This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Craigslist Scammers Target Renters

Sometimes Craigslists ads are too good to be true.

Looking for a home to rent on Craigslist? A rash of rental scams has been reported recently throughout the Puget Sound.

The scammers are getting information about homes legitimately listed for sale by real estate agents and posting them on Craigslist as rentals. The homes are typically listed for rent at prices far below what the home would normally rent for.

When an interested renter replies to the ad, the phony "owner" replies with a rental application and a story about why they are currently living out of the country. In one instance the scammer pretended to be a missionary in Africa, in another they said they were relocating to London.  The application looked like a typical rental application. The scam is fairly easy to spot because the letter is filled with odd language, punctuation and misspellings.

Find out what's happening in Bonney Lake-Sumnerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Craigslist is a great resource for matching buyers and sellers but it should always be approached with caution. Verify the person on the other end is who they claim to be before providing any personal information. And if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.  

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Bonney Lake-Sumner