Craigslist Rental Scam

by Patty Da Silva

MY LISTING IS A CRAIGSLIST SCAM VICTIM!!!

My Real Estate Brokerage office Located in Davie, FL received a call today from a prospective tenant inquiring about our "rental listing". My office manager explained to the caller that we are a listing firm and that we do not list homes for rent. The caller got upset at the office manager and told him that he was wrong and that he was looking at our "rental listing" on Craigslist.com.
My office manager is not only seasoned but extremely calm and patient so he asked the caller to hold on and he checked Craigslist.com and to his surprise, there it was! A rental listing for our "for sale listing" that is NOT "for rent".
The caller was disappointed when my office manager explained to him that Craigslist.com is a place where less than ethical individuals list homes for rent so they scam the trusting tenants out of first month's, deposit (and last month's rent) if they can get it...
The scammer sets up an email address for each listing, gets a prepaid phone (that can be easily disposed of), fabricates rental (and other) documents and of course, the scammer disappears (so does the Email address and phone line) once the scammer receives money from the home seeker.
I feel so bad for the victims of this scam and I wonder how prominent this scam is across the county.

Help lots of people and have a great day!!!

Patty Da Silva, CDPE©, RESS®, AHWD®, e-PRO®, GREEN, CFS, TRC
Broker - Green Realty Properties® - 954-667-SALE

Copyright © 2008 - 2010 By Patty Da Silva, CDPE©. All Rights Reserved.
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Craigslist Rental Scam

Monday, September 6, 2010