill out the application.  There was an application fee of $40 per adult.  Once we passed the application process (credit check and references check) we would pay a $100 deposit that would be refuned if we did not find something that we liked within 90 days.  After paying the deposit, they would find properties that we were interested in and make arrangements for us to see them. 

I have never heard of having to pay BEFORE you even see a property, and even more before they can even tell you descriptions of the properties.  It immediately seemed like a scam to me.  So I responded and told him that I would have to call back to schedule an appointment because my husband works odd hours because he is a police detective for the Chino Police department.  Surprise surprise....the guy hung up on me.  When I tried to call back the line was busy. 

haha atleast the guy got a bit shaken.  Unfortunately, most of the police departments would not do anything unless you have been a victim already.  You would think that it would be as simple as having an undercover detective call, set up an appointment, pay the fees and then arrest them once it was proven that it isn't legitimate.  Sounds plain and simple to me, but I guess life is not as easy as it is on those crime shows like CSI haha.

I'm legitimately looking for a place for me and my kids.  I'm a single mother working full-time, but can't afford to pay more than $1000 for a 3 bedroom/2 bath. 

Every time I think I found a nice place and email the posting, I always get an email back stating to submit my personal information, etc. and it's always the same response: They were sent to Nigeria to work with orphans, etc. and they need good people in their house ASAP that will take good care of it.  They even went a little further a couple of weeks ago and attached a website of the orphan they were "working" in.

It seems like craigslist is full of rental scams.  I've gotten to the point that I goggle the address and it usually comes up with the "real" rental information/contacts including the price being double if not more than craigslist posted it at.

I've even email the real agents for the property with the information, links, etc.  The first one that I emailed never responded and the second one just said thanks for the information as if they really didn't care.

Spankerit, I too dealt with Diamond Point. I should have known better, but I was in a rush to find a rental and they preyed on my desperation.

I filed a complaint with the BBB on July 5th. I received a response from Diamond Point stating that they would refund the entire amount of $180 since 1) they never ran my credit, and 2) every house I was interested in was "unavailable." They stated my check would be available for pick-up on August 27th. I went on August 29th to pick up the check and no one in the office knew anything about it. Also, the 2 ladies I previously dealt with, Suzette and Rebecca, are no longer with the company. So, September 15th, I called BBB to tell them I had not yet received my check and they filed a rebuttal. The company has until the end of this week to answer, right? Well I called Diamond Point today (909-591-7272 and 909-591-6699) and they are disconnected! Also, I have not seen any listings on Craigslist from them since September 13th. However, I did speak with Victor, who apparently was the head honcho, in my search for a home and have his personal cell phone number. I am planning on contacting him directly. He's selling Dodgers tickets on Craigslist as "Vic." Sounds like he's tight on money...

My question is, should I take it to small claims or do I even have a case? How do I collect my money? I obviously need it.  

Any feedback is welcome, thank you!

I am sad to say that I too delt with Diamond Point. I called them about a listing in Anaheim and they asked us to come down to their place to fill out an application and pick up the key so that we could go check it out. Once there I filled out the aplication and told Gabe that I was looking to rent a house nothing else. He printed out a listing and sent us over to one to drive by and let him know what we thought. He took our 80.00 and told us that he wouldn't run a credit check until we gave him the ok. I called him as I sat in front of an apartment building and explained that that was not what I had asked to see. I also told him that I went through the rest of the listing and there were no houses on it! He said to call him back that Friday when the new lisitng come out and he would have something ready. So silly me, called on Friday and he had no clue who I was, nothing was ready, and asked me to call back the next Friday. I asked what I had to do to get the 80.00 back since he did not run our chredit and no services were actuallly provided. Gabe said all I had to do was write a letter and fax it to him. I wrote a letter and tried to fax it. Number not in service. I called him back, he gave me a new number and faxed it over, keeping the fax sheet as proof that it went through and mailed the hard copy.

Needless to say I never received a responce, or money and all number are now out of service. For shame Diamont Point, for shame.

There is a similar scam making the rounds in Southern California. A Craigslist ad will appear with a glowing description, vague location, low rent or low deposit, and a phone number.

You call the phone number, and the person answering the phone will not tell you the exact address of the rental. After you give them a deposit, then, if you pass their credit check, they will take you and show you the rental. Since I will not pay a gate fee to be prequalified, I've never gotten to step #2 (find out I've been scammed), but there have been Craigslist ads warning about this one.

I found my aunt a nice home to rent on craigslist. It was a decent rent price. It was by the owner not a leasing company or referral company. I would never trust a referral company.