It must be an awkward conversation when you call up a friend to let her know that the house she owns is up for sale on Craigslist, but protecting us from scams is just one of the many purposes that friends serve in our lives. In California, a woman was surprised to learn that her house was listed as a rental on Craigslist, when she had no plans to rent it out.

Perhaps it was a mixup. While the ad didn’t list the home’s address, which is fortunate, it was definitely a photo of her house. She contacted the number listed on the ad, and the man who answered the phone stopped talking when she said that she was the homeowner.

What’s the scam here? CBS Los Angeles talked to another woman who had inquired about renting the house, which was advertised as a “rent-to-own” deal at an appealing price. The fake landlord advertising a real house asked her for $40, and she gave him her credit card information to charge her.

She doesn’t know whether the scam was just about collecting the forty bucks, or they were collecting credit card numbers to use for shopping sprees.

Find out how to look up property records in your area to make sure that a person who claims to own the home you want to rent actually does. Most importantly, though, don’t pay an application fee or submit a credit report from any sites that the prospective landlord sends you to, especially if you haven’t visited the property yet.

Woman Finds The Home She Owns Listed For Rent On Craigslist [CBS Los Angeles]

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