PROPERTY RENTAL SCAM ALERT!!!

Here's how it works...

• The scammer looks at real estate websites for properties that are for sale.
• They find a house with plenty of pictures online.  All of the photos and property info is downloaded.
• Then they search online records and find the name of the current owner.
• With that information they create a Craigs List (or other on-line service) rental advertisement, posting all the pictures and property information.  All communications with this scammer is through e-mail or a burner cell phone.  (In our case, the scammer was using a Phone/text/SMS anonymizer service.)
• Requests to view the property by prospective tenants will result in a response like, "I am not available to show it to you, but there are workers there that will let you in."
• When the tenant feels it is time to move to the next step and put down the deposit, the scammer will e-mail customized lease documents (from a junk Yahoo or GMAIL account).  At this point, the scammer may say there are others interested in the property and that the prospective tenant should hurry the remainder of the process.
• The prospective tenant will be asked to sign and email the documents back as quickly as possible.
• Then, the scammer will ask for the deposit and first month's rent up front through a wire transfer or Western Union.

And... **POOF**  The prospective tenant is out about $1000!

All of the above happened to my daughter, except for the last two items...  The lease agreement looked fishy and that is what made us stand back and say 'whoa!'  Fishy how, you ask?  Here's a list...

1. The lease asked for the deposit and first month's rent by the end of the day, but keys would be exchanged at a later date.
2. The legalese in the paperwork looked OK, but having signed several leases myself before, there seemed to be many parts missing...  like where to send the monthly payment, contact information for maintenance & service, an arbitration clause, references to other documents not included in the e-mails, etc...
3. The person's email signature looked like it came from a valid company in Tyler, TX.  I looked up the company and they didn't have an office in Tyler.
4. The lease agreement had the "landlord's" signature with a Texas notary stamp & notary signature.  BUT!!!  The notary stamp had no notary registration number.

SO, I looked up the previous real estate agent's MLS listing for the property and called her.  Sure enough, she had received several reports of possible rental scams on that specific property.

Then, I called the Texas Secretary of State's office and asked them to confirm the notary's name.  No confirmation - that person was not a notary, and they confirmed there should be a notary registration number in the stamp.

The scammer sent two documents; a welcome letter (.doc) and lease agreement (.pdf)  I scanned them for viruses and after being sure they were clean, opened them up to find a different name...   The DOCdocument was last modified by "Philip Ijem".  The PDF document was authored by "Philip Ijem".

Heck, we are probably lucky the police weren't called or we weren't shot at when we went to look at the property last Tuesday.

All of you looking for something to rent, BE CAREFUL!!!  Check, check & check again!!!

I hope "Philip Ijem" doesn't come face-to-face with my daughter in the next few days...  She is PISSED!!!