Fighting craigslist scammer using my home and photos?

[Jon R.]

I have a SFH that I recently listed for rent on Zillow, Trulia, and Hotpads. (all at once) I have not listed it anywhere else. It has been brought to my attention that some scum bag is posting my house for rent on craigslist, for less money, and asking for a $50 "application fee". He has stolen my photos and description, and now several legit possible tenants are scared of the property! There are at least 3 different posts on craigslist and have been up for a week, I have flagged them but it is not enough to get them removed!

First, is there anything else I can do beyond flagging this in craigslist? It doesn't seem like they have any other way to contact about such an issue, although it also seems like they are complicit in the crime. The photos I own are being illegally used.

Second, what can I do to prevent this in the future? I specifically avoid posting on craigslist because of all the scam nonsense! Maybe a watermark on my photos? Anything else? I know plenty of other people are getting scammed this way...but I have no idea what to do about it!

This is an especially large issue since there are only about 3-4 houses for rent in my market total!

[Nathan Gesner]

Delete the listings.

Find a free software or website that will "watermark" your photos.

Create a new listing with the watermarked photos.

Problem solved.