Midori... I have seen several versions of this scam going around, unfortunately it works well the those with criminal intent, especially if the owners are out of state (second home properties). Wish you well. Steve

Wow, What will they come up with next?  I advertised my sister's rental in Craigslist and got a bogus renter who wanted to send her more than the rent required and have her mail him back the balance.  Can't be too careful these days.  The internet makes us all vulnerable.  Thanks for the warning post. Very informative.

Midori --- this actually happened to listings of 2 of my agent-owners --- we notified the local newspapers and TV

this is making the rounds fast. with the ecomomy the way it is, it was only a matter of time.

lets keep spreading the word

Ahhh got to love living in Florida, the scam capitol of the world. Imagine what I go through doing credit repair in Fla~!!!

Happy Friday!!

Lori

Any time someone is not local trying to do something real estate related, it should bring up a red flag for everyone!.  It's hard to FSBO either a sale or rental from out of the area!  And who's going to rent the place without seeing it first?

If you want to rent me a house in Florida, you have to prove you are real resident - drive off and if your turn signal stays on and you drive slowly in the fast lane, we do business!  Shameful these folks exist!

Hi Midori,  I always wonder why someone would ( in this case ) rent a place without seeing the inside ? 

Someone scammed my personal rental home in VA - below is the correspondence betweeen the "owner" and the potential renter WHO WIRED MONEY TO NIGERIA!! Would you rent to these people?

Houses with running water in VA are hard to find so I am sure that is why they mentioned this!

Hello,

I can see you are interested in the ad I have posted, we Rev,Hillier
Robert M Heidi,are the owner of the family home you are making enquiry
of.I and my wife and our 15 years old son are presently in West Africa
where I work as a volunteer with the GO WEST AFRICA ORGANIZATION,here
is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa
(http://www.gowestafrica.org/ ).as the lord says in hisword(matt 24:14
and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a
witness to all the nations,and then the end will come)(matt 28vs19 Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the
name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit)So I need a
tenant to take care of it just like his/her own since  I am out of the
state now,I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it
is located in a very good area of MANASSAS VA, but I still have to
make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it. It
includes facilities like water and  heat laundry facilities,air
condition,internet and telephone access  and a car park and other
necessary facilities,also comes with trash collection,pets are allowed
as well as long as they are not destructive. so if you know you are
capable of the task,get back to me on how you can take very good care
of my house and your experiences in renting,below is the location
ADDRESS: 10770 PALACE CT MANASSAS VA 20111 here are some
questions that I need you to answer,so that we can discuss further.You
can go check the neighbourhood and get back to me for  further
discussion.It is available for a long lease as we will be here for 4
years and also intend buying a new home on getting back to the state.

                                    RENT QUESTIONAIRE

1)Your Full Name?
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number?
3)Are you married?
4)How many people will be living in the house?
5)Do you have a pet?
6)Do you have a car?
7)Occupation?
8)how long lease are you looking for?
9)How soon do you intend moving in?
10)Reason for relocating?

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that I can
have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt and contacting you.
Await your reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and
the key to you,talk to you soon.

Remain Bless.
Rev,Hillier Robert M Heidi. Hi Dear Robin.

We have decided to let you live in our house. As we have found your
application very satisfactory and acceptable by my family.we would
like to send the following document to you via FEDEX to the address
you sent to us and the tracking number will be sent to you so that you
can possibly occupy our house, Please once again, we are giving you
this on trust and do not dissapoint us,i am very sure that you will
love the house. So we are with the below document here with us.you
will only need to pay your security deposit payment for the exchange
of the keys/document to the address you have provided to us.

We will be staying here for 4 good years.so you are very free to stay
as long as you can.and even when we get back to the state.we will be
relocating else where.i also have my furnitures in there.but if you
have yours.you are free to furnish it to your taste and move my
furnitures to my storage unit.

the following documents to you via FedEx next day delivery to the
address you sent to us and the tracking number will be sent to you so
that you can possibly track it online so as to see whats coming to
your home.Please once again, we are giving you this on trust so please
do not dissapoint us,as soon as you get my keys/documents email me and
let me know if you will be signing the lease of not so as to know if i
am refunding your money back or not,afterwhich you could move in at
your convenience. The rent starts counting when you move in,

Here are the contents of the document that needs to be sent.

1) Entrance and the rooms Keys
2) Paper/Permanent house form
3) The house documetary file.
4) Full Description of the house
5) Payment Receipt
6) Signed Lease Agreement Form you are supposed to also sign and get
it sent back to me.


So please do get back to me today so that I will let know the next
step to take on how to get your refundable security deposit payment to
my family name....The house is available for rent for up to 4 years,so
you are free to decide on how long you intend occupying it...Rent
already includes all the utilities of the house,Your monthly rent
already covers utilities so you do not have to pay extra charges for
that..

Please note that the deposit made is fully refundable should in case
you finally gain entrance to the house after receiving the keys and
documents and feel unsatisfied or uncomfortable with the interior,but
i am giving you a benefit of doubt that you will love everything about
this lovely home..You are adviced to act fast on this so you dont
loose the house to other interested applicants...
I await your reply ASAP.Regard and God bless you!!!

Thanks and Remain Blessed .
(+234-706-714-6989  OR 011-234-706-714-6989.

'moved to West Africa after winning a petroleum land bid"

That description alone is enought to send up red flags.

People appear to fall for just about anything

wow I thought it was just me!!!  I just had two calls last weekend from people saying that saw one of my short sales listed for rent and it was the same thing someone claiming to have relocated to negira blah blah blah

sometimes people just suck.

Hey hello by the way.....   Hope you are well!!

Midori - We have had the same rental scam going on up here in the Jacksonville area.

Oh geez....I bet the same people respond to this that are collecting all the funds from Nigeria, the lottery in London...from the more guts than brains category..this has to be this week's winner !

I created a rental scam detection tool if anyone is interest in seeing if they are getting scammed.

http://www.pickrent.com/stuff/scamquiz.cfm

Dave Dugdale

WARNING SCAMMER ON CRAIGLIST ---- MONEY WAS WITHDRAW IN ORANGE CA and ROCHESTER NY!!!!

I have found info about apart in NY in Craiglist. Terry Coleman of Terry Vacation Homes sent me description of flat and contract to sign. I have sent it back with deposit 50% that was sent by bank transfer on 06/04/09 to account 1177308390 of woodforest bank to Mr Jason Matthew Wade. second payment was asked by Money Gram and it was sent. After receiving the second payment the person is desappeared and he does not answer to mail or phone. the name appears in some scammers list on the internet.

I have payed the first 1900 USD to the following bank account as asked by the scammer: Bank name:Woodforest National Bank; Full name :Jason Matthew Wade; Account Number: 1177308390  Account Holders address:157 LaGrange Avenue, Rochester, NY 14613; Bank address:456 WEST 25TH STREET NEW YORK ,NY 10001 USA

The Money Gram Payment has been received in ORANGE California as confirmed by central office of Money Gram which has made a research on his database.

Definitely a newer twist on an old scam. These Nigerians never give up.

This scam is currently going on in Redding, CA having to do with a home on Hope ln.

Be careful

23 Mapleridge Ave,
 Clifton Park NY
Subject: Craigslist Scam Alert

From: Christopher Cordes [mailto:christophercordes51@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 11:19 AM
Subject: RENT QUESTIONNAIRE

They need to confiscate all the computers in Nigeria to make these scam artisits stop. What's unfortnate... it makes everything, even legitiamete ads seem like scams...Who do you trust these days?

Thank God I did some research first! I'm so close to fall into these scams! I inquired to two apartments for rent on Craiglist, the first one sent exactly the same email and the 2nd one's response was below. So I thought, there's something fishy here so I consulted Mr Google and saw a LOT of these scams! they only change the organization name and the address you're inquiring for.  Thanks for posting guys! I hope this posting of mine will also help others.

Hello             I can see you are interested in the ad I have pasted, I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the VOICE OF CHILDREN MINISTRIES,INC.here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.(http://gowestafrica.org/ )..I spent less time in the States so I could not get a hold on any Realtor to handle this rent issue, although it was when I knew how long we are going to stay in Africa that I decided to rent out the house.... However, the initial plan was to sale out the house. which I tried, but sometimes the agents inflates the price and it takes longer to sell i am telling you this incase if you find the house on another website, that is the old advert So I need a tenant to take care of it but since  I am out of the state now,I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it is located in a very good area  of Bayonne, but I still have to make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it... It includes facilities such as water and  heat laundry facilities,air condition,internet and telephone access  and a car park and other necessary facilities,also comes with trash collection,pets are allowed as well as long as they are not destructive. so if you know you are capable of the task,get back to me so that I can provide you with some questions that I would want you to answer.below is the location:49 Parkside Lane, Bayonne NJ