Scams on Craigslist.com

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

My husband, as you all know, is a realtor.  He posted a four-bedroom  house for rent for 5600 on Craigslist because that's where renters look for properties.  Well, someone copied his ad and said they are renting the property, the same property, for $1200 a month.  A four-bedroom house in San Mateo, CA for 1200??  That's unheard of. 

Anyway, today Chris has gotten multiple calls about his property for 1200 from Craigslist.  He asked me to act like I was interested in the property to this person and see what he says.  Chris told me he will say he's out of the country on business and cannot show the property himself.  Of course, this way they take your money and you never get to rent the property.  Huge scam going on now.  Anyway, this is what the guy wrote back to me today:

Hi, Thanks for emailing me regarding the house is still available, but presently I'm on business trip to Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. I bid for a portion of petroleum land sometimes ago in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia and fortunately I won, so I have to move quickly down to Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia to have my company set up. I came over here with my wife, we both bought the house when we got married. As soon as we settle down here I had a thought of selling the house, so I have to look for an agent and getting one we strike a deal but later my wife advised me on selling the house. I reasoned with her and accepted her advice. So I contacted the agent back and requested for my keys and documents. Later we decided to have the house rent out, we would have given the same agent this job also but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with him later and more some I do not have anyone in the area I can leave the keys behind with so that is why I posted ad myself. If you notice, you will discover that the price we are offering is far below standard price and I this is enough for you to know that we are not after the rental fee but the absolute care for the property. I know there is no way i can be sure that you are the right person to live in the house because we won't be able to see physical before sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space. The house is available for as long as you want and if you drive by the house you may see a sign there, you have nothing to worry about it belongs to my previous agent so you have absolutely nothing to worry about and you don't have to call them because they do not have access to the house anymore. Please if you are ready now to occupy the house kindly provide the information below for record purpose : PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF Full Name__________________________________________________ Home Phone ( ) ________________________ Date of Birth_________________________________ Other Phone ( ) ___________________ Current Address_______________________________Apt#________ City__________________ State______ Zip________ Reasons for Leaving____________________________Rent $__________Phone ( ) ____________________________ Are you married____________________________ How many people will be living in the house____________________________ Do you have a pet____________________________ Do you have a car____________________________ Occupation____________________________ Move In Date____________________________ P.S: YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VIEW THE INTERIOR PART OF THE HOUSE BECAUSE I HAVE THE KEYS HERE WITH ME BUT I CAN SEND YOU PICTURES. You Can Contact Me On My U Number.. Tazbaz Paul 421 Seville Way, San Mateo CA 94402 [phone] or 011601126905456 Best Regards. Seriously, people fall for this stuff.  Crazy.

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

Ya gotta be a real dummy, and there's plenty of them out there.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

You can tell from the grammar and run-on sentences that whoever wrote this is not from this country and does not have a very good command of the English language.  I sure hope people aren't falling for this.  Chris is inundated with calls for this 4-bedroom home for 1200 a month.  So frustrating.

Oh, and notice how he says not to contact the agent because he is not under contract with the house any longer.  Really?  Then why is there a sign in the front yard??

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

Unbelievable.  Have TPTB at Craigslist been contacted?  Has this $1,200 a month ad been flagged or some such?   Clearly this ad must be taken down because it's fraudulent.  does craigslist care about this stuff?   The letter is suspicious on so many levels.   Terrible.

[Deborah M.]

Can't you report this to the cops? This guy will collect money from people. That's stealing.

[Janet]

Craigslist will flag it for removal if it's a fraud.  They should be able to recognize that it's a fraud.  They warn everyone to avoid transactions where the seller says he/she is out of state.  Plus saying you can't get inside.  Anyone could take a picture of anything and say they own it.

When I was looking for a car for one of my kids, I saw an ad for a beautiful car taken in front of a nice house.  The price was cheap.  The seller told me she was out of state and could have the car shipped.  No thanks. 

[Judy]

We had a car listed on Craigslist.  Got an email from a woman that said she wanted to buy it, her husband was giving her the money, blah, blah, blah, all she had to do was pick it out, but could I please click on the link and figure out how much her insurance would be and get back to her.  Are you f'ing kidding me?  How many people fall for that?

[Mary Jo Cochran]

That form Kelli shows is about getting personal information, which will either be sold or used to try to get credit cards, or use your credit in some way (Identity theft).  Kelli, you really should report this to the police.  This could be part of a ring.  The police has a department of detectives that deal with this stuff.

If you all don't know it, your credit card password can be changed at a register.  In one of our criminal depos we had a boy out for his 21st birthday, end of night, at a five star hotel, waiting for parking, went to bathroom.  Someone bigger came in and beat the crap out of him in a minute, took his wallet, which had his debit card and driver's license.  The group he was with went to McDonalds, and he changed the password and bought Mccrap.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Yeah, the post has been flagged on Craigslist.  Pretty scary what's out there.  My husband knows a guy that was looking for a roommate through Craigslist and found this lady that wanted to move in.  I can't remember all the details but this so-called person ended up scamming him out of about $600 and he still didn't have a roommate.  Same with purchasing dogs through Craigslist, big scam there too.  You pay for the dog and it never shows up.  The list goes on and on.

Chris wouldn't have even posted it there but that's where renters look apparently.  He used to post his homes for sale on there too but had to stop because too many people taking the information and doing the same thing; saying the house is for rent and scamming people.  Apparently it's gotten pretty bad.

[Janet]

The Craigslist killer was from my area.  I pass by the building he lived in on my way to work every day.  Creepy!