Someone's using my rental to scam others!
I was just at one of my rentals, doing some final cleaning before a new tenant moves in, and up walks a woman and her mother.
They tell me they saw my property advertised on Craigslist. I said that it hasn't been on Craigslist for almost a week now as I deleted the ads after the showings.
The woman tells me that no, she saw the ad posted yesterday with pictures of my rental, and that a guy had responded to her email requesting information. He told her that he is a missionary doing work in Africa and that he's trying to rent the place while being out of the country. If she sent him $470 security deposit, he would send her the keys to the place. She didn't even need to send him the first month's rent because he trusted her to send it after she moved in.
I explained that this was a scam and hoped that she didn't send any money. She said she didn't, and her mother said that they wanted to go to the neighborhood and talk to the neighbors before sending anyone money. Her mother believed it best to go around 7 pm or so because that's when people are home.
Well, they found me there and I told them that no, it wasn't for rent. She said that after she emailed the guy, she went back later to check the ad and it had been deleted.
I'm going to be monitoring Craigslist for the next week to make sure some creep doesn't post my rental again. I don't want my house being used to scam anyone!
Comments (9)
This is very common on CraigsList. Happen to me on two properties. A good practice is to watermark your photos with the correct contact phone number. This prevents them from copying and using your pictures. Has not happened since watermarks were put in place.
Jay Wright, about 11 years ago
Had someone contact me saying they responded to this kind of scam late last year. She sent me a message via trulia I think. She claimed she sent money to the person. I never saw the ad and she acted like she was hoping I'd do something like maybe give her the money since I felt bad. So I'm not sure if she got scammed on Craigslist or if she was just trying to scam me.
Shaun Reilly, about 11 years ago
Khang Vu, watermarking the photos is a terrific idea - thanks!
Deborah Burian, about 11 years ago
The same thing happened to me last year when I put my unit up for rent on Craigslist. I did some research and found out that it is a very common craigslist scam. I have now learned to watermark all the pictures I post with my email address and phone number; that way the scammer cannot use my pictures and post a fake ad using my houses.
Steve Vu, about 11 years ago
A family member has a house for sale for a parent who is in a home. The house is located on the east coast and is only for sale. An ad appeared on Craigslist for the house being offered for rent by a woman in California, posing as the owner. The ad asked that the security deposit be sent and the prospects could move in. The case has been reported to the police and the FBI.
David Krulac, about 11 years ago
Good to know. I'll have to remember to keep an eye out for my property on CL.
Mike Duran, about 11 years ago
woah! glad you were able to connect and find out what was happening. Maybe Craigslist can help track down the scammer who was trying to abuse the site.
Karen M., about 11 years ago
I can't believe in this day and age that people still fall for these type of things!
Dawn Anastasi, about 11 years ago
Crazy story Dawn! It makes sense that people would scam like this, but I've never heard of this specifically happening! I wonder if others have fallen for it. You might get some angry "tenants"...
Brandon Turner, about 11 years ago