By: Dennis Norman
The FBI has issued a consumer alert warning of phony online rental ads. According to the alert, the scam goes like this:
A prospective tenant can’t believe their good fortune-they find a rental home in a nice area through a Craigslist classified ad at an unbelievably low rate. The landlord-who had to leave the country and travel to Nigeria-asks the tenant to wire him two months worth of rent. The tenant arrives at the home on the agreed-upon date, but there is just one small problem- the house is not actually for rent and its owners know nothing about the tenants agreement.
This latest scam is being perpetrated by Nigerian criminals located halfway aroudn the world and has been seen in a number of U.S. states, perhaps in response to the current housing market- with fewer people buying, more people are renting.
The criminals behind this search websites that list homes for sale. They take the information in those ads-lock, stock and barrel-and post it, with their own e-mail address. In an ad on Craigslist (without Craiglist’s consent or knowledge) under the housing rental category. To sweeten the pot the houses are almost always listed with below-market rental rates.
So beware and keep an eye on your vacant homes….unbeknownst to you, they could be used in the scam.
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I created a rental scam detection quiz if anyone is interested finding out if they are dealing with a scammer:
http://www.rentvine.com/tools/rentalscamquiz/
Dave Dugdale