The Scam Alert Blog

Another online scam becoming popular these days is targeting renters, here is an example. Here’s how it works: a scammer advertises on CraigsList or another free classified source that they own a house and are out of the country (presumably doing missionary work or some other activity), they wish to have someone watching their property so they offer it for rent at far below market value. They then give the address and encourage the victims to drive by and check the property out. Contact is made again if there is interest and the scammer requests first and last months rent and maybe a damage deposit be paid by Western Union and then they’ll FedEx the victim the keys. You guessed it, the keys never arrive as the listing was made by someone who doesn’t own the house. Always double check any online deals, don’t let the scammers take your hard earned money.

Check out this story where a senior citizen was almost conned out of hundreds of dollars by a large established box store. It seems the senior was being told about all the repairs that would be needed to make his computer work properly again when an onlooker who happened to know what he was doing overheard and stepped in. Upon opening the case and discovering a key component was either accidentally or purposefully unplugged by the box store employee, the problem was easily fixed at little or no cost.

Sometimes it is unavoidable, but when you put yourself at the mercy of someone who knows more than you do in any particular field… you open yourself up to be defrauded. For this reason alone it is a good idea to get second and third opinions, or seek out the opinion of someone you trust.

Don’t let scammers (no matter how established they are) separate you from your money.