New Property Scam Occurring on Craigslist

Here's a note from a reader advising of a new type of Craigslist scam. I've removed the sender's identifying information:

I just wanted to note a new scam that is starting to come up on Craigslist.

I am a property manager. We advertise all our properties on Craigslist. As a professional with a real estate license we are required to disclose our company name, website, etc in our advertisements.

These scammers are going to our company website and getting my information. They then copy our Craigslist advertisement and create a free yahoo or hotmail mail account that replicas my account. They pose as my company and post the Craigslist ad with a lower rental price than what we are advertising. Of course they make the price low enough to make it really appealing.

Then when you respond to them, you get the "I'm out of town and had to move to West Africa in a hurry. I just want someone to take care of my place more than I'm worried about making money off the rent. That's why I have the rent marked so low. I am out of the states, so send your check for first month rent and deposit and fill out the lease below and I will then mail back the keys." Usually there is a "lease" in the e-mail, which is only an attempt to get your information.

I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this scam yet, but it is an attempt to get your personal information and money. If interested, next time this happens I can send you or post on your site actual e-mails from these people. I just want to inform the general public about these scammers. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks