Tuesday, April 28, 2009

eRentalApplications.com Scam

I recently posted an ad on seattle.craigslist.com advertizing a property I have for rent. Someone notified me that my property was posted for rent with two ads with two different prices and thought perhaps I had made a mistake. I went to check and it turned out that the second ad was posted by someone else and could only be contacted by anonymous Craigslist email and they were listing my property for rent about $200 below the price I was asking.

I sent email pretending to want to rent the property. This is the email I got back from EmilyThomas40@gmail.com.

Hello

Deposit is the same as rent amount. Please go to www.eRentalApplications.com to fill out a basic rental application to check tenant history, references, and verify employment. Your social security is NOT REQUIRED and YOUR CREDIT WILL NOT BE PULLED at this time. After the application will be reviewed you will be contacted to set up time to see the property. The process is simple. Just use the following steps and within minutes your application will be forwarded for review.
Go to www.eRentalApplications.com and follow these steps:
1. On the homepage click on the “APPLY TODAY” button
2. Find the property address (for which you will be applying)
3. Fill out the application
4. Pending approval you will be contacted regarding your application
as soon as possible

Thanks.

It’s highly probably that the information collected will be used for identity theft purposes. I wasn’t about to fill out the online form to find out. I turned the information over to my local police department instead.

So what are the morals of the story?

1) If it’s too good to be true is probably isn't true. My property was listed about $200 below market value.

2) The best lies contain a significant amount of truth. The property was real and it really was for rent. Anyone could drive by the listed address and verify that it was for rent.