Craigslist Rentals Just Get Better and Better

And the owner wants you to rent, sight unseen, by sending first, last and deposit to Nigeria, right? Oh, and he only acccepts cash, gold, or Western Union!

Lola, I almost posted about that myself. I saw that one and another that was so sleek and modern, it looked like a NY penthouse, AND it had a radiator.

Just a heads up...if it's too good to be true...well...you know the rest. And if it has a radiator, fireplace (Well, there actually are a couple of fireplaces on island, but they aren't in $600 per month rentals!) or anything else that might imply HEAT from anything other than the sun, it's a scam!

Craigslist has been great for my business, but do be aware and BEWARE. This forum is a much safer place to find rentals.

Hey Juanita:

Yeah, me and the hubby got a good chuckle out of the one with the photos featuring plenty of what looked like painted drywall and radiators, too. In the Virgin Islands? NOT.

Best,

Ilo

Lola,

What's the URL for that listing?

Just curious.

Edward

Lola,
Like you said, maybe it's too good to be true. I can virtually guarantee you that IT IS. I saw this posting today, as I am moving to St. Thomas in a few weeks. I have already secured a real apartment, after going to the island and scouting. But prior to my trip last week, I replied to what was an identical ad to this one, minus the Verizon Fios specifics. It only said high-speed internet then. After about 3-4 days of emailing with this supposed property owner, and after he refused in EVERY SINGLE EMAIL I sent to give me any exterior photos or even a real address, I called him out on his scam. His story was as follows:

His name is Radu Irina (if using the same name). He has supposedly been tranferred by his company to London for the next 4-6 years. So he is leaving the property to his lawyer (whose name he also refused to provide) to rent for him. Oh so very conveniently though, his lawyer is also in London for the next 6 months do some kind of training for HIS work. So there is no one on St. Thomas to show the property. If you ask for pictures, he will send some interior shots of some beautiful condo somewhere. They are somewhat convincing for the style of furniture I saw in some of the nicer properties... but you'd never get that quality for $600. At the end of every email, he asks for a bit more information from you because "he is eager to proceed." He will email you a joke of an application within an email, asking basically only for name, occupation, etc. Eventually, he will tell you he will send you the keys to the apartment priority shipping as soon as you give him your address. Then once you do, and say "Ok, I'm ready, ship me the keys" he says, I can only ship them to you, along with the "documents" (presumably the lease?) once his lawyer has been wired a $500 deposit. Oh, and in general, for someone who supposedly owns and lived in a US territory and is now living in London/UK, his English in general, spelling, and grammar, were NOT that of someone of his supposed history.

When I called him out in email after figuring out the scam, he said something to the effect of being very hurt and disappointed and what did I mean by "scam"? I wrote him back one last time telling him that perhaps he should look up the term scam and international money wire fraud on the Federal Trade Commission's website, and that I would be reporting him.

BE CAREFUL. I've already flagged this new listing through Craigslist with the Fios listed, because I'm positive it is the same scam. Test it and reply if you want to see. But be very careful. This is a predatory scam. Seeing that it is listed again, I may just make up a new email address to reply from to prove my theory, and actually report him to the FTC now.

But overall, the other Craiglist ads for STT were legit.

Edward, I sent you a PM.

Ilo

So sad to hear about these scams. We rent out our place on Craigslist and I think that this will put a shadow over all of us trying to legitimately rent out our places.

Then, of course, there are the responses to the ads that are scams. They don't ask any questions about the apartment, what's included, where it's located, nothing that would actually matter to a tenant. They just want to know where to send the money. If only it were really that easy !!! LOL

I say we should request information, get their mailing address, and then sign them up for all sorts of junk mail.

I was looking into an apt that was the same scam. They actually had stock photos of a condo at the Palms hotel, so I thought it was legit. But, then the story about being in Africa set in. He was tending to a family emergency and had the only key. So, send the money today to this address and I'll mail you the key so you can check it out. It was laughable at best.

So after 4 emails back and forth (in English) I told him (in French) that I don't speak English. I knew he would speak French since he was in Africa, so he gave me a whole new spiel and application all written in French. Then, I told him (in Spanish) that I don't speak French. That's when the correspondence ended. I sure loved to waste his time!

Noah

For many years before moving to VI, I lived in Africa and post-Soviet Europe.

People in those areas are desperate for a break. They often fall for scams.

There are also as many or more casinos and poker parlors in those areas as food stores.

(P.S. I wonder what percentage of Divi Carina customers are local residents.)

I would say between 75% - 85% easily.

Very sad. 🙁

Those of us who teach math and statistics consider gambling to be a tax on the mathematically challenged.

This is especially true for state-run lotteries.

I would say between 75% - 85% easily.

I would say even more than that. I would venture a guess closer to 99%, except when there is some event, like a poker tournament, then the non-locals are just from St. Thomas. We don't go very often, so maybe there are more tourists on other days/nights, but I don't think so. When we do go, we always comment on the fact that everyone is local. Some of the people we see that you might think are tourists (probably because they are white) aren't because we see them EVERY time we go. Maybe they say that about us, too. LOL

Does Divi (the hotel) have a sales and marketing department? I'm sure they do, but I don't ever hear of any conventions, or anything like that, just an occasional "local" type meeting in the conference room of the casino.