Special offer

Craigslist Rental Scam

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Crossroads Real Estate LLC

Following is a copy of an e-mail sent to an inquiry for a home to rent posted on Criagslist.  The scammer copied one of my listings, pictures, description and all, and has posted it on Craigslist as a rental.  They claim they are now out of the country.  They use a Yahoo e-mail address and use the first and last name of the owner for the e-mail address.

Of course we cam guess what the next step will be.  Send the security deposit and one month rent to them via a bank wire. 

You can report these scams directly to the FBI on the Internet site:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx



Hello,
 
Thank you very much for the reply and interest in my home. I am the owner of the home you are making inquiry of. Actually I resided in the home with my wife before and presently we had packed out of the home due to my recent transfer from our company and now situated in the united kingdom.I am a welder under ship building,I worked with Nassco ship building Company,but  I have a job appointment with BVT Surface Fleet Limited you can view site at www.bvtsurfacefleet.com .  And presently we want to give out our house for rent to a clean and tidy person.
 
Our home is available now for rent at $950 with a security deposit of $950 including all the Utilities like electricity, warmer, Gas, internet connection etc. I want to let you know that money is not our problem but what we are looking for is absolute care of the home when you pack into the home. We are looking out for someone that can always keep the home clean and tidy.So please I want you to stand on the agreement you will make with us.
 
We are kind and honest people,we don't like disappointing people and we don't want anyone to disappoint me.We spent alot on our house that we want to give to you for rent.It is very close to Parks and Shopping.
 
What really happened is this, we are not giving the home out for rent just because of money but because of our recent work to uk.So we will solicit for your absolute maintenance of our house. We want you to treat it as yours when you move in, I hope this is very clear to you? I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that we will be glad to see it neat and clean whenever we visit the country.
I want to let you know that there is no one there in the state to show you the inside of the house as the keys and all documents of the house are here with us and we shall get it shipped to you via FEDEX or DHL Courier Service as soon as you are ready to move in
You can go check out the house and the neighbourhood from the outside and get back to me if you really like it for more information.I will also send some of the pictures to you in my next email.The physical Address:XXXX Milwaukee, WI 53XXX
Below are the final question that you must answer to qualify for the rent of our house.
TENANT RENT APPLICATION
FIRST NAME: __________________
MIDDLE NAME: __________________
LAST NAME: __________________
PROFESSION: ________________
PHONE (____) __________ (CELL)
PHONE (____) __________ (WORK)
PHONE (____) __________ (HOME)
MARITAL STATUS: _________
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS: ___________________________
CITY: _______________
STATE: ______________
ZIPCODE: ____________
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING? ______________________________
_________________________________________
CURRENT RENT: _______
PREVIOUS ADDRESS: ___________________________
CITY: ________________
STATE: _______________
ZIPCODE: _____________
HOW LONG? ____________ IF RENTING,HOUSE.
WHY DID YOU LEAVE?
_______________________________________________________________________
PREVIOUS RENT: _______
IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________
PERSONAL REFERENCES
(LIST 3 PERSONS, OTHER THAN YOUR RELATIVES, THAT WE CAN CONTACT TO
VERIFY YOUR CHARACTER.)
FIRST PERSON
FIRST NAME: _______________
MIDDLE NAME: ______________
LAST NAME: ________________
RELATIONSHIP______________
PHONE (___) ________________
SECOND PERSON
FIRST NAME: _______________
MIDDLE NAME: ______________
LAST NAME: ________________
RELATIONSHIP______________
PHONE (___) ________________
THIRD PERSON
FIRST NAME: _______________
MIDDLE NAME: ______________
LAST NAME: ________________
RELATIONSHIP______________
PHONE (___)________________
EMERGENCY
(IN AN EMERGENCY, LIST 2 PERSONS THAT CAN BE CONTACTED STARTING WITH
NEAREST RELATIVES)
So i solicit for your absolute maintenance of our house. We want you to treat it as yours when you move in, I hope this is very clear to you? It's not all about the money but I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that we will be glad to see it neat and clean when ever we visit the country. You can stay in the house as long as you wish because we already own another house here in UK and will buy a house in USA before we return.I also want you to let me have trust in you as I always stand on my words. You can email me back or call me on my direct number for further discussion +447024079949.
Thanks and God bless you.
Best Regards
Posted by

Ez1 Realty cutting edge technology from New Home Construction to finding the old farm house...

I give customers and clients a service none of the national web sites will ever offer.  I will be with you from the day you List your home, or begin your search all the way to a successful closing.  Fulfilling all your Real Estate needs in Shebiygan, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, Ozaukee  and Washington County areas with the highest degree of expertise and technology.  

Crossroads Real Estate           American History Vote on Bills in front or Congress  

 

Dennis Herman Crossroads Real Estate LLC Howards Grove, WI

Phone: 414-426-1784 

Jon Budish
Resident Realty - Fort Collins, CO

It seems like Craigs list is the new home for many scams.

Nov 30, 2009 08:30 AM
Sherry Chastain
Hendersonville, Nashville, Old Hickory, Lebanon Tennessee - Hendersonville, TN
Realtor, Selling Homes, Lake Properties,Luxury Homes,Short Sales

Yep we've seen this scammer too! Sad there are people so trusting to send the money! Hopefully people realize it's a trick when they can't go inside to see it.

Nov 30, 2009 08:32 AM
Amanda Christiansen
Christiansen Group Realty (260)704-0843 - Fort Wayne, IN
Christiansen Group Realty

I can't stand craigslist anymore.  Definitely not worth it. 

Nov 30, 2009 08:34 AM
Dennis Herman
Crossroads Real Estate LLC - Howards Grove, WI
Dennis Herman

Ummmmmmmm

Maybe we should try using our influence as an organized group of customers and see if we can get Craigslist to do a little more research to develop a system to make these scams a bit more difficult. 

I would also like to see the NAR get involved with Google to put a stop to the scams on loan restructuring.  Come on now we all know Google has the abilty to control search results.  Why is it when one searches for help to prevent a foreclosure, the top results are scams?  Why doesn't Google put HUD and other goverment sites on top?  They have the ability to see where the search originates.  Google could list local site on top of searches.  They won't do this because the scammers are paying theie way to the top.

So waht seperates Google from the big banks?

Dec 01, 2009 01:20 AM
Nathan Dunn
Five Star Painting - Las Vegas, NV

Wow.  These guys hit me with the same scam today, word for word.  They took all the info from the listing on my rental 6 months ago and reposted it with my pictures and everything.  My renter called me today wondering why renters were showing up at his door asking when they can move in.  The only thing you can do is flag it and report it to abuse@craigslist.org.  I am emailing the guy to get some more info out of him but I haven't gotten far. 

RENTERS - USE A PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY!!! It costs you nothing but gives you many options if some thing goes wrong, such as contacting the state licensing board.  Property managers are required by law in most states to account for all of the money you pay in deposit and rent.  If you are dealing directly with the owner, make sure they are complying with state law in handling your deposits and rents.

Feb 20, 2010 03:54 PM
Dennis Herman
Crossroads Real Estate LLC - Howards Grove, WI
Dennis Herman

NAthan

 

Thanks for the responce from Las Vegas.  They way these guys operate I was beginning to think they were from the area and using a deposit account in Algeria.  Even thought the e-mail account shows it is sent from Algeria there is a way to mask the country of origin.  DOn't want to be giving away that secret.

Feb 22, 2010 04:26 AM
Anonymous
Mike Sidelka

Wow, thank you for posting this. I had received that same email when I inquired on a home; and thought it was too good to be true. I decided to investigate anyways. First I checked the county's auditor website and looked up the home. The names matched from the email and what was on the website (smart guy to check that.) I emailed him back asking for a phone number to reach him, and when I receiced it I googled it and found this web page.  I was actually planning on driving to house today, to talk to the nieghbors and ask them questions about the house and who lived there. I still might; so that was I can see if I can get a hold of the real landlord and see if he is renting it. Thank you for posting this: I am not easily tricked, so I am glad I investigated this before anything.

Apr 21, 2010 04:52 AM
#7
Gary Swanson
Century 21 Harris & Taylor - Grants Pass, OR

Thanks for the head up Dennis.  I have several listings that are vacant, so I can see how it would be easy for some scamming there.

May 19, 2010 05:21 PM
John Pusa
Glendale, CA

Dennis - Thank you for sharing an educational and helpful blog.

May 19, 2010 05:29 PM
Delete Acct Desert Communities
Palm Desert, CA

This happened to us also and it turned out the perpetrators were from England.  Craigslist takes this seriously and deleted their account.

May 19, 2010 05:44 PM
Anonymous
Anonymous

This person just tried to scam me. I was too smart for him though. I have a friend that lives next door to the place that the fake person tried to rent to me. One simple phone call verified that this person is out to get my money. Well, I only hope people realize it is never smart to just send money away to some other country.

Jun 22, 2010 04:44 PM
#11
Anonymous
Stacey

Yea I just fell for it.... I'm 24 married and we have a 5 yr old we are trying to move out of our parents house and It just seems like we cant catch a break. why cant there really be a deal like that?? this really sucks i was so happy....

Jul 14, 2010 02:33 PM
#12
Anonymous
Anonymous

Ugh wow this jerk got me this week. i was so excited for this home i went to look at it and everything, im lucky i live in the area he was trying to scam me for. Im just so glad my boyfriend wanted to look into it before sending any money. I am very disappointed but just glad not to have lost my money. I did send back the rental application though =/ he got me there, i just hope he cant do anything with the information i provided... :(

Sep 03, 2010 06:22 PM
#13
Dennis Herman
Crossroads Real Estate LLC - Howards Grove, WI
Dennis Herman

I'm glad the search engines and Internet are working to save some people money. It helps to put the information on the Blog so others can compare the circumstances.

The fact of the matter is, I have a hard time getting these ads pulled off of Craigslist. I've gone through the local and National Realtors association. I've tried to contact them myself. Craistlist just does not care about its customers and refuses to provide any type of protection.

Now we are hearing about Craigslist involvement in child porn and trafficking. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/aug/08/craigslist-underage-prostitution-allegations

Craigslist is standing along side these perverts and looking for sympathy. They put a big black CENSORED label on their site, trying to look like the victim. This is only in the US, they may still be involved in child trafficking in other parts of the world. And they want people to feel sorry for them.

I say we boycott Craigslist. Show the Internet who has the real control.

Sep 05, 2010 03:06 AM
Anonymous
Becky

Yea, he got me today. SO disappointing.

Sep 22, 2010 04:34 AM
#15
Anonymous
C. Phillips

WOW!! Just like Mike Sidelka I went to the county auditors site to match the owner info and of course it matched. He said he worked as a welder for a shipping company. He even gave me an address where he worked. I googled the company and even went to google maps and there where even pictures of a ship building company in the backgroud of the building his guy supposedly lives at! Mr is slick but God is slicker and thankfully good prevailed! It sounded too good to be true so I went to my bank to find out the best way to send money with some recourse. They said certified cashiers check and he DID NOT want me to send the money that way!...only western union to this address: 39 South Street, Scotstoun, Glasgow G14 0XN United Kingdom. Beware! Pray before you do anything and God will give guidance. I am going to the FBI and maybe I can participate and catch this guy! God Blesss!

Dec 10, 2010 09:02 AM
#16
Dennis Herman
Crossroads Real Estate LLC - Howards Grove, WI
Dennis Herman

Great suggestion.  I never realized there was a way of exposing them like that.  Money is money, if they become demanding, back away.  Thank you for the blessing, and I am glad I was able to help.

Seven Steps to Doing Your Own Bible Studies

http://hystar.wordpress.com/

Dec 13, 2010 02:01 AM
Anonymous
Maria

I just received the same email from stromski.eric@yahoo.com word for word w/application. I did not veiw the house listing from craigslist tho. I found it on zillow.com. Someone needs to stop these thieves. Luckily my son has taught me to always research b4 commiting to anything. Thank you all for having this websie to warn others of this scam. Thank you Dennis and keep up the great work.

Mar 13, 2012 02:31 AM
#18
Anonymous
John C. Gavin

I am looking at an almost exact same copy of the letter and the application. Can you tell me if the address 4610 Woodside Dr. Old Hickory Tn. 37138 is a scam property address?

Jun 11, 2015 03:41 AM
#19