Is this a scam or just weird?

[Joseph Weisenbloom]

So I have a bedroom I am trying to rent out and I have been getting emails from a woman that claims to be in a remote fishing village in Alaska right now and is moving to Austin. She says they don't have phone service so she cant call me and she wont be able to sign a lease until she arrives in town. In all honesty I didn't really take it seriously because it sounded like a Nigerian prince scam. Usually I want to meet the tenant and explain them the lease before they sign. Make sure they are a real human and feel them out.

So she mentions she is going to mail a check for first months rent and deposit to secure the room. I forget all about it because it doesn't sound real. Well I get my mail today and find a check for $5600 from her which is deposit and 6 months rent. I was sort of floored because I've never had a tenant pay ahead like that but it also set off my spidey senses as well.

My question is would you accept a tenant that is renting a room sight unseen that you have never met before? Does this sound sketchy at all or just weird?

[Caleb Heimsoth]

@Joseph Weisenbloom. I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, this a SCAM. One giant SCAM.

The way it works is that check is fake. You’ll deposit it, it’ll take the bank a few days or weeks to figure out it’s fake, then the “tenant” (scammer) will tell you they need some of that money back, then if you send them any, they get your real money and eventually the bank pulls the money from that check since it’s fake.

Again, one giant SCAM.