Police: Scammers using local realty photos to solicit ‘deposits’

<-- Click on image to enlarge
Police in Springfield are warning the public of a scam in which Craigslist users, posing as local property owners, use photos of actual houses in Springfield to try and entice renters to send a deposit.


www.eagletimes.com

vermont.craigslist.org/apa/5737790873

2016-09-01 / Front Page Police: Scammers using local realty photos to solicit ‘deposits’ By TORY JONES BONENFANT toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — Police in Springfield are warning the public of a scam in which Craigslist users, posing as local property owners, use photos of actual houses in Springfield to try and entice renters to send a deposit. Sending money to persons listing through open sites such as Craigslist can be “very dangerous,” said Springfield Lt. Mark Fountain on Wednesday, Aug. 31. “There are all sorts of potential issues for criminal conduct.” A statement in tiny print, below ads on Craigslist for property rentals, warns users: “Avoid scams, deal locally! DO NOT wire funds (e.g. Western Union), or buy/rent sight unseen.” Despite the warning, scammers are trying to lure unsuspecting renters into sending a rent deposit — money they may never see again, according to the Springfield Police Department. “Heed this warning!! One of the trending scams is to find pictures of a residence that were formerly posted by realtors and repost them as a rental,” SPD dispatcher Wendy Taft wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, Aug. 30. Her example, a listing for a $1,100, three-bedroom, 1,256-foot “inviting, cozy” rental with a basement in Springfield, is based on a recent complaint by a Springfield citizen. “This home will keep you home all day,” the listing reads. The listing is from a fictitious subject in Texas, but the home is actually privately and locally owned. That listing is a scam, and others are out there, according to Taft, who said she wanted to warn the public after the Springfield resident told her on Tuesday about recently having been “duped,” sending money to the person who created the listing and never seeing those funds again. “Someone cleverly poached old realty photos and listing description and has now posted the property as a rental, just waiting for the eager renter to send them first and last month’s rent and security deposit so they can start to move in. Be a wise consumer. Research and validate a posting before you send a dime,” Taft warns. One commenter on that post wrote that she saw another listing for a two-story duplex, with an out-of-country mailing address to send money and a list of fill-in-the-blank questions seeking information, but that the owners have not left town. It is another scam, she warned. Fountain said that it is the first time he has heard of this specific type of fraud, using a real and local photo of a property and claiming it is for rent. The elderly population is also at risk to be victimized by this type of scam, and may be more likely to give out credit card and other private information, Fountain said. Fountain said he learned about the fraudulent listing on Wednesday, and does not yet know if charges are pending. If the party that committed fraud could be identified, then charges could be pursued or recommended to the State’s Attorney’s Office, he said. If the incident led to a person sending money out of the state, that could lead to an interstate commerce investigation, but it may be harder to track, he said. Fountain warned that all persons using social listing sites be extremely cautious of the potential for fraud. “If at the end of the day it looks too good to be true, then don’t do it,” he said.