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FBI – You arrive at the home on the agreed-upon date, but there’s just one small problem—the house is not actually for rent and its owners know nothing about your agreement.
Craigslist used to be a cool place to find free information on things for sale, rentals and local jobs. But now that place has so many viruses, scum bags and thieves that they need to invent some type of super duper consumer computer condom that you can wear for protection when you visit the website.
Yes, it is that bad there now….
It’s going to only get worse because our economy will force the once ethical people to become criminals out of necessity and unemployment. We will see a lot of this over the next few years as our economy gets worse and these scams more clever and underground.
FBI CONSUMER ALERT – Online Rental Ads Could be Phony
You can’t believe your good fortune—you 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 that you wire him two months’ worth of rent. You arrive at the home on the agreed-upon date, but there’s just one small problem—the house is not actually for rent and its owners know nothing about your agreement.
This latest scam being perpetrated by Nigerian criminals located halfway around the world 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.
How to avoid being victimized:
- Only deal with landlords or renters who are local;
- Be suspicious if you’re asked to only use a wire transfer service;
- Beware of e-mail correspondence from the “landlord” that’s written in poor or broken English;
- Research the average rental rates in that area and be suspicious if the rate is significantly lower;
- Don’t give out personal information, like social security, bank account, or credit card numbers.
