Don’t get me wrong. I love Craigslist. One of my cousin’s was on Craig Newmark’s original list in San Francisco a great many years ago. Craig got me a job in 10 days upon my return from a backpacking trip to Europe. I got a new mixer and a buffet for cheap. I sold some hockey tickets. It’s a great source of some good deals.
Of course, then I found a way-too-good-to-be-true rental listing for a house in DC. I emailed them from my nifty work address because I thought it’d give me a leg up in the ’steady-job-trustworthy’ department. Very specifically, I asked about when the rental was available because it was missing from the listing and I want out of my boyfriend’s house because of his crazy neighbors. (Last incident = deleted post about my car not being a coloring book.)
I didn’t hear back, but I emailed them rather late in the afternoon (4:30p) so I figured this was nothing. My boyfriend drove by the place about 2 hours later on his way someplace else. There was a realty sign out front, marked ‘under contract’. He gave me the realtor’s number because it looked like a possible investment property that was being sold. I can understand wanting to get a renter into the place ASAP after settlement if it was move-in ready.
I left a polite message for the realtor asking if she could explain the situation before I pursued this any further and I proceeded to veg out on the couch with a book, around 8p. About 8:30p, I get a phone call from the realtor and she tells me that she’s received several calls from interested parties that drove by and saw the sign. She was flagging the post as spam as we talked on the phone.
I apologized for wasting her time, logged into my laptop and also flagged the post as spam.
So unfortunate, but that would have been way cool to rent a small house for $1000/mo with a garage and small yard. It’s also creepy now that someone has my corporate email address. I suspect now that another ad was also part of the same scam practice since I have not heard from them either.
Some tips to avoid being scammed:
1. Is the email address on the ad a direct address or has it been anonymized?
2. Is there a phone number in the ad? If so, it’s less likely to be a scam.
3. Does it ask you to ‘Click Here!!’? If so, mouse over the link and see if it ends in a .com domain. Chances are if it ends in a foreign country domain, it is a scam.
4. Do the pictures on the ad match the listing? I saw an ad with a scanned postcard of waterfront property. That had me and my boyfriend scratching our heads because the neighborhood for the listing is nowhere near the waterfront.
5. Do the pictures make sense? There was one ad that shot a kitchen view in two directions, but the cabinets weren’t the same color in both pictures. (Laminate white vs wood)
6. Is pertinent information missing? The ad I looked at did not have an availability date. A serious landlord wants his property filled as soon as it’s available so they don’t lose any rent for the month. If little things like that are missing, be wary.
What can you do about it?
If like me, you haven’t actually lost anything but an email address, go report it at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
If you have actually lost money, contact the various agencies that may have jurisdiction:
* Commodities Fraud: Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
* Consumer Fraud: Federal Trade Commission
* Securities Fraud: SEC Enforcement Division Complaint Center or your state securities regulators.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Good tips!
Your comment about the scanned postcard reminded me of http://www.lovelylisting.com. Might provide some amusement to take the edge off the real-estate hunt.
(And sorry to hear you have to move again so soon, that sucks. Is BF coming with or staying with the crazies?)
Kat – We’re moving together which is what he wanted to do before, but we didn’t think the neighbors would get any worse after the shooting on his street last year. But we were wrong!
I wish that you lived here in Houston! I would rent you a legitimate one bedroom apt. all bills paid (incl. eletricity, internet and cable) brand new for $975! I posted it on craigslist but haven’t gotten any calls (it has only been two hours since I posted, but still). Are there other websites that you check for apartment listings? As a landlord, I am out of touch about where else to post.
These are all really good tips!
I love Craigslist because I too found my job on it. I have also saved a lot of money on material items and services.
I like to buy gift cards off of craigslist. A lot of people sell them at discounted prices. I have also bought from http://www.giftcardrescue.com They have a great selection. You can buy gift cards from, exchange gift cards, and sell your gift cards!
Such an easy way to make money in these tough times
You should have known right away by the price. Anything more than $200 less than what you expect to pay should automatically be considered a scam or someone who knows they will get foreclosed on in the near future. I’m doing the same thing right now in northern virginia looking for a larger apartment. Nowadays I’m pretty wary of any ad that slightly doesn’t look legit. I’m still solely looking on craigslist.
Anything too good to be true probably is. Especially in our rental market! Although, I’m not quite sure what they get out of having your email.
Good luck in your search.
Hi Angie,
Actually it was not as simple as saying, “You should have been suspicious for $200 less than market rate.” The spread in DC on a 3bdrm house can be anywhere from $1500 in SE to $5,000 in NW, so it’s not like you can tell what’s prevailing rate without knowing the neighborhood well. We have a very wide geographic spread where we’re willing to go, so it wasn’t too crazy to check stuff out.
I love craigslist, too (mostly) but we have had some issues, as well. Our posts have been flagged for no good reason other than people wanting to get rid of the competition. I’m not aware of being able to do anything about this. Our house is now rented but I did swear that if it happened again that it might lead to assault on someone. It’s so rude! It is a free service and there’s no insurance that you won’t have people trying to make make trouble for no good reason. I hope you find a good place soon.
Jerry
The title is misleading, because Craigslist didn’t scam you, the scam artist did. Maybe a change from “by” to “on”.
It’s not scam – it’s more like spam. The woman’s agency probably has a cheap admin whose job it is to post constantly. In NYC, we pretty much expect a bait-and-switch from agents, e.g. “the apartment you asked about has just been taken, but I have appointments at similar properties in the same neighborhood”.
As for the tip about anonymized email addresses – you do NOT want to put an actual email address on craigslist. Not because of the creeps, but because you’ll get all kinds of dumbass spam that I’m fairly certain = scam because all the emails offering to build me a website or get me out of debt (heck, those folks are even emailing us anonymized posters!) look exactly the same – different email address and name, but identical formatting and near-identical wording.
Hey MG,
It sounds like your privacy is very important to you. That said, it doesn’t really sound like its all that bad. And if you keep your other information close to your vest, you should be okay.
Thanks,
James
Good to know there are places to report Fraud and scam listings like these. I see them a lot while my boyfriend is job hunting on Craigslist.