ANOTHER CRAIG'S LIST SCAM

I was contacted this week by someone in my sphere of influence who called to ask my opinion about a rental posting she saw on Craig's List.  "This looks like a really nice place," she said.  "And the price is more than right."

"But the guy wants me to wire him money before I've even seen the place.  Do you think it's a scam?"

My default reaction on these things is one of healthy skepticism, because when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  The number of real estate related scams is at an all-time high, and there are more scammers pouring into the arena every day.

I promised to do a little digging, and here's what I found:  the name of the person offering to rent this property appeared nowhere on title.  In fact, I could not find a record of his name anywhere - on Facebook, through a Google Search, via LinkedIn.  It was like the guy didn't exist.

But then I Google Searched the property address and found... the exact same property listed about ten days earlier on Craig's List, offered by the owner on title, for $995 per month. 

The scammer essentially "hijacked" the Craig's List posting and made it his own, telling prospective renters he was active duty military and serving overseas and was therefore unable to facilitate a face-to-face transaction.  What he basically said was, "Wire me the first month's rent and a security deposit, and the place is yours."

I advised my friend to discontinue her communications immediately and move on as quickly as possible. 

I have seen the same game played with foreclosures, where scammers get access to the bank's lockbox code, pull the sign from in front of the house and get to work on renting it out.  They rent it below market with a bogus lease, collect the first month's rent in certified funds, hand over the keys and then disappear. 

As the homeownership rate continues to decline and the number of renters continues to increase, scams like this are not going to go away.  And when there's a lot of money involved, the scams are going to be more sophisticated and more numerous.  Do your homework.  And then double check everything.