Beware Craigslist Vacation Rental Scam

A local Realtor yesterday told me about a scam being run on Craigslist involving a home she has listed for sale on Swinging Bridge. The scammers put a post on Craigslist indicating the house is available as a short term vacation rental at a very attractive price. Included is a photo of the home lifted from the "For Sale" listing somewhere on the internet, along with the property address. They've even gotten the owner's name from property records, and added "Pastor" to it ... so the rental is being offered by "Pastor Owner Name." The story goes something like, "I'm a missionary in Africa, and have extended my time here. So I'm unable to use this beautiful lakefront home this summer and have decided to offer it as a rental."

There's a link to a rental application that potential renters are asked to download and fax back. I'm not sure how the scam plays out. Whether the point is to just get the rental application with personal information like a social security number (ostensibly to run a credit check) for the purpose of identity theft. Or whether the scammers "approve" the application, book the rental and then ask for payment to be wired.

But regardless of how it plays out, it's a scam, and potential renters should be very wary of online rental postings that don't quite pass the sniff test. Think of it as another (and quite clever) twist on the Nigerian scams.

Comments

[Ken]

The best rule of thumb with craigslist is to shop locally, period. What that means is you physically meet the person to do the transaction. If there's some screw ball reason why the seller can't meet with you then beware. I've bought all sorts of things off craigslist. It's an awesome service but you just need to be a little bit careful.

Here's a website for people that bait the scammers and they seem to make a hobby of it:

http://www.419eater.com/index.php

I'm not interested in wasting my time baiting these people but the website does give you some insight into the more common tactics used by scammers. Having some awareness of how they work is your best defense to not become a victim.

[Bix]

I love it! Scan baiting is a great idea.

By the way, here's an article in the Miami Herald today on vacationing at Apple Pond Farm": http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/01/1750038/what-we-did-on-our-family-haycation.html

[keith]

COMPLETELY off topic so I understand if David doesn't post, but this 70's radio station came up in some facebook banter. May stir some memories for people of my vintage. FM killed it and it went to a "talk radio" format in 1982. Listen to 1st minute, jump ahead to 5:30, you can stop listening when you hear Karen Carpenter (AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!). Wish I could've found Stiller and Meara's Blue Nun and/or Sammy's Maneschevitz ("Mano Mano Maneschevitz wine") commercials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8himRASrKp8