Lake Havasu City Police warn to citizens to aware when responding to real estate advertisement on Craigslist, because it could be a scam.
Lake Havasu City Properties property manager Gail Francis, who manages about 65 properties in Havasu, said a recent fraudulent Craigslist rental listing has targeted one of her properties causing some confusion in town.
Lake Havasu City Properties owner Dean Baker said the company lists home rentals on Craigslist. The rental in question was advertised for $1,600. A scam cloned the listing and offered it for about $700 a month, requiring first and last month’s rent.
Francis said at least two people have called about the property— but it’s already been legitimately rented to two others.
“The majority of the scams have been found on Craigslist,” stated Lake Havasu City Police Sgt. Troy Stirling, department spokesman, in an email to Today’s News-Herald “We would ask people to do a little more research into a rental property instead of just responding to an ad.”
Francis said the scam targets home rentals in the upper-end categories of her inventory.
Stirling said the scam is nothing new and police are aware of this most recent strike.
According to a police report filed by Francis Monday, the online fraud resulted in a local woman and her daughter paying $766 to the scam to rent the home, which is in the 1800 block of Ambassador Drive, in Havasu. The duo were about the pay the online scammer $1,500, or the first and last month’s rent, before Francis advised them not to.
Email correspondence between the scammer and the woman and her daughter was turned over to police. The email was from sender “GOD IS GOOD”, email address GODISGOOD240@yahoo.com, and was dated Saturday.
The body of the email includes information from a person posing as the homeowner, who is moving to Texas for six or seven years because of a work transfer. The email sender asks individuals to drive by the home to see it from the outside, and then contact them back as soon as possible.
Anyone who has been a victim of this crime, pertaining to this particular listing, or any other suspected real estate listing fraud, is asked to contact local police 928-855-1171.
Lake Havasu City Properties property manager Gail Francis, who manages about 65 properties in Havasu, said a recent fraudulent Craigslist rental listing has targeted one of her properties causing some confusion in town.
Lake Havasu City Properties owner Dean Baker said the company lists home rentals on Craigslist. The rental in question was advertised for $1,600. A scam cloned the listing and offered it for about $700 a month, requiring first and last month’s rent.
Francis said at least two people have called about the property— but it’s already been legitimately rented to two others.
“The majority of the scams have been found on Craigslist,” stated Lake Havasu City Police Sgt. Troy Stirling, department spokesman, in an email to Today’s News-Herald “We would ask people to do a little more research into a rental property instead of just responding to an ad.”
Francis said the scam targets home rentals in the upper-end categories of her inventory.
Stirling said the scam is nothing new and police are aware of this most recent strike.
According to a police report filed by Francis Monday, the online fraud resulted in a local woman and her daughter paying $766 to the scam to rent the home, which is in the 1800 block of Ambassador Drive, in Havasu. The duo were about the pay the online scammer $1,500, or the first and last month’s rent, before Francis advised them not to.
Email correspondence between the scammer and the woman and her daughter was turned over to police. The email was from sender “GOD IS GOOD”, email address GODISGOOD240@yahoo.com, and was dated Saturday.
The body of the email includes information from a person posing as the homeowner, who is moving to Texas for six or seven years because of a work transfer. The email sender asks individuals to drive by the home to see it from the outside, and then contact them back as soon as possible.
Anyone who has been a victim of this crime, pertaining to this particular listing, or any other suspected real estate listing fraud, is asked to contact local police 928-855-1171.
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