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My Name Rider Prevented a Scam

Friday afternoon in the midst of a relocation nightmare (watch for details in another post), my phone rings with a weird call that goes something like this.....

ring, ring....

Kelly Willey here

Um, I'm trying to reach Kelly Willey

Yeah, you got her

Uhmmm, are you sure? kelly willey real estate

Wait let me check my drivers license, yep that's me. (I didn't really say this I wasn't that pissed...yet)

Ah, is the house at 1234 Scammer St for rent? (Address changed to protect the innocent)

Well, it had been for rent but the owner would prefer to sell the property.

Oh, I saw an ad on Craigslist and the guy I spoke to, Kelly Willey, said it was for rent for $800 a month. I called him in Nigeria and he said he had to move and was renting it cheap. He'd mail me the keys if I sent him the $800.

Oh really now. What is his email address?

KellyWilley@Rocketmail.com (feel free to have some fun spamming him to death)

So after I convinced this nice lady that I was the real Kelly Willey, female and American we had a nice chat about this guy. He had jacked my real estate ad, photos and all, had it all posted on Craigslist and was trying to get people to wire him $800.

The next day I had about 5 other people calling me trying to get in to see my house for $800 a month. Luckily when they drove by to see the house it had my sign and name rider and they called me to see what was really going on.

I haven't been able to find this ad on Craigslist so maybe he has gotten smart and taken it down. Anybody ese ever have this happen? Any ideas on who to report this to? I suspect with him being in Nigeria there won't be anything the authorities can do to him.

Posted by Kelly Willey SHORT SALE Agent HARFORD COUNTY MARYLAND REAL ESTATE on 02/21/2009 07:18 PM

Comments (27)

How to Avoid a Scam in the ActiveRain Channel

scams, real estate scams

This post has been included in Maryland Information
Post is included in group: "Whacked"!!!
Post is included in group: Baltimore, Harford, Cecil, Real Estate
Post is included in group: Almost Anything Goes

27 Comments on My Name Rider Prevented a Scam

FEB

Believe it or not, when people see "Nigeria" and "Send Money" in the same sentence, they still do it! Just ten days ago, a local family was surprised when the absentee owner of the rental they had just moved into came from the mainland to check on her property. You guessed it, same scenario.

Wow - Craig's list used to be wonderful, but every time I post on it now I am guaranteed at least one email from someone usually with a yahoo.uk address who asks what the rent is (always included in my ads) security deposit, move in fees, can they wire me the money to my bank account - or give me more money and they will get it back from me.... so said that Craigslist has been hijacked!

Kelly - that's an amazing story. Thank you for warning us about it. And, thank goodness you are smart enough to catch on. Unfortunately, there are many, many people who are taken in by these people.

Kelly - I just read another blog about the exact same thing!!! Check out My Adventures in Nigeria: A Real Estate Fraud Update

Wow, Kelly. That's pretty bold. I guess nobody actually sent him any money, thank goodness.

Thanks, Kelly. I hadn't heard of this but I will pass it along to our staff. I have had a number of emails from Kijiji and Craigslist asking if properties I have listed for sale might also be for rent, but I think that is just a sign of a tight market for rentals.

Wow! I haven't heard this before. Good info and I will definitely pass it on.

Its such a shame these scumbags get away with this stuff. How creepy your name was being used!

Thanks for the heads up. I get many calls asking my craigslist properties that are for rent, so I will definitely keep an eye open for anything suspicious. I will also pass it along!

Michael:

Incredible isn't it!!! I bet I had 6 people come to this house looking for "the deal" and ready to send this guy money.

Lise:

I know its sad. They really need to have a better way to screen folks that post on there...KW

Susan: Thanks....exactly the same scam!!! KW

Sharon: That creeped me out he was using my name and set up the KellyWilley@rocketmail email address too.

Haven't had a listing jacked, but I had a couple of properties for lease and had the "I'll send you a certified check for $10,000 and you can just make a check out for whatever is left... " Oddly, also Nigeria.

Kelly, there was a news story here in CT about the very same thing. No realtor involved, it was a homeowner, they actually came home in the middle of someone trying to look at the house. Amazing. I was thinking of posting a listing on craigslist, but I am thinking NO right about now.

Good thing you got the call from your sign!

Michael is so right, amazing that people will send money when they see Nigeria in the address. Where are their heads at?

Lane: It's scary, but the reality of having so much information on the internet.

Andrea: Apparently, people are falling for this because it keeps going on. I hope this post helps educate people of this going on...KW

We too get odd requests from Nigeria usually by fax or email. Does anyone know what to do in this case with craigslist? We also had an agent have a problem with a stolen identity and the police thought that it was from craigslist. As one of our marketing tools (at the agents' request) we have our admins prepare a postlets and place them on different sites. Craigslist was always a good one for the rentals. It's just a shame if we can figure out a way to stop this. I am not sure if the site is worth using anymore?

Kimberly:

I think unless Craiglist gets a handle on this they are going to se their usage decline

Thanks for the warning. Thank goodness for the good outcome.

Kelly - I haven't had that happen to me yet. I'll be sure to look out for it.

Lisa:

It has been a real hassle....

Hi Robert: I sure hope it doesn't happen

FEB

Most of the solution is to just pay attention. Sorry to all of the wonderful people of Nigeria... but anything from Nigeria in my inbox is deleted. Craigslist is rife with scammers, but mixed in are real people. Just paying attention eliminates most of the scammers... they are looking for easy prey. If you are at least watchful, they will go away.