Online Ad On Craigslist For Oregon Rental Home A Scam

In Salem, Oregon, the Statesman Journal reports:

• Salem resident Angela Shrabel checks the latest posts on Craigslist every morning as part of her efforts to find a bigger home. And on Thursday, she spotted it — a four-bedroom, two-car-garage home in southeast Salem, at an ideal rent of $1,040 per month. Shrabel quickly dashed off an e-mail to the Craigslist user and drove that morning to see the home. But when she arrived, she found fliers posted by Northwest Pacific Property Management announcing a rent of $1,600 per month. When Shrabel called the Salem company, Northwest Pacific property manager Pat Gorham told her that the Craigslist ad was a scam.

• Gorham said he fielded nearly 30 calls in two days about the bogus online ad. Northwest Pacific Property Management is the only property manager of [the home], Gorham said. Gorham said he e-mailed the Craigslist ad poster and was asked to fill out an application and send money to a South Carolina address. Then he would receive the keys to the home via FedEx. Gorham has reported the posting as a possible fraud to Salem Police Department and Craigslist.

For more, see Online rental ad revealed as scam (Company behind Craigslist posting might not exist).

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