In my never-ending search to find a decent home to rent, I came across ANOTHER scam. This one was much more polished than the last Craigslist Credit Report scam I posted about, but still operates in the same way:
The ad looked legit. They had pictures, and they even provided a valid neighborhood in the “location” field rather than just using the city name of the Craigslist page. Unlike the last scam, they scammer didn’t provide an email address on the page. I had to email via the Craigslist mailer. Here is what I got back from nicoleheinz63@yahoo.com:
Hello,
The property is still available for rent. The water is included, I also pay for lawn care so the tenant does not have to cut the grass. Pets are allowed as long as they are well behaved I will be happy to show the house at an agreed time and date but I do require that all applicants complete a free credit report to ensure their eligibility. I do not give out the exact address of my rental property before I am able to show them. The reason is that the home is vacant, and I wouldn’t want people trying to break in.
Please go to the following link to complete the free credit report: click here [link removed]
Please do not send me your credit report! Once you complete your report please send me over your report number, with that information I can provide it to the report company and they will let me know if you had any evictions in the past 5 years. This is the only information that I am interested in.
Let me know when this is done and we can then work out the time and date to go see the house.
Regards,
Nicole Heinz
The link provided in her emailed was a link to a free credit report website, again, with an affiliate ID attached. If you haven’t figured out how this scam works yet: You sign up for a “free” credit report. The scammer gets a commission from your sign up, and you never hear from anyone again.
This was a pretty good scam I uncovered today. I was browsing craigslist for a new place to live this September when I ran across this ad in the housing/apartments section:
Very large and spacious 3 bd 2bthrm with great upgrades Screened lanai gated access community Act now and only need first month to move in
email me at
gabriellaecj@gmail.com
Looks promising. It even included some nice looking pictures. I emailed gabriellaecj@gmail.com simply to ask where the house was. I got this as a response:
Hi,
Thank you for your intrest in our rental property.
It is at the moment still available for occupancy.
Here is a copy of our rental application, Print it out.
www.unitedrentalproperties.com/rentalapp.pdf In PDF format
www.unitedrentalproperties.com/RentalApplication.doc In Word format
We dont do a check on your rental history or a background check but we do require a credit check. In order to rent any of our properties you must have a credit score of 450 or higher. I do make exceptions but you must bring a copy of your report and an explanation.
You can get a copy of your score free below
http://www.unitedrentalproperties.com/freecreditreport.html
Do not email it to me just bring it with you.
We do not require a security deposit or pet deposit on this property.
Unlike most properties you wont be charged an application fee or credit check fee because you will bring your own.
Renting this property is of my highest concern so if you dont act quickly it may get rented before you.
Hopefully I can walk you through the property either tomorrow or within the next few days appointments will be handled in the manner they were recieved.
Regards,
Russell
Okay, he didn’t answer my question, but it still looks legit. The application forms looked normal, but knowing a bit about credit history and credit reports, I thought the “450 minimum score” seemed a bit low. People that file bankruptcy usually have a better score than this. I followed the link to the credit report, and it was simply a redirect to this site:
http://www.nationalcreditreport.com/
He also had is affiliate ID in the URL (1119). This is how the scam works. You fill out all that stuff and do the credit report on the site, and this guy makes 20 bucks from the deal. The house doesn’t even exist.