photo courtesy of jepoirrier
The internet is always rife with scams.
I've heard of the craigslist rental scam before, but up until this week, I hadn't heard it specifically spoken of in San Antonio circles. The scam is pretty simple, you go on craigslist and there's the perfect rental for you. You inquire about the property and soon you are having a discussion with someone who is in another country for one reason or another and they're renting their home (or helping friends do the same). They ask for an application and the application seems safe enough (no credit card numbers or social security numbers). You fill it out, and they ask you to send either the first month/security deposit or the entire payment for the year and they will send you the keys and all the paperwork you'll need.
Of course, if you send that first monthly payment, you'll never see keys. Why? The scammer doesn't own the home in San Antonio. In fact, the home might be occupied and not even for rent. I know a couple moving to San Antonio who recently went through the process, but didn't send the money. Lucky for them, the alarms starting going off and they did the research on the rental.
RErockstar.com shows you the emails and gives you tips on spotting the scam.
Although all scammers don't use the same exact methods, they are typically very similar. Over at RErockstar.com, I wrote a post about the scam and included several of the scam emails as well as some tips on how to avoid these rental scams on craigslist.
RErockstar.com - "San Antonio Renters Beware: Craigslist Rental Scam Comes To Town"
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Matt Stigliano, Realtor® | RE/MAX Access | (210) 646-HOME | www.RErockstar.com
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