ISP Warns Hoosiers of Housing Scam
Indianapolis, IN – August 2, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Indiana State Police are warning citizens of a scam that is originating from Craig’s List, bilking hundreds of dollars from unsuspecting victims.
The scam involves a suspect from the State of New York posting requests for housing in and around the Indianapolis area on Craig’s List in the jobs or housing pages. The suspect recruits people to look for housing for immediate relocation, with specific requirements. After the victim responds to the ad, future correspondence is via email.
The suspect promises to compensate the victim by sending a check to them, usually in the amount of $2,500. The instructions are for the victim to keep $600 for their assistance in locating the housing, and wire the balance back to the suspect.
The victim deposits the check into their personal checking account, and wires the balance back to the suspect only to find out later that the check was returned. The victim’s bank charges the check back to the account, and the victim is now out $2,500.
During tough economic times scams abound in all forms, from home improvement scams, to scams such as this one. Suspects prey on unsuspecting victims. Indiana State Police Criminal Investigation detectives warn Hoosiers not to fall for this scam, or any other. Your best protection is your first instinct, and good common sense.
If you suspect or are a victim of a scam, report the information to law enforcement officials.
Contact:
Sergeant Rod Russell
Phone: 800-527-4752 (within Indiana) 765-778-2121 (outside Indiana)
Email: rrussell (at) isp.in (dot) gov
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Tons of Craigslist still, unfortunately. It’s interesting that Apple released an iPhone app a few days ago, called Scam Detector, which exposes 350 or so of the most popular scams in the world. Most of them are Internet scams, like the one in the article. It might be worth checking it out if you have an iPhone. It’s kinda cool, actually.