CraigsList Rental Ad Scams Pull From Zillow

Couple calling to check on a CraigsList rental ad scam, thinking it is real.

No matter how many times I flag the CraigsList rental ad scams, they pop right back. I suspect that’s because they might not be investigated. CraigsList immediately removes these types of ads. But the crooks just put them back. Makes you wonder whether the users’ IP is turned over to the FBI because it’s certainly an internet crime.

I have figured out where the CraigsList rental ad scams come from, though. That’s because some of the crooks probably do not speak English. The ad copy in those ads is pulled directly from Zillow. I know this because my marketing comments for Sacramento homes for sale in Zillow are slightly different than the marketing comments in MLS. And it is the Zillow comments that are verbatim in CraigsList.

It’s fairly simple to go online to Zillow and snag that information to try to rip off unsuspecting tenants. Maybe they figure the people who aren’t smart enough to realize they should not send them any money are also not smart enough to read the ad itself and call the agent?

Or maybe they don’t realize that there is no rental business for agents in Sacramento? Far as I know, agents do not work with tenant applicants like they do in larger metropolitan areas in the country. Sacramento agents do not find tenants a place to rent.

Still, I get text messages and phone calls from tenants asking if they can rent properties through CraigsList rental ad scams.