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Topic starter
Spoke to someone earlier this morning that will be relocating to VI very soon who was inquiring about rental properties.
I was told about her own inquiry to an ad posted on Criag's List that actually had photo's of a STT Real Estate Agency's rental property being posed/posted as their own which was not the case. The price was too good to be true as well.
OT has mentioned this type of scam before but since this just happened, again, thought I would bring it up again.
I am just astonished at the boldness that the unathorized advertiser had to use someone else's photos and property description as their own.
Just be careful, people. If it sounds to good to be true, it propbably is a scam.
Don't rent sight unseen or send money unless you know exactly who you are dealing with and whatever you do, do not give any banking and personal ID information, upfront, to an unknown person.
If in doubt, contact a Licensed VI Realtor to help you with your apt. or house hunting search, whether it be for rentals or for sales.
There are TIEFS out there!
Posted : July 31, 2012 4:37 pm
As is my wont sometimes, I responded to one which was advertised yesterday, a 3BR house (no pics) in "Virgin Islands" for $1K/month. Sent a brief note asking which island and would like pics. A scam of course but a very poor one at that (not that most of them are posted by MENSA members)! The usual sort of response, "I'm doing missionary work in Africa ... couldn't get my real estate agent to handle the listing ... if you see this listed with a real estate agent it's the old listing ... blah blah blah" and the full address of the house was given - in Indianapolis! Pics came under separate cover of a nice little ranch house in Somewhere Suburbia USA, Wrote a quick note back (I use anonymous email addresses for this purpose) and said the Indianapolis VI house looked very nice but that the advertiser would be better off continuing the work of God and not waste time scamming because "you're just not good at it".
Posted : July 31, 2012 6:49 pm
Maybe you should complain to Craigslist or monitor Craigslist and report scam posts. The name should probably be scamlist now, because there are so many and not just in the real estate section, but jobs, too.
Posted : July 31, 2012 6:51 pm
Maybe you should complain to Craigslist or monitor Craigslist and report scam posts. The name should probably be scamlist now, because there are so many and not just in the real estate section, but jobs, too.
Posted : July 31, 2012 7:04 pm
Topic starter
Here is the one that I found.
I saw this and responded just to see what the deal was out of curiousity as it sounded "off":
Sounds same as one OT mentions: Great pics of updated stateside home, fireplace and all!
http://virgin.craigslist.org/apa/3170265399.html is the ad
Here is the response I rec'd from h.hh672@yahoo.com .
Hello,
I must confess this its my first time of renting my house.However, I MR. Martins Bourdon own the house located at (155 Enfield Green Frederiksted,VI 00840) Due to my job as a missionary I spent less time in the States so I could not get a hold on any Realtor to handle this rent issue, although it was when I knew how long we are going to stay in Africa that I decided to rent out the single family house. However, the initial plan was to sale out the single family house which I tried, but sometimes the agents inflates the prize and it takes longer to sell it.i am telling you this in case if you find the single family house on another website, that is the old advert. because of this reason and more we need a responsible person that can take very good care of it. i am not after the money,but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours.
3Bedroom Single Fanily Home
The rent is $1000 and $500 for Security Deposit
Pets : Dogs, Cats Allowed!!!
LEASE APPLICATION FORM
FULL CONTACT NAME :
OCCUPATION :
RESIDENTIAL HOME ADDRESS :
YOUR CELLPHONE NUMBER:
YOUR HOME PHONE NUMBER:
YOUR WORKPLACE NUMBER:
WHAT TIME IS THE BEST TIME TO REACH YOU:
AGE & MARITAL STATUS:
OWN A PET:
OWN A CAR:
HOW MANY PEOPLE SHALL RESIDE IN THE PREMISES:
ANTICIPATED MOVE IN DATE:
DO YOU AGREE TO PAY THE DEPOSIT BEFORE RECEIVING THE KEYS:
WHEN DO YOU INTEND PAYING THE DEPOSIT:
REFERENCE:
============================== =======
Application Comment
============================== =======
Please make sure this questions are fill correctly because the best way you answer with your comment will impress me the more to accept your applications.
My Regards.
MR. Martins Bourdon
This really is obvious but there are those out here that are not as obvious and this is not the one the woman I spoke to refered to this morning.
Careful house and apt. hunting to all.
Posted : July 31, 2012 7:20 pm
Many scammers make their come-ons far-fetched on purpose.
From http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/06/far-fetched_sca.html :
"Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They are From Nigeria?"
Because mainly the gullible idiots will respond, and that's who the target is. It bypasses all the smarter people who might respond and eventually figure out that it's really a scam, wasting the scammer's time.
Posted : July 31, 2012 7:49 pm
I report/"flag" around three or four listings a day and the majority is removed very quickly.
Posted : July 31, 2012 7:50 pm
Thanks for that Tart... I do a bit of scam baiting on CL when I have time to burn. It's a BLAST to keep them going asking stupid questions, I love to say HEY IM IN AFRICA TOO RIGHT NOW!! Wanna meet for a beer and talk about the property, I have cash in hand for your first payment! It makes me smile every time. Or I tell them I'm a CPU hacker and make up an IP address, usually that freaks me out and I never hear back lol!!
It IS really annoying that its hard to find a place on CL especially when you're not on island or don't know the areas that well. I've been using flexmls for rentals and now maybe even buying a home 🙂 google flexmls st croix , second link down.
I will say that I found my GEM; Kim Lucas and my place to stay for our PMV on CL, so trust me there are legit ones out there!
Posted : August 1, 2012 6:48 am
I also have had good luck recently on CL for items , house and boat listed ! Fingers crossed it continues 🙂
Posted : August 1, 2012 11:05 am
I've been told to check the trader for STT/SJU....
nobody on STX seems to use it at all, so I was surprised.
Posted : August 1, 2012 11:02 pm
