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I will be using Craigslist's San Francisco Bay Area postings for reference in my thread. Please understand that any links that I use and/or refer to are just a snapshot in time. Therefore they will only be available for viewing for a limited time due to CL's constantly changing environment (i.e. scam posts get flagged for removal or the scammers change them, posts expire, posters remove their ads, or valid rental ads get rented, etc).
Today's example is the ad with the same monthly rental rate and basically the same ad verbiage posted in numerous cities in the SF bay area. It is also very common for spammers in the SF bay area to check the box on CL that they accept both cats and dogs.
Here is today's example of SPAM rentals listings :
Nice 2 BR/2ATH apt in a nice neighborhood,looking to rent to responsible persons. Prefer non- smokers but not a deal breaker. Apt has 2 good sized bedrooms, kitchen- new appliances, 2 bath-remodeled, laundry room with washer and dryer, living room... great for bbq's Easy access to every thing.Must see!security, first and last month rent required.
cats are OK - purrr
dogs are OK - wooof
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2772106811
CLUES that it's a spammer/scammer -
1) Many ads that look and read exactly the same or very close
2) Monthly rental amount on the lower side of rents for that area
3) No phone number listed
4) Box for both dogs & cats is checked
Important note : If you are suspect of a rental ad, check for other ads that look like the one you are interested in, to see if there are alot of similiar ads, but with different cities. If so, flag those ads and move onto the next.
CLUES that it's a spammer/scammer -
1) Many ads that look and read exactly the same or very close
Definitely Agree
2) Monthly rental amount on the lower side of rents for that area
Maybe... I don't know your area so I don't know how low is too low.... if it's within a 25% margin I wouldn't automatically think scam.
3) No phone number listed
Disagree - I only give my phone number once some type of rapport has been established over email... or if I have setup a temporary phone number with something like Google voice. My personal phone number will never be placed in a Craigslist ad.
4) Box for both dogs & cats is checked
Disagree - Why would this indicate a scam? Many people who are open to pets may CONSIDER either.
Important note : If you are suspect of a rental ad, check for other ads that look like the one you are interested in, to see if there are alot of similiar ads, but with different cities. If so, flag those ads and move onto the next.
Definitely Agree
The only thing that would lead me to believe this was a scammer would be the fact that there are multiple ads.
The only thing that would lead me to believe this was a scammer would be the fact that there are multiple ads.
I agree with your green comments. Lack of phone numbers don't scream "scam" to me because most savvy CL users know not to use their phone numbers. Better to set up a brand new, random email just for use with CL. And, as pet owners, we ONLY look at ads that have both cats and dogs checked and haven't run into more scams than I would have if I hadn't checked those boxes. The only "scams" I run into in those cases is where the apartment is valid but the landlord doesn't accept pets at all. Ways that I pick out scams:
-lack of specific details. Room sizes? Number of rooms? Hardwood floors? Ads lacking basics that would inform the average renter raise red flags for me. Makes me wonder if there is a specific apartment even being advertised or is the ad vague enough to C&P it across multiple places.
-lack of address. I can understand not putting down the exact address, but ads that are very vague raise immediate red flags. I see ads that just list the location as "Chicago" and wonder where in this massive city this apartment is located. Such ads are usually from scammers who don't know the city well enough to bluff, wouldn't know Lincoln Park from Garfield Park. At best, the apartment is located in a horrible neighborhood and the landlord is trying to hid this fact (pointless since people will obviously need to know the location). The more specific the neighborhood, the better. The nearest major intersections work best.
-stock pictures. These are very obvious to me at this point. Some look like they were badly scanned in from a brochure. Some look so overly staged that it's obvious that it's from a larger, higher end development. People typically don't higher professional photographers to take pictures of their renters so I don't expect pro level lighting and staging. I expect the sort of pictures a P&S digital camera or even a cell phone camera may produce.
-houses in the city. This of course will vary by location, but living in Chicago, I don't expect to see many single family homes for rent in dense, popular neighborhoods. When I see ads proclaiming "single family home in the Loop for rent", I obviously flag it as spam as this practically doesn't exist, never mind the price range. Single family homes are rare in dense, downtown ares of most cities and, if they do exist, are likely extraordinarily expensive and not rental properties.
We use CL all the time and have professional ads on there with our phone number, email, address, dog/cats allowed and they are not a scam and very happy tenants.
For my own family did I find short term rentals in NY and they were all fine...you have to be careful and it is very easy to detect a scam from the real deal.
Any one who is pushy and wants your SSN and money upfront and will mail keys has to be looked at with the utmost care...
My CLUES go with the ad referenced below and also the referenced link to CL
They were NOT meant to be addressed individually, but taken as a whole with this particular ad. This thread is meant as a 'teaching lesson' for those that are NOT familiar with the SF area or what CL scam ads typically look like . If you were to click on the link right now while it still has the pertinent rental ads in it, you should see 6 identical ads dated today (12-28-11) and then 8 other ads for the same monthly amount of $470, but they have phones numbers OR addresses OR pictures OR no box clicked for dogs/cats.
Of course there are 'real ads' without phone numbers and that is a very smart thing for posters to do (leave off their phone number). But guess what???? Since quite a few spammers are NOT in this country, they won't use a phone number and that my friends is 'one' tip off of many. I am NOT saying that NO PHONE NUMBER equals a spammer . But add it together with other spam behavior and wallah, you can bypass those types of ads .
And there are landlords that will accept cats and/or dogs, but that is extremely rare in the SF bay area . My favorite scam rental ads for the SF bay area talk about renting basements , which are rare as landlords renting to people with cats/dogs here . Like I said, I'm speaking about a particular area (SF Bay) and my experience with it. Your mileage WILL vary according to where you live and the particulars of your city.
My example is showing a way that spammers work by posting the same ad multiple times. Since I am not a spammer , I can only make an educated guess as to what they are up to and I believe that they try to get background check monies out of as many people as they can and possibly even are selling or using your financial info for no good??!
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDL
I will be using Craigslist's San Francisco Bay Area postings for reference in my thread. Please understand that any links that I use and/or refer to are just a snapshot in time. Therefore they will only be available for viewing for a limited time due to CL's constantly changing environment (i.e. scam posts get flagged for removal or the scammers change them, posts expire, posters remove their ads, or valid rental ads get rented, etc).
Today's example is the ad with the same monthly rental rate and basically the same ad verbiage posted in numerous cities in the SF bay area. It is also very common for spammers in the SF bay area to check the box on CL that they accept both cats and dogs.
Here is today's example of SPAM rentals listings :
Nice 2 BR/2ATH apt in a nice neighborhood,looking to rent to responsible persons. Prefer non- smokers but not a deal breaker. Apt has 2 good sized bedrooms, kitchen- new appliances, 2 bath-remodeled, laundry room with washer and dryer, living room... great for bbq's Easy access to every thing.Must see!security, first and last month rent required.
cats are OK - purrr
dogs are OK - wooof
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2772106811
CLUES that it's a spammer/scammer -
1) Many ads that look and read exactly the same or very close
2) Monthly rental amount on the lower side of rents for that area
3) No phone number listed
4) Box for both dogs & cats is checked
Important note : If you are suspect of a rental ad, check for other ads that look like the one you are interested in, to see if there are alot of similiar ads, but with different cities. If so, flag those ads and move onto the next.
As I watched in Mike Butler Webinar - one of the successful real estate expert,,he mentioned craigslist as the powerful site for marketing and advertising, not totally agree though!
As I watched in Mike Butler Webinar - one of the successful real estate expert,,he mentioned craigslist as the powerful site for marketing and advertising, not totally agree though!
CL is a powerful site for bogus scams and sometimes even killings.
We found our current rental on Craigslist. It's a duplex, and the landlord has a property management company (and they posted the ad). Aside from a couple of minor issues, the place is excellent. We're hoping that things work out and we're able to stay here for a few years, until we're able to buy our own place.
So I wouldn't say everything is a scam or is bogus. I'd say that most of what we saw were legit, and I can think of only one ad we saw that was a scam (out of dozens that we seriously considered).
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Easy access to every thing.Must see!security, first and last month rent required. 
My CLUES go with the ad referenced below and also the referenced link to CL
. If you were to click on the link right now while it still has the pertinent rental ads in it, you should see 6 identical ads dated today (12-28-11) and then 8 other ads for the same monthly amount of $470, but they have phones numbers OR addresses OR pictures OR no box clicked for dogs/cats. 
. But add it together with other spam behavior and wallah, you can bypass those types of ads 
. 
. My favorite scam rental ads for the SF bay area talk about renting basements 
, which are rare as landlords renting to people with cats/dogs here 
. Like I said, I'm speaking about a particular area (SF Bay) and my experience with it. Your mileage WILL vary according to where you live and the particulars of your city. 
FYI - If the CL rental ad looks like the below.....
