Potential home renters need to be aware of a scam created to bilk you of money and / or to steal your identity. According to a local real estate agent, the scam has appeared on at least two websites, craigslist and hotpads.com.
The advertisement will be for a home, to include a photograph. Once you respond to the ad, you will receive an email response from someone who claims they must rent the house out as they are out of the country – usually doing ministry work. The “home owner” will send you an application, asking for personal information. In this response, they explain they have the keys and paperwork but can send it to you immediately upon receipt of your deposit. Of course, you will end up losing the “deposit,” and your information is now in the hands of a con artist.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
Amanda Bell of At Home Realty is familiar with the swindle. Amanda Bell is not only a successful real estate agent; her family has resided in the Nashville area for generations. Bell learned of the scam, she explains, “I have received several phone calls on my foreclosure properties, especially in Clarksville, where people say they have seen it listed for rent.” Upon investigation, Bell discovered a fake ad with an actual picture of a home she had listed. The thieves remove photographs from realtracs.com and use the pictures. The scam is not just in the Nashville area; “they are all over,” Amanda Bell explains.
Amanda Bell suggests, “Make sure the home is not listed on the market for sale. That is how a lot of scammers advertise is by using the same photos that are on realtracs. Never send money first and always check the tax records to see who rightfully owns the property.” You can also look for key phrases and information. This writer located three such scams on craigslist.com and the “landlord’s” responses shared the same phrases:
-Pls i want you to note that i spent a lot on my property that i want to give to you for rent,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house (Sic)
-Want you to treat the house as your own
-It is not the money that is the main problem but i want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i come for a check up. (Sic)
-Await your urgent reply (and deposit) so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys to you (Sic)
-please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this
Note the language is a rough translation. Rent will be low, but not too low. For example, the above house, from which these phrases were taken, rented for $550 a month, including all utilities, with a $500 deposit. All scams found by this writer rented between $500-700 a month and the deposit was the same amount.
One rental application also included the following questions:
Do you run a business from home?
If so what kind of business?
Do you work late night?
“This would be an attempt to collect personal information with the possibility of identity theft and the opportunity to make money if they ask for money upfront” Amanda Bell warns.
If you find such a scam, turn it over to the hosting website, and authorities, immediately. If you have already given your personal information, notify law enforcement immediately.
