Wow! Those scam artists are really smart. It was divine that someone called you in the nick of time. Thank you for the heads up on the latest evil plot of theivery 

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the rental market.....

I have three rentals. Have had good luck with Craigs, as far as getting renters. But I have had some weird phone calls and if I ever try to sell anything, I get this odd Emails as if someone is a prospective buyer but they ask stupid questions -- things like what is the cost, where is it....all mentioned in the bloomin' ad.

Wonderful information. The scam artists continue to evolve their games. What a great reminder to keep abreast of everything that is happening in your market.

These guys never stop coming up with new ways to steal.  The worst part is they are in Africa and the police can't do much about it.

I guess these scam-bums, ( I don't think we should we should call them artists, Van Gogh was an artist), mus stay up all night to come up with this. 

I work at a vacation rental company.  We currently have someone posing wanting to rent a home this summer (from overseas of course). He wants to send us a check for MORE than the amount of the rental, then we are supposed to send the rest of the money to a travel agent to pay for the rest of his travel expenses.  He is communicating all this by email.  The first big clue was when he spelled his name wrong in his second email :)  He originally got in touch with the homeowner through VRBO, and the owner sent the "lead" to us.

This SCAM was posted on MrLandlord website and we decided that using postlet HTML cuts down on the potential for this.

Craigslist actually has a new SCAM warning notice when I sign in. 

This could be a real potential problem. Thanks for sharing.

Good Post!

Wow!  That is some crzy stuff.  I haven't gotten one of those yet.  We also use craigslist to advertise our rentals.  I do get the occasional email from someone who wants to sell me "quality" leads though!

I get the "please tell me all about the property" emails from people on Craigslist all the time. I weed them out when they ask the address and monthly rent...all of which is in all of our Craigslist ads :)

Robert,

craigslist is only the  messenger, as reported in the news recently. This makes Realtors, property mangers more vaulable that ever for their expertise.

Steve

Steve,

I completely agree.  It gets the word out, but we have to be aware of the bad guys and things they do.

Same thing happened to our company. This is the email fowarded to our company via a prospective tenant.

Thanks for the email.

My wife  and I own the Duplex which was  situated at 1651 Stebbing Dr,
Roseville, CA 95747

and also want you to know that it was due to Our transfer that makes
me and my wife to leave the house and also want to give it out for
rent and looking for a responsible person that can take a very good
care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to
be clean all the time and the possible tenant will see the house as
his or her own.

We have left the CALIFONIA
   before we are currently in for west Africa for our missionary decision ,

we look for a reputable agent that will take a very good care of the
house while we are away but could not found any so we left with the
house keys and document when leaving. If you will be the right tenant
to our house, we will get the keys and documents of the house sent to
you via courier services as soon as all terms are settled.


I will be online through out to get back to you as soon as you are
able to get back to me. I would want to know how soon you would want
to move in as I will be taking a 1 month upfront deposit  for the
house including all the utilities there.


I am asking for $850 and I believe we should be able to help
ourselves. I am accepting $850 because I want you to take a very good
care of the house while I am away.


I am looking forward to hear from you ASAP so that i can forward you
an application to fill out and discuss on how to get the house for
rent over to me so that I can get the keys and papers sent to you via
fedex or ups e.t.c, also are you ready to rent it now or when?


The good Lord has been good to me, I am paying him back with my
missionary call. I could let you remain in the house till I come back
if you are a good tenant.
Thanks,

Wow!  This is serious.  I continue to receive inquiries for my properties.  Below is a copy of the most recent one:

********************************************************** 

Josette,  I think this is one where they will send you a fake cashiers check for more than the deposit and rent and ask you to refund the difference.  Since their check is no good, you will be out the refund you make.

We continue to see our vacancies show up on Craigslist with other phone numbers to contact.  For some reason they state in their ad that they are in Africa.  Who would send money to Africa to rent a house in Sacramento?  Very strange.

Oh my gosh!  I see one of my listings on craigslist being offered by someone else with only an email address as their contact info.  Whom should I contact to report this?

You can report it to craigslist and to the local police.  I do not think the police can do much, but we did file a report.  Craigslist should remove the ad, but as you know they go away in 7 days anyway.

Me too....my question is who believes that US doctors go to AFRICA to get medical training?  Tip off for me is why someone with a medical degree would leave our area/the University of Virginia Medical Center to get training in a third world?

I'm going to inquire about my property and see if they send me any info?  I'll keep you posted.  I've contacted Craigslist.

Thanks,

Jo 

Jo, That is great.  Be sure to let us know what happens.  Be careful about using your personal information, you might want to create a new email address.

If thieves spent the same kind of energy they use on trying to scam people on honest work, they'd probably be rich!

Robert, I have gotten all kind of response from foreign students and workers coming to New Orleans.

Jacki and Jerry, that line of thinking drives me crazy.  I guess some people are just wired to cheat.

Frank,  thank for the information.

He everyone - I haven't received any response from craigslist or the scammers as yet.  Though it hasn't been 24 hours even.  Again, I'll keep everyone posted.  Gosh!!

Regards,

Jo

Okay here is the response from the scammer. 

Hello,
Thanks for the interest in our house. I got contracted by Mobil Producing Unlimited as a project consultant and has since been posted to their West Africa regional office in Nigeria. I had wanted to sell the house but my wife talked me out of it and so we are now renting it out. We will be out for a long time and so we are looking for a long lease. I will advice that you go and take a look at the house and its surrounding as we have the keys here with us and you can not enter inside.
Due to the enormous amount of responses I was receiving for this house, I will be using this temporary e-mail to avoid getting spammed.  If you are still interested in the house, I will send you the rental form to fill.  Please e-mail me the following
information to help speed up the process:
Income per year:
Credit Score:
If you do not know your credit score, you can get it for free online on the link below.
http://freeexpresscreditreport.com/
I prefer if interested renters check their credit score for themselves because I do not feel comfortable asking for SS #.
Thank you
Regards
Phone, 011-234-702-779-8475

*********************************************

So just beware! 

I'm considering adding warning/cautions on my post that there may be duplications out there however; know that I am the local property manager, licensed realtor and can be reached at .... what do you all think?  The thing is the scammers posted my property for less money so I don't want prospects to be tempted.  Give me you opinions.

Thanks,

Jo

Robert,  The scammers posted three of our properties yesterday 5/20/2008.  Craigslist people are super, though, they zapped the bogus ads within 10 minutes of me notifying abuse@craigslist.org

Thanks for the heads up--no one ever thinks it will be THEIR ad that is copied and made fraudulent!

Robert - Wow, this is a new one. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Scammers will leave no stone unturned, it appears. Good luck with your problems.

Ken Tharp, Iowa Equity Exchange

I've been zapped 2X this month and both times I found the BOGUS ad first and reported to CL....Same ad for the same property which is unusual.

I post at 7A daily and return to local CL between 10A and noon and again between 2P and 4P....both times I posted the real ad on a Sunday so I think SCAMMERS did not realize that I would revisit the site and find their ad.

This scam seems to be pretty consistent.  I have not heard of anyone actually renting a house this way but all landlords should be sure to get by their vacancies at least once per week.  I think the scammers can use HTML ads or regular ones.

Robert, It's a shame to hear of more evil lurking in the shadows.  Mike

There is a crook around every corner but a lot of good people too.  Our job is know who is who!

I had a funny situation where a guy came to my open house and made an offer to rent the house for a few months while in contract and then buy the home.  He even brought his family.  I asked for the guy for his information and he gave me all fake information.  He did not think that I would check him out.  Who knew what this guy was after.

I had a funny situation where a guy came to my open house and made an offer to rent the house for a few months while in contract and then buy the home.  He even brought his family.  I asked for the guy for his information and he gave me all fake information.  He did not think that I would check him out.  Who knew what this guy was after.