Beware the craigslist rental scam
Hunting for rental housing in any city can be exhausting, in Vancouver it can be downright depressing. Going to view small dingy 1 bedroom apartments ‘accidentally’ listed as 2 bedrooms and described as ‘huge’ and ‘bright’ is a frustrating waste of time, but it would be even worse to lose deposit money to a scam listing of an apartment that doesn’t even exist.
Craigslist has brought a convenience to rental shopping that cuts both ways - It’s easier for you to look through listings in your bathrobe, but its also easier (and free!) for con-men and scammers to grab nice pictures off the web and list fake rentals that are too good to be true.
The Vancouver Police say at least 15 people in the last month have been conned out of deposit money in face to face meetings with fake landlords, but there’s no reason a scammer even needs to be in Vancouver if you’re not paying close attention. A common scam is to list an apartment that’s too good to be true, but the purported ‘owner’ happens to be out of the country, maybe just starting a new business in Athens Greece or on a missionary trip to Asia.
They will describe the apartment in glowing terms and offer to use a service like TNT, FedEx, UPS or DHL to insure that you get the key - they’ll send you a link to a legitimate shipping website first to get your confidence and then send you a fake ’secure’ link to make it easy for you to send them your money. Dissapointingly the key never shows up and you won’t hear from the ‘landlord’ again once your deposit is gone.
It’s not too difficult to avoid this sort of scam, just view listings with a sceptical eye and deal with local people, only giving a deposit after you’ve viewed the suite and gotten enough information out of the owner to make you comfortable. If you do make email contact with a seller on craigslist that isn’t local, take a close look at any responses you receive - The following is an example of a fake header message in an email:
** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY — AVOID SCAMS
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow
** Transaction: For a secure transaction we recommend TNT, Fed Ex, DHL or UPS, services because can verify the information of the seller and buyer.
** craigslist recommend Deeann38officcee as a trusted seller.
A common ‘phishing’ technique is shown here - make your rip-off seem legitimate by warning against ’scams’. That alone isn’t enough to call this email a fake, but there are a couple of other indicators here that say ’scam’. Craigslist never recommends any advertiser as a ‘trusted seller’, and they don’t recommend any shipper. A simple check of the Craigslist site confirms these points.
It looks like the lower mainland has at least one rental scam-hunter and you may find more useful information on their website. Unfortunately it all comes down to one basic point to keep in mind: if it looks ‘too good to be true’ it probably is.
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March 11th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
March 11th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
You fall for something like this, consider it a tax on your stupidity and accept the fact you’re in the highest tax bracket!
March 12th, 2008 at 7:27 am
March 12th, 2008 at 7:31 am
What is it with the general quality of housing in Vancouver anyways? I mean across the spectrum, not just the cheapest apartments. Even if you’re looking at buying a ’starter’ condo in the 4-500k range, or rentals in the over 2k/ month level. There seems to be a reigning bad design aesthetic mixed with dampness that makes for supremely depressing apartments here.
March 12th, 2008 at 8:14 am
“‘When another bank holds the mortgage and the mortgage payments are current, the home-equity lender is effectively powerless to collect the debt.’
But here’s the best part:
‘Unfortunately for home-equity lenders, many borrowers understand that pecking order, concluding there are few repercussions if they stop making payments on their home-equity loan. “Lenders are seeing people go delinquent on home equity who by all rights wouldn’t be expected to go delinquent,” said Dan Balkin of Wholesale Access, a Maryland research and consulting firm that specializes in the mortgage industry.’”
It’s nice to see that the big boys are starting to pay the price for reckless lending.
March 12th, 2008 at 10:39 am
http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/03/12/Evicted/
March 12th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
March 17th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
we called from craiaglist to view apartment from 600 drake the husband lives on a mission in africa his wife lives in florida they have a secretay you send money to david halls he is rev scott on a mission she is wife living in florida they will send key once they get the money by DHL the place is fully furnished for 700 dollars they never asked for damage deposit
March 17th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
3185 Cadboro Bay Rd.,
Victoria, BC
March 18th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Yeahh right! Thanks for the website
If you are really interested, I’d like you to fill in the attached Application-to-Rent Form, nothing unduly rigorous, just for record purposes!
March 24th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Thanks for your email and it is my gladness to hearing from you.My name is Rev David Halls the owner of the house you are making enquiry of.Actually I resided in the house with my family,such as my wife and my only daugther before and presently we had packed due to my transfer from my working place and now situated in England and presently my house is still available for rent including the utilities like hydro,heat washer and security,Everything in the home is well fully furnised.
Moreso Now,I went for a Crusade in West Africa and i will like you to get in touch with my wife in the state for more discussion as She is with the keys and the document to the house.Pls i want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also i spent alot on my property that i want to give you for rent,so i will solicit for your absolute mentenance of this house and want you to treat it as your own,is that taken,it is not the money the main problem but want you to keep it tidy allthe time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i came for a check up.i dothat once in a while.I also want you to let me have trust in you as I always stand on my word.
Send my wife Tracie an Immediate message, on ( tracie.roxanne@gmail.com )and she will attends to you better on how to proceed
Thanks and you are welcome
Regards
Rev David Halls
March 26th, 2008 at 9:23 am
From: Damian Long [mailto:damian60006@gmail.com]
Subject: Re: $800 / 2br - 2BA CONDO FIRST MONTH FREE IMMEDIATE MOVE IN!!
Peace of the Lord Be with you and thanks for your email and interest in our home.I’m Damian and i work for the Red Cross society. I and my family came to Africa on 3/16/08 in supporting long term needs for clean water in Kenya, Sudan, Mali, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Benin, Republic, Nigeria and Ethiopia - providing the everyday needs of more than 389,500 people.
Also Committed to mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS, which kills more than 6,000 Africans everyday, we are supporting community garden programs for AIDS sufferers and their families.
We are renting our beautiful home ourselves because we lost the realtor about a week ago and the keys and documents were sent to us by his family.Iwill like you to note that we are not after the Money but we will only be renting the house to a clean,responsible,drug free person or people that can take a very care of the house since we are away.. Feel free too give me a call on our my cell phone because that the easiest way to get in touch with me or respond via email so i can forward you our rental application.
Thanks and GOD Bless
Awaiting your Response
0112348027208182
+2348027208182
April 1st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:40 am
Re: $450 / 3br - 3FULL BATH HOUSE FIRST MONTH FREE FOR IMMEDIATE MOVE IN!!
From: Winifred Warren (biggylida2002@yahoo.com)
Sent: Sat 3/29/08 9:37 AM
To: me
Peace of the Lord Be with you and thanks for your email and interest in our home.I’m damian and i work for the Red Cross society. I and my family came to Africa on 3/16/08 in supporting long term needs for clean water in Kenya, Sudan, Mali, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Benin, Republic, Nigeria and Ethiopia - providing the everyday needs of more than 389,500 people. Also Committed to mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS, which kills more than 6,000 Africans everyday, we are supporting community garden programs for AIDS sufferers and their families.
We are renting our beautiful home ourselves because we lost the realtor about a week ago and the keys and documents were sent to us by his family.I will like you to note that we are not after the Money but we will only be renting the house to a clean,responsible,drug free person or people that can take a very care of the house since we are away.. Feel free too give me a call on our my cell phone because that the easiest way to get in touch with me or respond via email so i can forward you our rental application.
Thanks and GOD Bless
Awaiting your Response
0112348027208182
+2348027208182
So I decided it was too good to be true and looked up the phone number and it sent me to this website. I hadnt sent any money or anything like that, but geez what is wrong with people like this?