Yes, please be careful! An ad was placed online for the property I am asst. Manager at. Ad/person posting was in no way affiliated and had never been to this state! Do NOT GIVE MONEY UP FRONT, always research and ALWAYS check references. Also I suggest looking at ratings (ex: apartmentratings.com).

Yes, these answers are addressing one of the

An associate of mine once (no, actually twice at the same property) had the scammer hang a "For Rent" sign in front of the For Sale sign in the front window (in a condo complex that prohibited yard signs).

Once when he was there showing it to a potential buyer, a couple showed up saying that had rented it.

I've run into this scam myself - a bunch of times. Make sure to verify the information! It is not a bad idea to start your search with the property management companies.

Hi Rose, Thanks for sharing this story as I know lots of people read this. It is a shame that there are scammers out there, but one can never be too careful. On the Property Management Companies, your REALTOR ® here in Oregon should be able to get that list for you. I recently wrote a blog here on Trulia that lists all the Property Management Companies and contact numbers if for some reason they can't get that for you.

All the best in your move to Portland!
Cindy Westfall
Prudential NW Properties
5 Centerpointe Dr., Suite 150
Lake Oswego, OR 97035

That is happening everywhere - I had that happen on a home I have listed here in Grants Pass. I even talked with the Oregon State Attorney and since the postings are done outside the US they can do nothing about it. PLEASE be safe and dont ever mail money to anyone outside of the states without fully checking it out!

Renters you must be careful out there. The ones that are hurt are the ones trying to rent a place that they can not be in town to rent. They just are asked to send rental deposit to hold it. It is to some far off land that money is gone. Before you rent a place check to see if the house is for sale by checking on a realtors web site. Great post.
Tom Inglesby, Broker
RE/MAX Equity Group
Portland, Or,

This is a common scam at least on Craig's List. I have found half a dozen of so of these types of listings in the past couple of months. I flag them on Craig's List and alert the listing agent that their listing has been 'stolen' by scammers. The red flag on each of these is... it is just too good to be true. The price is usually unbelievably low for the area.

Two words of advice.

First, never NEVER wire money over seas unless you are absolutely certain of who it is you are sending money to and what it is for. I have even heard of these guys sending out distress calls for money to friends of people who are actually vacationing in Europe. From what I understand, they somehow hack into the vacationers' email account and then send an email to all their contacts saying some terrible and tragic situation has occurred, all their money was lost or stolen, and would the friends please wire money so they can get home. It's all a big scam and now the crooks have the bank account information of well meaning people and guess what, the bank account is wi-ped out entirely.

Second, if it sounds 'too good to be true' it probably is.

Suzanne

Hello Rose, Unfortunately these stories are not rare! It is the sign of the times. Am glad you did not fall prey to the Craigslist scam. Allan