It was a Friday night, Dr. Larry Sharp and his wife were just sitting down for dinner, when heard they knock at the door.
"A lady showed up with three kids and said we would like to talk to you about your house for rent," explains Dr. Sharp.
The Sharp's weren't renting anything, especially their house
"I said our house isn't for rent," said Dr. Sharp. "She said, well sure it is! She pulled out her phone and sure enough, there it was on Craigslist."
Pictures of the Sharp's home had been stolen from the internet, posted on Craigslist and put up for rent. Dr. Sharp quickly realized this was a scam.
"I called the realtor and asked if she had ever heard of anything like this and she said yes," says Dr. Sharp.
Craigslist rental scams are happening more often than you may think, Abilene real estate agents say many times, they don't find out until it's too late.
"These people have absolutely nothing to do with the property, they are simply seeking money from innocent individuals who find a property that's within their budget that seems too good to be true and it is," explains Angela Tomlin, an agent with Remax Abilene.
Unfortunately, once you fall victim to the scam, there's no getting out.
"There is nothing that we, or the property owners can do to help them get that money back," says Tomlin.
So if you are looking to rent, be careful with Craigslist. Because if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is.
"A lady showed up with three kids and said we would like to talk to you about your house for rent," explains Dr. Sharp.
The Sharp's weren't renting anything, especially their house
"I said our house isn't for rent," said Dr. Sharp. "She said, well sure it is! She pulled out her phone and sure enough, there it was on Craigslist."
Pictures of the Sharp's home had been stolen from the internet, posted on Craigslist and put up for rent. Dr. Sharp quickly realized this was a scam.
"I called the realtor and asked if she had ever heard of anything like this and she said yes," says Dr. Sharp.
Craigslist rental scams are happening more often than you may think, Abilene real estate agents say many times, they don't find out until it's too late.
"These people have absolutely nothing to do with the property, they are simply seeking money from innocent individuals who find a property that's within their budget that seems too good to be true and it is," explains Angela Tomlin, an agent with Remax Abilene.
Unfortunately, once you fall victim to the scam, there's no getting out.
"There is nothing that we, or the property owners can do to help them get that money back," says Tomlin.
So if you are looking to rent, be careful with Craigslist. Because if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is.
