Rental Scam Alert
Scammers targeting Pinedale area rentals
by Dawn Ballou, Editor, Pinedale Online!
June 12, 2008
Notice to potential renters: We have received reports of a new scam targeting Pinedale-area rental properties.
It works like this. A tantalizing classified ad was spotted on Craiglist.com (a classified ad website) under their “Wyoming – Apartments/Housing” section for rentals. The property listed a 3BR/2Bath “Home of Elegance” in Pinedale for rent for $600. This sounds like a great deal because most of our housing starts much higher than that.
The catch to this is that the home advertised actually sold a couple of days before and the new owners have moved in. When a reader called the number listed, she got a man in Africa who wanted her to send a deposit to him in Africa.
Readers are encouraged to be careful of scams when responding to classifieds posted on the Web for any product or service. If the deal sounds too good to be true, that might be a red flag warning sign of a potential scam ad. We do our best to screen our advertisers to verify the contact information for any classified ads posted on Pinedale Online, however the general rule of thumb is "Buyer Beware."
Special thanks to James Thomas of High Mountain Real Estate for bringing this scam to our attention and asking us to pass it on.
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