The number of fake rental scams on Craigslist and other online classifieds continues to grow, with new aliases appearing daily. But while the names may change, the methods are always the same.
These thieves, mainly based in Nigeria, the U.K. and the U.S., are out to steal your money and your identity.
They use yahoo, ymail, rocketmail, fastermail, live, hotmail and gmail, and they also post ads under anonymous craigslist addresses. They frequently change their aliases.
They use photos stolen from other property advertisements or from home furnishing catalogues or hotel websites.
They use fake names, often stolen from Facebook profiles or networking sites. Often they assume the identities of previous victims.
What they all have in common is that sooner or later you get a request to transfer funds via Western Union, Moneygram or some other wire service.
NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, WIRE MONEY AT THE REQUEST OF ANY PROSPECTIVE “LANDLORD” VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM OR ANY OTHER WIRE SERVICE. EVEN IF THEY TELL YOU TO WIRE THE FUNDS TO A FRIEND OR RELATIVE’S NAME “TO BE SAFE,” IT’S A TRAP!
NEVER SEND A SCAN OF YOUR PASSPORT OR OTHER ID. THESE THIEVES WILL USE YOUR IDENTITY TO SCAM OTHERS.
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