Why are there fake apartment ads on Craigslist?

People post fake rental ads on Craigslist because they are scammers and are looking for easy money . Plus, some potential renters who may be looking for a new home may be a little desperate as well, because everyone needs a place to live in, of course.

Why do people post fake rentals?

Rental scams occur when a property owner misrepresents themselves, the rental property in question or the terms of a lease in an attempt to obtain money for a fraudulent offer . Recognizing warning signs in a rental listing can help you avoid rental scammers and find your ideal home as safely as possible.

Are there fake listings on apartments com?

Note: We cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of listings submitted to Apartments.com , but we do monitor the site to create a safe marketplace for all. But if you come across a suspicious listing, we want to know!

How do I flag a fake Craigslist ad?

Craigslist Scam Alert If you suspect that an item posted for sale on Craigslist may be part of a scam, please e-mail the details to abuse@craigslist.org. Be sure to include the URL (or 10-digit post ID number) in your message. Please use the “spam” flag link in the top right corner of a spam posting .

Are there fake ads on Zillow?

Criminals have long preyed on people looking to buy a home, so it's of little surprise to find such scams popping up on real-estate sites like Zillow. Phony real estate listings are often created with photos and descriptions taken from real posts , and frequently tout homes being sold at outlandishly low prices.

Why is Craigslist ghosting my ads?

Posting too many listings that are getting flagged Your listings may not contain anything that Craigslist's filtering catches, but if too many of your listings are getting flagged anyway, Craigslist may determine that you are spamming the site and filter your listings.

Hawaii Craigslist Rental Ad Scams - Buyer Beware - Hawaii Real Estate Market & Trends

Oahu

By Hawaii Life
March 1, 2011
23 Comments
Share

A listing of mine was recently advertised in one of those Nigerian real-estate rental ad scams on Craigslist that attempts to sucker people out of personal information, and wiring money to a Western Union account with promises of an UNREAL DEAL!

The scam is simple:

The con artist pulls the photos and address of a home that is currently listed on the market off any consumer real estate website, and offers to rent it out to people via Craigslist for a price that is way under market value. (They are now looking up public tax records to use the actual homeowner’s name in the correspondence to potential renters! Often, they’ll even create Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail addresses with those names…)
The “landlord” tells you about a family emergency/missionary work/military service that has called him away on a moment’s notice to a foreign country, and how he needs to find a renter A.S.A.P.
He gets all your financial information and history via the “rental application,” and once you’ve been selected, requests you to wire your deposit and first month’s rent, so he can mail the keys to you.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times over, but I’m going to hammer them home again for the readers – “If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is!” Never, ever conduct any real estate transaction with someone you can’t meet or verify the identity of. This goes for consumers as well as real-estate practitioners. If you can’t see the home you are going to rent before signing a contract or making a deposit, something is definitely wrong!

Here’s an excerpt of the scammer’s email if you’re interested in seeing the pitch in action:

“Hi,

I did get your response concerning the AD I posted on Craigslist…The house is still available but presently I’m not around…I did bid for a portion of petroleum land sometime ago in West Africa and, fortunately, I won the bidding, so I have to move quickly down to Africa to have my company set up because I will still have to rebid for it in the next 10 years. I came over here with my wife, we both owned the house when we got married. As soon as we settled down here, I had a thought of selling the house, so I have to look for an agent, after getting one, we got a deal, but later my wife advised against that. She said we may not be able to win the bidding next time, in order to keep our head when we return that, we have to keep the house and it’s going to be available for up to 5 years…I reasoned with her and accepted her advise…So, I contacted the agent back and requested for my keys and documents. Later, we decided to have the house rent out because of maintenance, maintenance, i mean is by taking very good care of the house and i will be responsible for the repairs myself, we would have gave the same agent this job also, but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with me later if I let him or her know that I’m letting it out because of the up keeping of the house…If you notice, you will discovered that the price we are offering is far below standard price, this is enough for you to know that we are not after the rental fee but the maintenance…I know there is no way I can be sure that you are the right person to live in the house because we won’t be able to see physical before sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space…But I just had a feeling that anyone who knows what it takes to put the kind of structure down should know that up keeping of a building is mandatory, so if you belief you can take good care of the house and handle it like yours then I will be more than happy to let you rent the house. The rent is $1,000 and the deposit payment is $1,100.”

Needless to say, my clients were not thrilled about their $600,000 home being offered for rent at $1,000 per month, and the emails and phone calls they got from friends and family asking what was going on. It’s really surprising how many people browse these ads on a daily basis.

Do you have any real estate horror stories to share?

Posted onMarch 1, 2011in Oahu, Hawaii,Lifestyle,News,Oahu

About the Author

Hawaii Life

You can email me atinquiry@hawaiilife.comor via phone at (808) 370-3848.

Website
Blog Posts

Comments (23)Show CommentsHide Comments (Remember)

Cool. Add your comment...

Leave your opinion here. Please be nice. Your Email address will be kept private, this form is secure and we never spam you.

Heidi White

March 2, 2011

I also had the same thing happen with my listing at Keauhou bay (mls 240888) here in Kona! Same experience. The prospective renter called from my real estate sign in front of the house and was wondering if $800 per month was for real. It obviously was too cheap to believe near the beach like that! Yes that scam is for real. Realtors should watch out because people will be moving into homes without legal right. And since a lovely Kona Realtor left the door wide open with key in the lock yesterday, it could have happened easily.

Heidi White

March 2, 2011

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 2, 2011

@ Heidi – really, they left the door wide open with the key in the LOCK?? Seriously inappropriate. How do those Realtors even stay in business? They clearly have zero clue about the liability involved in selling other peoples’ property. So disappointing! And we wonder why our reputation as Realtors doesn’t seem to get better…

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 2, 2011

tanju

November 26, 2011

Be aware also of individuals texting you if you have any posting on craigslist for jobs wanted. they are relentless and are scamming you by asking if you want to work for them and they with pay you by western union. Don’t do it please….. Some body just needs to clean up these scum bags off the internet. Karma will get them I hope!!!

tanju

November 26, 2011

Steve McKenzie

September 21, 2012

Aloha & Beware
This scam is still prevalent on craigslist in Hawaii. Pain in the okole having to waste time on cretins like this, but you soon find out what is going on when they come up with excuses why you cant view the property.

Steve McKenzie

September 21, 2012

Stan

May 2, 2013

I emailed several ads from craigslist this morning. The majority replied with conditions and terms and very detailed comments …. then said they needed a bank transfer to secure the reservation. I must admit there was part of me that wanted to believe I could rent a 2 bedroom condo on the 9th floor right on Waikiki. Here is the last communication.

“Yes, this is an Ocean facing unit, its on the 9th floor and the parking is onsite and Valet.Its advisable to make payment via our bank transfer payment options.Due to the peak period of rental, there is alot of congestion on our Paypal account, thus that does not secured the reserved accommodation for our various clients due to payment congestion, and the clearing process, so we had decided that pending the clearance of the later payment,monies should be directed to the accountant’s account, please bear with this payment option, as soon as you made payment , please get back to me with your payment notification/receipt, i will issue your booking confirmation immediately.please get back to me ASAP in regard to this issue.
henceforth, we only accept payment via our bank transfer option.
Note: Is only when payment has been made before i can secure your dates.
please if you are interested, please get back to me ASAP , so that i can send you a booking/agreement form
NOTE;The apartment is not booked until we have received the deposit.
I look forward to hearing back from you and reserving your stay at our beautiful apartment.

Regards
Richard Freeman”

Stan

May 2, 2013

Regards
Richard Freeman”

Allyn

January 25, 2016

The example email is still being used! I’m young and looking for a place to rent and stumbled across a “too good to be true” ad on craigslist. As a first time renter, I wasn’t sure what to look for and who to trust. I’m glad I talked to someone first before giving any information to this person. I feel like such a fool. I’m glad I found this article, even though it’s been almost 5 years since it’s been posted…

Katie Minkus

January 26, 2016

Wow! Allyn – thanks for sharing! It’s amazing that they are still using the same scam from 5 years ago!

Allyn

January 25, 2016

Katie Minkus

January 26, 2016

Wow! Allyn – thanks for sharing! It’s amazing that they are still using the same scam from 5 years ago!

Rachel Frederick

July 30, 2017

> I am looking for a rental – out of 12 listening that worked for my situation about 8 of them came back to me as a scam, it is very sad. Because it makes the “real” renters not use the page- and there doesn’t seem to be many options for finding a rental on the island!

2017 – July and it is still happening!

David from travelscams.org

August 19, 2017

Great article, thanks for the tips! Canyons, glaciers, skyscrapers, Hollywood, you name it, the USA has it. However, there are numerous tourist targeted scams to be wary of. http://travelscams.org/north-america/common-tourist-scams-usa/

Do be wary of the music artist scam, fake takeout menu, hot dog mustard scam, three card monte scam, ferry to staten island/fake tickets scam, casino theft, can you help cash out my chips scam, VIP pass scam, double tip scam and many more!

Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Oahu

September 7, 2018

[…] are constantly looking for rental property in Oahu, and many have been victimized by scam rental ads. Most of the time, these ads are for properties […]

Hawaii Craigslist Rental Ad Scams - Buyer Beware - Hawaii Real Estate Market & Trends | Hawaii Life (2024)

More Articles from Hawaii Life

FAQs

Why are there fake apartment ads on Craigslist? ›