St Petersburg Craiglist ads

St Petersburg Craiglist ads

Investor · Valrico, FL · Member since 2011 · 16 posts · 17 votes

There is no St Petersburg Craiglist as you already know because you're a smart real estate investor like myself.  You have to go to Tampa Craiglist and subdivide by county.  But I need to warn my fellow landlords about the latest(? LOL it's not that new) scam because  it affects YOU.

There is a St Petersburg RUSSIA Craiglist and if you look at it in the Apts/Housing for rent section you will find only listings for apts/housing in FLORIDA.  There are 23 ads from scum trying to steal money from people there today.  (Until I go back and flag every ad)  Most of course ask for money upfront by Western Union (or similar).

They took the photos used from your ad somewhere else.  They got mine from Postlets which I found out after one applicant called back and told about the ad (for less money of course).  The scammer had sent her a long sob story about his charity work and need to leave the state quickly for his job.  Then 3 other people found our office phone number and called me after talking to this scum.  I did not like being bothered this way.  

Neither Postlets or Craigslist will help attempt to stop them so it's up to us.  I've flagged ads there before and I will do that again in a few days.  You can look there for a few laughs today.  Please help out and look there occasionally and flag any ad you see.  If it's not in Russian it's a fake.

Thanks, David

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Mindy JensenPro Member
BiggerPockets Money Podcast Host · Longmont, CO · Member since 2014 · 7k+ posts · 10k+ votes
10y

@Dawn Anastasi has some good advice for posting your properties online to keep the scammers at bay.

Watermark your images, don't include the actual address or an image of the exterior. An easy way to watermark your images is to use Pixlr.com. If you aren't familiar with Photoshop it will have a learning curve, but you can throw up a phone number on the image, or use a logo or even company name so they can't use your properties...

Thanks for the heads up, @David Oberlander

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  • Real Estate Agent · tampa, Florida (FL) · Member since 2013 · 206 posts · 96 votes
    10y

    lol wow i'm not surprised. been hearing a lot about these scams lately, my buddy that's a property manager has to watermark each and every photo he takes these days

  • New Port Richey, FL · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 10 votes
    10y

    The real estate scams that emanate from Craig's List seem to be endless.  The last few homes I have listed for sale on behalf of clients in the MLS have yielded more calls about rental questions then from actual buyers.

    People go out to the property to see this great deal of a rental, see my sign, and my phone lights up.  I have attempted to turn the matter over to local law enforcement with all the details I could gather and little or nothing comes of it.

  • Mindy JensenPro Member
    BiggerPockets Money Podcast Host · Longmont, CO · Member since 2014 · 7k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    10y

    @Dawn Anastasi has some good advice for posting your properties online to keep the scammers at bay.

    Watermark your images, don't include the actual address or an image of the exterior. An easy way to watermark your images is to use Pixlr.com. If you aren't familiar with Photoshop it will have a learning curve, but you can throw up a phone number on the image, or use a logo or even company name so they can't use your properties...

    Thanks for the heads up, @David Oberlander

  • Realtor · Tampa Bay, FL & Baltimore MD · Member since 2014 · 29 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    Hey@David Oberlander. Thanks for the post.  Yes, buyers/renters beware with St. Petersburg & Tampa Craigslist ads.  As well, there's many rental properties, lease/options listed that want your life history prior to even giving you the address of the property.  Bottom line-if they can't give you an address for at minimum a drive by or hesitate about any information, don't deal with them and don't give them any of your information.  This is a recurring problem with craigslist

  • Investor · Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2012 · 55 posts · 19 votes
    10y

    I got my house rented n less than two weeks without using Craigslist. Sometimes I think it is more headache than it is worth!

  • Dawn BrenengenBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Faisal Farnas:

    I got my house rented n less than two weeks without using Craigslist. Sometimes I think it is more headache than it is worth!

     You don't have to use Craigslist for the scammers to use it.  I hardly use CL either, but scammers will steal my listings from Zillow or wherever and then post on CL with fake info and prices.  Watermarking the photos helps a lot.

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