I got a call about my rental house on Tipp Hill! I don't have a rental house on Tipp Hill right now. I have one for sale... But the woman insisted she had seen it on Craigslist. So I looked, and sure enough, this house:
Except they had taken the photos and information from the craigslist ad I wrote and used their own email. The woman who wanted to rent it googled the address and came up with my listings for it.
This is not even the first time that this has happened to me. It's a really common scam. When you email about these ads it's always someone who just had to leave the country. Many times they say they are missionaries who just got sent to Africa and they didn't have time to rent the house before they left. They need you to wire money to them and they will send you the keys.
You should never wire money for a rental or anything else over Craigslist.
Since this happened I've been reading a lot about rental scams. There are a lot of them. There's many cases people wired money for a house that is still occupied. They arrive in town and are shocked to find they spent money for rent and deposit on a house that is not even available. Sometimes people break into a vacant house, show it, and get deposits from a bunch of people. Or they may even be renting a house and then rent it to several different people.
You should either rent from a licensed agent or the actual owner. Ask to see identification from them before signing the lease. Agents in NY State have a photo ID card that shows they are an agent. If you are renting from an individual, look up the tax records online and make sure the names match.
And for any suspicious rental ads, google the address. If it comes up listed for sale or rent with an agent, give them a call. I'm glad this woman called me instead of sending the money to criminals.
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