It's a smart thing to keep an eye out for your listings like Todd does! It's a scarey thing anymore on how scammers look for anyway possible to bring harm to others!
If you are looking to rent a home in the Phoenix area, then by all means do your due diligence and NEVER, NEVER wire your funds to prospective landlords or management companies!
If it's too good to be true, it most likely is! I've heard of lots of these type of scams on Craigslist not only with homes, but with other items such personal property. I find it hard to believe that so many would hand over their hard earned cash.
Check out all the credentials, Better Business Bureau and get a address from them and check out the address. If at all possible avoid sending monies via wire to rent a home if you are not familiar with the management company!
Here we go again! Another one of my listings advertised on Craigslist as a rental so the thieves can collect rental deposits and rent. Luckily this time the proposed victim was smart enough to smell a rat. They contacted me after doing a search on the internet for this particular address. Thanks to my ActiveRain listing posts, the victim found my contact info and emailed me.
They sent me an email asking if this fake posting was a scam. They were almost ready to wire a deposit and 1st month's rent to someone in South Africa. That's where the suspicion came in. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck.......
I've run into this before and it even made the news in San Diego as a Rental Scam. In a previous blog, the thieves would post a listing for rent on a vacant home on Craigslist then meet the potential victim at the property pretending to be the landlord. They even had a Realtor's lockbox key so they had full access to all vacant properties for sale. (Yes, there was an agent in cahoots with the thieves) They would then collect a deposit, 1st and last months rent and then disappear. The victim is left with an empty pocket and wondering how they could be so foolish.
I try to manually search for each of my listings weekly but sometimes it's hard to stay ahead of the scammers. Google alerts work pretty well but they don't catch everything on Craigslist. I would highly recommend using Google Alerts on ALL your listings just to make sure someone else is not advertising them.
Todd Armstrong is a Realtor Specializing in Luxury properties in the metro area of San Diego California. See more about Todd at www.ArmstrongEstates.com or check out this blog at www.MetroHomeNews.com.
I am still surprised how many agents do not know how to watermark their photos...my website host HomeRentals.net does it automatically....SCAMMERS don't bother me
Candace,
Wow,
People need to be real careful out there. Thanks for getting the message out.
Great Post.
Wallace, that's a great idea!
I know I'm hijacking your blog, but it's for a good purpose. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Candace!
Mike in Tucson
Thanks Mike - I appreciate the Birthday wish! Are we not connected on Facebook?
In our market we have electronic boxes that track the agents entry. If an agent lets someone use their box, we would know who was the owner of the key.
In the end there is no 100% way to prevent someone else from braking the law. With good business practices we can only minimize the chances.
This is sad. How can people prey on others? What kind of world are we living in? Glad there are still a lot of good people!