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Craigslist Rental Scam Prompts Concern Across State

By Beacon Staff

The Montana attorney general and authorities across the state have issued warnings about a Craigslist rental scam that has grown increasingly widespread in recent weeks, including in the Flathead Valley.

Tia Robbin, executive officer of the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors, said her office is fielding frequent phone calls from consumers and property owners with information about the scam. Robbin said she is “very concerned” about the fraud’s apparent prevalence.

“We’re definitely trying to monitor it from our end,” Robbin said.

According to state and local officials, scammers find homes that are for sale and post them on Craigslist as rentals, using photographs from the original for-sale advertisement.

In the Flathead, people responding to the listings are asked to fill out a credit application through email and are promised to have keys sent to them in the mail so they can inspect the home, according to NMAR. The credit application provides personal information that can then be used in identify theft.

Elsewhere in the state, potential tenants have been told to wire money for rent and a security deposit, according to a statement from Attorney General Steve Bullock, who oversees the state Office of Consumer Protection. The Billings Police Department has been receiving calls about the scam, the release states.

The AG statement says that Craigslist has posted warnings of the scam and recently pulled one of the ads off its site.

“The important message is that renters should be very careful about transferring money in response to online rental ads,” Bullock said. “Know who you are dealing with before you transfer money.”

Officials say the scammers make efforts to keep consumers from contacting anyone who would alert them to the swindle, such as the homeowners. According to Bullock, renters are told that the house was for sale but it didn’t sell and now the owner wants to rent it, though the owner is currently out of town.

Some Flathead-area ads, NMAR said in a release, tell interested tenants not to knock on the home’s door because the current tenants do not know they’re being evicted, or warns them against contacting the home’s listing agent because “the agent charges a fee for such contact.”

“These are a tell-tale signs of a scam,” Robbin said. “They don’t want you to talk to anyone – the current occupant of the house or the Realtor – or you will know it’s a scam.”

Robbin said the Craigslist ads contain other signs of potential fraud. For one, the rental listing provides no phone number and requests email communication only. Also, consumers should be wary of visible watermarks or copyrights on the photographs.

“Those photographs probably have been illegally copied off of an Internet advertisement of the property,” NMAR’s release states.

Robbin recommends contacting the listing agent on the “For Sale” sign, if there is a sign, and asking if the home is for rent. Renters can also visit NMAR’s website, www.nmar.com, to check if a home listed for sale is actually for rent as well.

“If the property is legitimately listed for rent while it is listed for sale, the listing agent or another Realtor will know and be able to help,” Robbin said. “If it is not, you just avoided being a victim of this scam.”

According to the attorney general’s statement: “Renters who have fallen for this scam and provided their personal identifying information should contact the Montana Office of Consumer Protection at 1-800-481-6896 or (406) 444-4500, www.consumerprotection.mt.gov, for information on the steps they can take to protect themselves, including putting a security freeze on their accounts.”