Real-estate scam dupes home sellers and renters
March 5th, 2010
This scam is going on right here in Topeka. Please beware of this tactic if you are planning on renting a home. This is a great article and explains exactly what to watch for. If you questions whether a deal maybe too good to be true, be sure to consult with your REALTOR for advice.
Source – WyomingNews.com
By Baylie Evans
bevans@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE — A real-estate scam is causing frustrations for local home sellers and renters.
Employees at Assist 2 Sell, a real-estate company here, said their clients have been affected, and they suspect that clients at other companies have been as well.
The scam works like this: A real-estate company puts listings for homes for sale on a Web site that is viewable by the public.
Then someone who is probably living overseas somewhere looks up the houses and finds the names of the homeowners using public information.
That person then posts a “for rent” listing on Craigslist, a classifieds Web site, for that address, using the real owner’s name, at a very low rent.
When potential renters contact the scammer about renting the home, the scammer has them fill out an application. The person then “approves” the application and asks the renters to send the first month’s rent and a security deposit in order to receive the keys.
This is all done by e-mail, and without the renters having seen the inside of the home, just photos from the real-estate site.
Of course, when the renters send the money, they never receive a key.
Jennifer Trainer, a real-estate broker with Assist 2 Sell, said people have been sending as much as $1,500 to this person.
“People have been falling for it like crazy,” she said.
And it seems to be getting worse, added Wendy Miller, a broker’s assistant at Assist 2 Sell.
“It seems like every week there’s another one of the houses on Craigslist,” she said.
Often, the scammer tells the potential renters a sob story.
In one e-mail correspondence, the scammer identifies himself as a pastor working as a missionary overseas.
In another, he says he and his wife moved to west Africa after winning a bid for petroleum land there.
And in another, he says his telecommunication company has moved him to England for two or three years.
But in all of them, he pleads for the renters to take good care of his home and apologizes that he can’t be there to show them the inside. And then he asks them to send money for rent and the security deposit.
In one correspondence obtained by the WTE, the renter tells the scammer she is desperate to find a home for her family, and she jumps at what seems like a perfect opportunity — though the correspondence ends when she asks to speak to the person over the phone.
And the problems aren’t only felt by potential renters. The real owners of the homes being used in the scam also are affected.
Claudia Rennekamp is trying to sell her home in Cheyenne and has been subjected to strangers knocking on her door or constantly driving by to look at the house. She has to tell them the house is not for rent and that they are the victims of a scam.
“It’s scary,” she said.
There’s not much anyone can do to stop the scam, since the person is overseas and no one knows a real name or address.
“Our best bet is just to avoid becoming a victim,” Lt. Mark Munari with the Cheyenne Police Department said. “Folks need to be very cautious about Internet postings.”
Legitimate business is not done over e-mail, and people need to be aware that these types of scams are out there.
Any information about the situation could help police, he added, but it’s impossible to file charges against someone living overseas.
The old adage holds true, he said: “If one of these things sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”







