Is this considered a scam?

Question

This is long sorry.
I am looking to move and had been checking on Craigslist for a few days and came across a beautiful 3 bedroom home for $800 monthly, which is in my price range. I responded to the ad through email and received a reply this morning around 5am. This is the reply exactly as I read it:


Thanks for the email and it is my gladness hearing from you. I am the owner of the house you are making inquiry of... Actually i resided in the house with my family, such as my wife and my only daughter before and presently we had packed due to my transfer from my working place and now situated in the( West Africa) My real intention was to sale the house, so l listed the property with realtor agent but my wife advice me not to do that, and l have asked the agent to remove the sign board in front of the house, l got a call from him that he has move down to UK. So l ask him to send back the keys/paperworks of my house to me in my present location., I decided to put it on rent and also put it in craigslist for rent for a year leasing and presently my house is still available for rent.Including the utilities like hydro, washer and security, it is furnished but if u which to move in with your furnishes no problem.

Pls i want you to note that i am a kind and honest man and also i spent a lot on my property that i want to give you for rent, i will want you to take absolute maintenance of my house and want you to treat it as your own, money is not the most important thing but i want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i
come for a check up.

SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENTAL APPLICATION FORM BELOW........

Also, Pls let me get this answer..
FIRST NAME:_________________
MIDDLE NAME:________________
LAST NAME:__________________
PROFESSION:________________POSITION:__________
HOME PHONE (____)__________
(CELL)PHONE (____)__________
(WORK)PHONE (____)__________
KIDS_____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS:_____________________
CITY:_______________
STATE:______________
ZIPCODE:____________
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING?____________
CURRENT RENT PAYMENT:____________
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN?______________
DO YOU HAVE A PET:_____________
NAME OF PET:_____________
IS THE RENT FEE AVAILABLE NOW?______________
REASON FOR MOVING OUT?______________
KIND OF PETS:_____________
DO YOU SMOKE?______________
DO YOU DRINK?______________

TAKE NOTE: YOU CAN ONLY DRIVE BY AND SEE MY HOUSE FROM THE OUTSIDE AND IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN
RENTING GET THE APPLICATION FORM FILLED OUT AND SEND IT BACK TO ME SO THAT I CAN SHIP MY KEYS TO YOU FOR YOU BE ABLE TO GO AND LOOK AT THE INSIDE OR MOVE IN IMMEDIATELY. I WOULD HAVE REALLY LOVE TO SHIP THE KEYS TO SOMEONE IN STATE BUT I DON'T HAVE ANYBODY THERE RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T WANT TO MAKE USE OF ANY THIRD PARTY THAT IS WHY AM HANDLING MY PROPERTY MYSELF.
Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt to you and contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys to you. Note that the keys and documents of my house is with me here in West Africa... Please we are giving you the house base on trust and again i will want you to stick to your words, you know that we do not see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand, so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this...

HOUSE INFORMATION
Bedrooms: 3 Bedrooms
Bathrooms: 2 Bathrooms
Square Footage:2,707 (Approx.)
Rent per month: $800
Deposit Req'd: $700
Application Fee: $0.00
Parking: Reserved......
Available: Now
Smoking: Allowed
Lease terms: As long as you wish
can be reach on my cell phone [phone] or 01123480244810611
Awaiting your reply soon..
Thank you

I got a little suspicious when he said he was in Africa and when I went to check for the ad on Craiglist, it had been removed. This is a scam I assume. Can't we do anything on the internet without being scammed (if that's what this is)?

Answer 1

HUGE scam, yes.



Pretty much everything on Craiglist that doesn't involve a local cash sale should be assumed to be a scam.



If you want to rent a home, contact a local Realtor. Most of them know about rentals as well as sales.

Answer 2

its a scam,I got so many exactly like this when I was looking for a place.They use a Nigerian phone nr and tell you that you have to look at the place from the outside? Real people hire an agent to manage the property if they are overseas or ask a friend or neighbour to show it. If the house didn't sell,they would ask the agent to rent it out instead. Plus this obviously is not written by an American English speaker. This question is asked every week. How many Americans are really working in West Africa that are renting places online?

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20100122011400AAEhMIy&show=7#profile-info-lpHmsgnfaa

As a test put a Housing Wanted ad up and I can guarantee that you will get at least 3 of these messages within 48 hrs all with the same story



I would call your county records office to find out who the real owner is. Go by the house and ring the bell, I'm sure the people living there would love to know someone is trying to let out their house. See if there is a name on the post box or any mail on the property. Ask the next door neighbours if the family who lived there moved to Africa. You would know if the people living next to you were moving to West Africa. I can guarantee they will ask you to send a deposit Western Union and never send anything as they dont own the property. These scammers trawl real estate sites finding places for sale or rent then pretend they are the owners. Dont ever pay anything, not even a deposit, until you can get inside and look at the place and confirm the person letting it out is the legitimate owner

Answer 3

It is not a scam until you fall for it. Having said that, the ad sure has many of the earmarks of a scam. The out of country owner, nobody locally available to handle it (including a realtor) and it has what I assume is a great monthly rent ($800/month for 2700 sq ft?)(plus furnishings). In my middle class neighborhood that house would go for about $2,000. It seems like a great deal! The only thing it lacks is a demand that you send money to somebody (not necessarily the supposed owner). It reeks. If you want to have some fun, send in the "application" and see how long it takes for the "owner" to contact you and find out just what he wants from you the secure the rental. You should also drive by and, if there is a real estate sales sign posted, call the realtor and inquire about it.

Bottom line--I would assume that this is a scam until proven otherwise.

Answer 4

This is defiantly a scam because:



TAKE NOTE: YOU CAN ONLY DRIVE BY AND SEE MY HOUSE FROM THE OUTSIDE AND IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN

RENTING GET THE APPLICATION FORM FILLED OUT AND SEND IT BACK TO ME SO THAT I CAN SHIP MY KEYS TO YOU FOR YOU BE ABLE TO GO AND LOOK AT THE INSIDE OR MOVE IN IMMEDIATELY. I WOULD HAVE REALLY LOVE TO SHIP THE KEYS TO SOMEONE IN STATE BUT I DON'T HAVE ANYBODY THERE RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T WANT TO MAKE USE OF ANY THIRD PARTY THAT IS WHY AM HANDLING MY PROPERTY MYSELF.



1 - There's no reason why he wouldn't have made friends in the area who could show you the place. Please please please don't fall for this.



2- Uses God A LOT !! Definitely a scam.



3- So many spelling mistakes, and the format of the e-mail is the same as many scam e-mails.



4- West Africa?!? That's a siron!



Try a reputable realtor or online site, please don't become one of those people who fall for these sort of obvious scams.

Answer 5

I don't know if this is a scam or not as this simply could be an application for rent. I would not call the telephone number, as I would be a little leery of doing that.



Web sites are a good place to find an apartment or house to rent, if you want to go through the entire list to find one in your state and then city.



The best place to look for places to rent is to go to the yellow pages of your telephone book, look under property managers.



These individuals list properties for rent in certain areas, so make sure you select the areas in which you wish to rent.



Call several of the property managers listed there, tell them you want a list of properties that they have for rent. Some will fax, email or mail the list of local places to rent along with the address, number of bedrooms and bath rooms, amenities available, such as washer and dryers or gyms, the monthly rental of the unit. Most will include a rental application. These list will include the monthly rental required, if a lease or month to month agreement will be signed. They will also indicate if they will accept Section 8 vouchers.



They might indicate a web site that you might visit to get their list of places to rent. It does not cost to get a rental list from a reputable property manager.



Some will require you to stop by their office and pick up the list. A lot of them post their list outside so the list are available 24/7 360.



Make sure you don't fall for the scams and purchase a list as 70%-80% of these list are composed of free list they have compiled. They are not the property managers of any property in most instances.



You might also google Property managers in whatever city or community you want to live in and see what comes up. Again do not pay for this information as it is free from reliable property managers.



I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.



"FIGHT ON"

Answer 6

It's a scam alright and they are all over the place.