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Internet Rental Scam

I have seen a few postings in the past on this issue, but it is worth bringing up again for the agents and consumers that haven't seen it.

I received a couple of calls yesterday concerning a rental of one of my listings. The callers stated that they had found a rental ad on Craigslist with the property address, pictures, and other details for $1,200 a month rent. Average rents around that listing would be in the $2,200 on up range.

The consumers responded to the post and received back an email from a woman stating that her brother, who is in the army, was transferred back to Iraq and needed someone trustworthy to watch the house. She included a number of pictures of the house and told them to drive by the house, look in the windows, and if they are interested they can send an application and the money for the rent to her in Seattle. She would then send the keys back.

Both of the consumers drove by the house and saw my yard sign and phone number and decided to call me because the story didn't make sense to them. We have reported the issue to the authorities and hopefully no one ended up getting scammed. The ad was already missing from Craigslist by time I had been alerted.

I've seen in some other posts that a few agents have stated that they will stop using Craigslist because of this type of issue. I don't believe that this is a problem specific to Craigslist. This type of scam could be setup on any other numbers of sites. The scam artists can get property pictures from our personal sites, MLS, Realtor.com, etc. I believe that an agent that stops using these types of services due to the possibility of these types of scams will be under marketing their properties.

One of the consumers had stated that they had also found my ad for the property and that helped to alert them to the possible scam. In this scenario, my having the yard sign and the Craigslist ad helped the consumers see that it was a scam.

What other ways do you think we could use protect our properties from this type of scam?

Posted by Geoff Scowcroft on 04/29/2008 12:21 PM

Comments (10)

scam, rental, listing, craigslist

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10 Comments on Internet Rental Scam

APR

2008

I agree with you about undermarketing if you don't use these sites anymore. I posted an alert earlier in the year about a similar situation. Many of the homes are random as well. If its too good to be true then it probably is.... I think by reminding folks of this kind of thing is key.

Geoff, I dont know what we can do to protect our properties, someone is always coming up with a way to rip people off.

APR

2008

Wow, this is scary!! I'm going to post this on my rental info page on my blog. I don't know how we can protect our listings from being used in such a way though. Thank goodness these people were savvy enough to call you rather than just fall for it. Ouch!!!

The question is - how can a consumer know for sure that something like this is legit? I guess the rule of thumb would be to only consider properties where the landlord is actually present to show you the property.

MAY

2008

Katharine - I think the more we make the public aware of these scams the better.

Karen - I can't believe that some would rent a house without seeing it. The buyer (or renter) does need to beware. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Hi Geoff. There is always something new to watch out for. I will keep on using Craigslist, because I feel it is necessary, but I will be vigilant. Thanks for the warning.

Ive seen a news story about squatters taking up residence in empty houses claiming they rented them...they even have leases to prove it. Scary how good thieves can be...

Thanks for the post. This seems to be the latest scam. A friend of mine advertised her rental and a lady said she would send a check for the years rent in advance and extra money for the furniture and asked her to send a check for the furniture to the store. My friend did not give her the mailing address.

This is the dark side of the Internet. There are plenty of con artists out there who love the anonymity that the Internet brings. You can't prevent the problem, but we can educate consumers to be smart about who and where they send money. Unfortunately, con artists work on emotions like greed, desperation, pity, etc. The elderly are particularly susceptible. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is...

Consumer Awareness. Put the scam issue in ads and a line that says don't be fooled or something. Call Craig's list and see if they can put a warning is the for rent section,. There are many options, but ultimately, as with any scam, the consumer has to be made aware in order to avoid the scam.

I agree banning the online classifieds because of this would be injust to the client and not fair to the marketing efforts. Thanks

NOV

I agree banning the onlike classifieds

I put as on craiglist and got an answer from the united kingdom for rental

the party answer and said they would send a check for the rental and that i should send the person that would be renting from me and to send air flight money to dthe rental person thats coming to the us to rent from me. when i email the person back they and said i could not pickup a person at an airport or send air fare to them i never heard from the renter again

ms hawkins from the state of maryland

and

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