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Funny thing is, I just noticed the ad is up many times just a few short days apart. (For anyone interested in seeing which house I was inquiring about: Side Street-Cul-De-Sac- Private Setting (http://southcoast.craigslist.org/apa/1693920478.html - broken link) )
And I also noticed that person who sent me email didn't only NOT leave a contact number, but they also left no name either
Yep, funny how they keep putting the ad up yet they are in "no rush to rent it and are not showing it currently." Ummm, so why advertise it, except to SCAM somebody.
Rufus, I agree that the first and third one you posted are definite, obvious scamsters. I'm not so sure about the 2nd one. Its a little questionable, but seems close enough it could just be a private owner who just doesn't do this for a living. They are willing to show the property and didn't ask for private information. Unless Credit-vault.com is a scam site, that is...I don't know anything about them. If they are legit, I would say that email is probably legit as well.
To the OP, many landlords screen their tenants before wasting their time showing the property. They don't want to take the time to show it to people who they would never rent to in a million years. For example, if you are a smoker and they are nonsmoking units, that is a waste of time. If you have a dog, and they don't accept dogs. If you don't meet their income limits, if you've been evicted, etc. All the questions they asked seem to be designed to filter out people who are a waste of their time. If the property still has the prior tenant in it, it is also an invasion of the prior tenant's privacy for no reason.
I disagree with the advice you've been given. I don't think that your response looks like a scam. We've had units that we advertise ahead of time, and gather a list of people who might be interested, then show it to everyone once it is ready to be shown (which might be when the prior tenant moves out, or when the remodel is done).
If you don't want to answer the $$ questions, just be vague. Instead of listing specifics, just say "sufficient to cover my expenses" and "job is secure and stable". Or whatever is accurate. DON'T LIE, just don't be specific. Put a note that you would be happy to provide the specifics after seeing the property if you choose to apply.
*Edit* Ok, the fact that they didn't give a name or number is a little on the weird side.
"As I have not seen the property yet and do not know if it would be a good fit for my family, and if it will even be available when we move, I do not want to provide information yet (a lot of scams going on on Craigslist as I am sure you know and hope you can appreciate and understand) I will let you know that we are a military family with a good rental history. I will continue to check CL to watch if your home is still available for rent when we are ready to move this summer. If by chance it is, I will then contact you to schedule a viewing (we are planning a trip to check out rentals in May) and will be more than willing to provide any necessary information at that time
Thank you"
And here is the reply I got back- from a different email address none the less:
"Yes, I understand. The people living there don’t want to be robbed and I can’t show anyone the place unless I know who they are and if they qualify (credit and income). No one is asking for your SS#. The questions asked a pertinent to renting a home. Taking someone in a person’s home is a lot more dangerous than asking qualifying questions. I hope you understand as well.
Lacerta, please check out this site - it's a known scam. The scammers get money for everyone who clicks on the credit reporting site link. There is no apartment. The example email they use is almost exactly the same as the second email I posted.
As far as the OP's situation, it's the same as my first one, just a little more sophisticated and not so blatant. Why on earth would you post a property and not be in any hurry to rent it, or show it, but want somebody's (very detailed) personal info anyway? I understand what you're saying regarding advertising in advance and collecting a suitable tenant list but this is not what these people are doing. NEohioBound's original instincts in asking ????'s about this response to her inquiry are spot on. These people are con artists so they are good at looking somewhat legitimate, and at first it seems like a reasonable request. Some scams are just more obvious than others.
Oh well, looks like I was wrong about that particular one then. Hopefully though my experience with scammers will stop somebody from going down that path.
Just to add a little about one I recently came across.
A young couple moved here to the islands from the mainland and found a temporary place to stay for a couple of months. They started looking for a more permanent place and came in to my restaurant as usual one evening where the young man pulled me aside, handed me a photograph and asked me if I knew where this apartment building was located on St Thomas. I was totally flabbergasted at first as this was an exterior photograph of a multi-story apartment building which we don't have here where the building code restricts buildings to only three stories ...
The kids had found this place on Craigslist, the price was right and the "LL" said they could have it but that he was in London on business and all they needed to do was send him $500 as security and he would immediately send them the keys to gain access. They were all set to do it until they decided maybe they'd better ask someone.
Lacerta, please check out this site - it's a known scam. The scammers get money for everyone who clicks on the credit reporting site link. There is no apartment. The example email they use is almost exactly the same as the second email I posted.
Interesting. So not your typical scam, but a scam nonetheless. Not one I've run into before. I'm on the other end of the deal, so the scams I get are:
Hi,
I am interested in renting the property that you posted on the Craig's list so i need to know if the unit is still available and when it will be ready for move in and please get back to me with some pictures of the unit,total Square Footage of each floor plan,the Mapquest for the area and the rent and deposit that is required to be payed in securing the unit
Thanks
and
Greetings. We are a modest group of personal buyers and we are particularly engaged in getting hold of the house you have detailed on Clist. We are prepared to offer up the price tag you are requesting.
We are looking for to schedule a date for a walkthrough so we ask you to if possible enter your info on our website so that one of our employees can contact you:
Appreciate it and we hope you have a fantastic day.
and then of course the 50 emails trying to sell you something. I figure every time I post an ad on Craigslist, I am pretty much guaranteed to get at least one scam or spam, and usually at least 2.
Yep, Lacerta, those suck too. I would venture that no-one is immune, people on either side need to be careful. I may be a little oversensitive now, but I'd rather be excessively diligent than caught out.
There's another side to this story as well, that I would never have thought of if I hadn't stumbled upon it by accident:
When I got the London email, I googled scams and found a site where people had posted the emails they had received perpetrating that particular one. The scammer was posing as a private LL under a few different names, but a lot had emails from the same "person". The funny thing was, one of the names they were using (plus her age and occupation) was someone I knew! She is quite a famous composer in London and I knew of her well (not personally, but by reputation) in my line of work, and obviously she wasn't going around on CL trying to scam people out of their security deposit. So I sent her manager an email letting her know they were using .... 's name and got an email from .... saying she'd posted on her website that if anybody saw an apartment being rented by her on CL that it wasn't her and was a scam. The worst thing is that some poor young lady had sent the impostor a couple of thousand bucks.
So not only could you be a victim of a scammer but the scammer could be assuming your identity and be masquerading as you. How twisted is that?!!
Last edited by FinsterRufus; 04-28-2010 at 05:03 PM..
Reason: Word left out
Here's my Craigslist story: We were relocating and decided to lease our home instead of trying to sell. Thought I'd handle it myself and not have to pay a property managament company. I wrote up a very descriptive ad for Craigslit and included four pictures, with the address, rental rate and other terms and my telephone number. Of course, I immediately received several bogus emails, but I got a few phone calls too. We were in the process of packing for the move plus fixing up the house for rental and had several people working at our house, so I allowed someone who drove by our house to come in and take a look. They had spotted the house on Craigslist and drove by to make sure it was legitimate. It was a very nice family of four and they loved the house. The woman was obviously very excited and asked about filling out an application. "It's $700 a month," right?" she asked. No, I told her, it's $1,200 a month. "But the ad said $700 a month," she replied. I was horrified thinking I might have made a typo, so I got online and checked it out. My original ad had fallen off the first page, so a scammer had duplicated my ad with photos and everything and run it again, only the price had changed to a lower rate to draw people in and our phone number had been removed. I flagged the ad and it was removed immediately, but I felt terrible for anyone else who might have contacted the scammer about our house.
Now, I never respond to any Craigslist ads that don't include a phone number.
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