Craigslist scammers hit Maplewood New Jersey listings and unsuspecting renters

The other day I got a call from the owner of my new listing at 101 Parker Rd in Maplewood NJ.  He couldnt understand why I would advertise his house for RENT on Craigslist for $1200 a month when we signed a listing contract to SELL his house, not rent it.  I had no idea what he was talking about so he read me the ad. It was an anonymous Craigs List poster, so I asked him to please respond to it and see who responds back,  since I know we didnt post that ad.

This is what came back:

Hello
     I can see you are interested in the ad I have pasted, I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the RAFIKI FOUNDATION,here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.( http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/). So I need a tenant to take care of it but since  I am out of the state now, I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it is located in a very good area of Maplewood, but I still have to make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it. It includes facilities such as water and heat laundry facilities,  air condition, internet and telephone access and a car park and other necessary facilities, also comes with trash collection,pets are allowed as well as long as they are not destructive. so if you know you are capable of the task, get back to me so that I can provide you with some questions that I would want you to answer.below is the location.  101 Parker Ave, Maplewood, NJ.

After receiving this, we contacted Craigslist and also noticed that the same ad appeared  for other homes that are for sale in the same price range in Maplewood. $1200 is a very entry level  rental price and would defnitely be good to be true for a 4 BR 2 1/2 bath colonial.  For the past few days I’ve shielded at least 20 calls ( and my number wasnt even in the ad, but the address was so they saw the sale sign) And my poor sellers had people knocking on their door insisting that this house is for rent.

Just wanted to make you aware of this. Please pass this on so that some innocent person doesnt get scammed.

Thanks,

Sue

PS. Craig Newmark of Craigslist, sent a response via twitter recommending this link http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.

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