HUGE Craigslist rental scams in Asheville area - panic-time for me!!

[me_little_me]

Originally Posted by RVT

You could get rid of a lot of the scams by allowing people to check their ads so that they can only be replied to from craigslist accounts that have been phone # verified. Also, disallow the posting of hotlinks in replies. I used to flag the spam ads all the time ( mostly people posting services in forums that were not for services ) , but it never did any good, so I gave up trying. Just this week I posted an ad selling something. The first 20 replies were all scam come-ons before I got the first reply from a real person ( and they tried to lowball my selling price by 50% !)

Read "volunteer". We have no control over anything. There are lots of ways to reduce spam such as using your phone number (w/o the area code as locals know it and out-of-town phone spammers won't bother to look it up) or put your email in an image file so it can be read by a human but not by a machine. These are in lieu of the anonymiser provided by CL.

[KLBFL50]

We have been trying to sell our house with a realtor for 2 years and also listed on Zillow.com and recently was put on Craigslist for rent by a Nigerian scam. A local person came by and wanted us to know it was on Craigslist for rent and knew something wasn't right when it was also in the paper for sale by realtor. The rental ad had taken word-for-word our ad on Zillow.com and our pictures and posted them to a rental ad in Craigslist saying we were going to be out of the country on a mission for children's HIV for 2-3 years and wanted to rent the home. When people would email them they said go by the house and see if you like it, send $500 deposit and they would send keys and whatever. We had 6 people show up looking in the windows because of the scam ad, one from 5 hours away, 2 others called and the Property Appraisers office sent 2 guys out to find out if the house was empty and to take away our Homestead Exemption if so. The police were involved after the first person and ad was taken off of Craigslist and we took our ad off of Zillow.com. Just a big mess for a few weeks. The police Detective said it is happening all over the country. Just be careful.

[LiveLoveLaugh]

Just an idea to see if the ad is real...ASK if they are the owner....then look at the property records online and CALL the owner!!!!! You can search the owner's # online, don't let the possible scammer GIVE you a #. Of course the obvious is DON'T send $$$$ till you are 100% sure you are dealing w/ the property owner.

[BillBOB Johnson]

Just had the same issue with renter request that you go to site to Tenant Verified to spend money on Verification. The reply to post was: jsbeq-3499841118@hous.cragislist.org. Crooks are everywhere be careful out there.

Here is his note to me:




I am sorry the property flyer was not easy to view. The property is a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1200 with garage and washer/dryer for 650. Pets are accepted with a $100 additional deposit. The property is in a great location and very clean.

To rent our property you must have the following:

1. Photo ID
2. First months rent, security deposit and optional pet fee
3. Rental Agreement, I'll bring this to the viewing, it's month to month
4. Background Check for each applicant

The provider we use is Tenant Verified, here is a link.

This is an easy way for us to screen applicants, you don't need your SSN, only previous tenant history. If you have a felony or bad tenant history, I am flexible and I'll work with you.

I would like to rent you the property. Email me a copy of your background check, it's in a .pdf and lets schedule a viewing.

Chun Nore

Originally Posted by islandersmb

I want to send a shout-out to everyone I can about the scams I have found on Craigslist over the past few days.
I mean *CONFIRMED* that the houses are absolutely NOT for rent, at all.... but the people posting the ads are using data from realty websites and posting "for rent" ads on Craigslist.

Personally, I'm in a panic, b/c I will be moving to Asheville in early July, and I was hoping to find a rental that isn't managed by a property management company (more personal, less cold when renting from an individual) - but - unfortunately things have changed since I last moved 6 years ago through a long-distance transaction *sigh*. It looks like I will have to go through a management company after all, just for peace of mind. How discouraging... and how awful for the honest people who want to rent houses w/out using a management company... the scams (and SPAM) are going to kill trust for great sites like craigslist. Bummer.

Okay - off my soapbox, and the end to my little rant.
Good luck to all!

[CRock]

Your first clue this was a scam should have been: 2 br/2 bth for $650. Yeah right, in Asheville!
Another clue: Great location but no address.

WTH would anyone send personal info without ever viewing the property?

You get what you ask for!

[LiveLoveLaugh]

LOL, I just read my reply and was going to give a positive rep!!!...till I saw I wrote it!

[Sean_CLT]

Craig's was OK up to about 2005, when the people using it were a little more professional and technology oriented. Now it's full of jokers and goofballs and hard to take seriously as a sales medium.

[rzio]

I live in Asheville and, yup.... scams are rampant . If you can't meet the seller and go see the product in person, it's best not to risk it.

If you're not in the area and need to find a rental, here are a few tips:

1.) Verify the rental by checking the provided website. Sometimes legitimate owners will increase their chances of getting a renter by doing some on-the-side advertising or by listing the rental on as many rental sites as possible.

These ads usually say something like "check out our listing at such-and-such address". So do just that. If the rental has it's own site with pictures, descriptions, reviews, and such, chances are you can trust it. If it's on vrbo.com or another of the known and trusted rental sites, then great! Stay away from rentals whose pages are overly simple, maybe just repeating what's on CL. Another clue of a bogus listing can be blurry photos or blatantly improper grammar.

If the CL ad says it's a property managed by a realty company, call the company and verify it. If the owner is cutting you a deal on price, they should communicate that to the rental agency and you should still book through the agency.

3.) If the address is listed, Google it to see if it's a property for sale on a realty site. Obviously, this is a scam. You can also search by image: Search by Image ? Inside Search ? Google

2.) If you've got a friend or family in the area, have them visit the rental and meet the landlord in person. Consider making a scouting trip here and stay in a hotel while seeing properties yourself.

3.) If you can't visit and have no one here, consider signing a short-term rental contract with a managed complex. The shortest contract is usually 3 months and you'll pay a higher monthly fee, but you'll have a little time to find the perfect property for you AND avoid risking a scam.

The extra money you'll pay will often be worth it in the long run.

Hope this helps and Good Luck with your relocation!