House Rental scam?

[MaxwellHouse]

I have a vacation house that I rent out on Maryland's Eastern Shore, with legitimate sites on vacation rental sites. THIS sounds like someone could possibly be pretending to be the owner. If you were in Africa, you wouldn't have the keys, you'd have an agent in U.S. So, say they rent it from the owners, act like the owners and send you the keys. My best friend lives in South Africa, but I get more scams from people overseas than I do real renters. I'd say SCAM.

There are legit rental agencies in most cities that have agents working for owners. The owners pay the agent's fee to show the house, maintenance,etc.

[ranedrops]

I think it is a scam. Scam artist will do anything to get your $. Check out this web site where people turn the tables on the scammers. http://www.419eater.com (419 is the law code for a scam)
It just goes to show what lengths scammers will go to scam you.

If you do a google search for house rental scan Africa you will come up with alot of info, including this article:


West African rental scam targets Juneau residents
By Alan Suderman
June 1st, 2008
For a month and a half, Amyanna Bryan said her daily routine involved checking the Internet for a reasonable place to rent in town.

Recently, she said she thought she found one. Listed on the Web site Craigslist was a three-bedroom house in the Mendenhall Valley for $1,000 a month.

There was only one problem: The house wasn't for rent. The ad on Craigslist was a scam, being run half a world away.

Juneau has joined the swelling ranks of U.S. cities that have caught the eye of West African scam artists trying to rent houses they don't own.

Sean Henderson, the owner of Assist-2-Sell real estate company, said four different potential renters have expressed interest in houses he has listed in recent weeks.

He said the information he had posted on Craigslist trying to sell houses had been repackaged by the scam artists and posted on Craigslist as a rental property. The scammers told the unsuspecting renters to send them private information and a deposit in exchange for the keys to the place, Henderson said.

"It's pretty blatant, in terms of what they are asking for," he said, adding that he had discontinued posting properties on Craigslist until the Web site fixes the problem.

Henderson stressed that sellers are not at risk, and it's only potential renters who face getting fleeced.

Efforts to reach representatives from Craigslist were unsuccessful, but on its Web site the company tells its users to "deal locally with folks you can meet in person" to avoid the majority of scam attempts.

Bryan said that after she responded to the ad on Craigslist she received an e-mail back from someone who alternately called him or herself Cindy and Kelvin Jackson. The e-mail said he or she was doing missionary work in West Africa and owned the home Bryan was interested in renting.

The e-mail asked for Bryan to answer a few questions, including her full name, age, address and occupation.

Bryan said she thought the e-mail sounded "really nice" and responded with the requested information.

She got an e-mail back telling her the house was hers and asking for a payment for sending her the keys.

"Please once again, we are giving you this on trust and do not disappoint us and i promise you that, you will love the house," the e-mail said.

But Bryan never sent the money. She visited the house with her mother and saw that the house was furnished and looked occupied, complete with a dog and cat in the backyard. It also had a "For Sale" sign in the yard.

When she called Assist-2-Sell she found out the house had never been listed for rent and she was a potential victim of a scam.

A call to the cell phone listed at the bottom of the e-mails sent to Bryan, which had a Nigerian country code, did not work.

Bryan said Juneau residents need to be aware that they aren't immune to scams perpetuated from a distance.

"Be very careful," Bryan said. "If you get a bad feeling, go with it."

Sgt. David Campbell of the Juneau Police Department agreed.

"Like anywhere else, there's a potential for fraud," he said. "People need to remain vigilant."

He said it's tough to account for how many people in town may have fallen victim to these kinds of real estate scams because fraud victims are often embarrassed to come forward.

He said the best way to avoid potential scams of this sort is to rely on local experts, such as real estate agents and banks, and to use a healthy dose of skepticism when eyeing a bargain deal on the Internet.

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is," he said.

[romeos mommy]

i think it's a scam. beware. they most likely told you they were in africa b/c that's where they want the money wired too. run away from this one!

[Epsilon]

Oh, I'm pretty sure it's a scam. I sent him another email out of curiosity of what he would say... I'm especially interested on his choice method of payment. I will probably call the people on the other ad about the vacation home because this one seems like a real ad. ...at least they have paypal... I want to inform them that someone is using their house as a scam.

[ranedrops]

Originally Posted by Epsilon

Oh, I'm pretty sure it's a scam. I sent him another email out of curiosity of what he would say... I'm especially interested on his choice method of payment. I will probably call the people on the other ad about the vacation home because this one seems like a real ad. ...at least they have paypal... I want to inform them that someone is using their house as a scam.

It probably is a scam but if he asks for payment via Western Union you know it definitely is a scam. Western Union is the payment method of choice for scammers.

Let us know how it goes.

[LunasMomma]

If they don't bother having a property manager, then it's a scam. I'd NEVER rent out my home to someone sight unseen, what if they tore the place up?

On the other side, if something needed repair, how would that get done without a local property manager? Even if this wasn't a scam (and it IS), you'd be screwed when it came to any problems with the house.

Keep looking!