Renters Still Being Duped by Craigslist Scams

A three year old scam is still alive and well in the Jackson area and prospective renters are being duped by criminals.  If you are looking for a house to rent and see an ad on Craigslist that requires you to wire a deposit over the internet before you can see the inside of the house….  BEWARE.  It’s probably a scam.  Criminals are scraping information from websites where properties are legitimately listed for sale and are reposting the ads on Craigslist for rent with the objective of stealing money from uninformed potential tenants.  The first red flag should be the fact that you can’t see the property until you wire the deposit.  There’s always a sob story being told by the “fake” landlord or owner about why they should be trusted. Once the money is wired, it’s never seen again and the prospective tenants are without both the house and their money.  Before wiring or sending money anywhere, verify, verify, verify that you are dealing with a reliable person or company.  Johnny Brown, President, Jackson Association of REALTORS®.