A new scam...

It would be interesting to know where they found out about the apartment. I'm a Realtor in the DC area and about a year ago in this area a big scam was going around. What was happening is people were hijacking agents craiglists ads that were for properties that were for sale. Somehow they were changing them to rental ads and also the contact info. People would contact them to rent the house and be told pretty much the same thing about wiring the the money first. There were quite a few sellers who had knocks on the door from someone who thought they rented the house but actually just lost there money instead. It didn't make many news outlets but it happened 3 or 4 times just in my office alone. So it's good they were careful.

[Footbag]

Originally Posted by MarioF

It would be interesting to know where they found out about the apartment. I'm a Realtor in the DC area and about a year ago in this area a big scam was going around. What was happening is people were hijacking agents craiglists ads that were for properties that were for sale. Somehow they were changing them to rental ads and also the contact info. People would contact them to rent the house and be told pretty much the same thing about wiring the the money first. There were quite a few sellers who had knocks on the door from someone who thought they rented the house but actually just lost there money instead. It didn't make many news outlets but it happened 3 or 4 times just in my office alone. So it's good they were careful.

I think he said Roommates.com, but after I Googled, I saw that it's all over the place. Craigslist and others as well.

[cobra03]

Variations of this scam have been going around for a while. they love to go after people buying/selling cars and renting or looking to rent a room. A famous one is they offer to buy your car from autotrader or cragslist and send a check for too much money telling you to money order the overage back to them. Buy the time your bank finds out the check is fake they are gone with the money order and you now owe the bank. If they ask for you to send a money order, run away, run far away.

[14holestogie]

Unless you're sending to someone you know, Western Union should send the flares off right away. No way of tracing where the money goes once it's picked up.

[Footbag]

Originally Posted by 14holestogie

Unless you're sending to someone you know, Western Union should send the flares off right away. No way of tracing where the money goes once it's picked up.

That's the rub. You do send it to someone you know. But most people think that only the person you send it to can pick it up. That's not true.