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"
All content ©2008-2010 by Matt Stigliano unless otherwise noted.
Matt Stigliano, Realtor® Becker Properties | (210) 646-HOME | www.RErockstar.com
"Your all access pass to San Antonio real estate."
Scammers sure spend a heck of a lot of time figuring out ways to scam folks. I wonder if they were to put those energies in a productive place what the outcome might be? I must say, this one is pretty ingenious. Downright sneaky & scandalous but ingenious. Watch out folks!
I get a call every few weeks from someone who is at the property address in a SCAM ad, see my FOR LEASE sign and must call me to let me know....the CL listing did not have the same front picture, the interior pics are 50 years OLDER than the exterior and the RENT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.......reporting them to CL and flagging these posts is a part of OUR JOB to police the CL community!!! Good post!!
Kristin - I've always wondered why they don't invest their time and ingenuity into more productive methods of making money.
Russell - I first hear of it from Sarah Stelmok. It happened to her own house and her story of emailing the scammer is hilarious (only because she had a great attitude about it).
Wallace - The photos at least make it a little easier to spot. Often I hear they actually do their homework and use the correct descriptions and photos. This one even referenced the actual owners of the home (according to county records). Shocking!
Hi Matt:
So many scams are stemming from Craigslist.
By the way, nice new photo!!!
Hi Matt... I don't make a habit of posting links in comments, but thought that this case warranted a further sharing of my personal experience in this scam realm. Not only did the scam artists use my listing info and photos from MLS to try to perpetuate a scam, but they impersonated me as well. Check out my post I Don't Live in West Africa - A Cautionary Tale of Attempted Real Estate Fraud if you want to check out my personal experience. I have seen this same thing happen to many agents, so don't dismiss this readily, it could easily happen to any of us in any town.
I think it's disgusting how low some people will stoop just to make a buck.
Good job letting everyone know about this horrible scam.
I heard about that scam here in San Antonio. With all the scams on the internet, I hope people become more aware and cautious. Matt, you changed your photo! Put up one with you Rockin. You are the Rocker arn't you!
Matt - I hadn't heard about this particular scam - thanks for the info. I need to pass this along to my agents who handle leases, too.
Well, there go the "guilt" feelings because I chose to NOT list on Craigslist. Thanks for the links, the other Realtor's willingness to play along and see if authorities could nail this guy. You ROCK!
Matt, thanks for sharing the exact details of how this scam is purpatrated. I was going to buy a car for one of my kids on craigslist. I kept asking questions and eventually he went away. I think it was when I said my 2 sons were in the miitary. He was supposedly selling his car as he was off to Iraq.
Buyer beware on all online ads.
Toula - Where there is internet - there are scammers. Shame really. Thanks for the compliment on the new photo. I like it.
Steve - You should know by now that you're free to post links in my comments (as long as they're related, I welcome them!). Just read through your story. Amazing how similar the emails are. I find it shocking that people still fall for some of these scams, but there will always be someone looking for the "too good to be true" deals.
Craig - I just wonder what kind of person wakes up in the morning and says "Guess I'll head to my computer and see if I can scam a few people today." What a weird (and stupid) way to live your life.
Jason - Russell mentioned he's seen it before, so you definitely want to watch out for it up there. I'm sure it's happened before in San Antonio, but this one was actually right there in my face (as I spoke to the people who could have been scammed via Trulia (and we're now looking at realistic rentals)).
Sherry - I've always listed things on craigslist as a "well, everyone else does," but I think I will rethink that on future listings. craigslist has never brought me anything viable, so I figure it's not a great loss.
Missy - Sarah Stelmok's story of dealing with this exact scam is quite hilarious (not funny that she had to deal with it, but the way she dealt with it). I had followed along on Twitter when it happened and was amazed at the ways the scammer tried to turn things around on her.
You should try http://www.listburn.com
It's a newer site so not as many features/items, but it keeps a lot of the spam type ads out and is nicely laid out while searching. Filters adult content and has safe meeting locations submitted by the users.