Realtor Associate Reine Ah Moo shows us this 3-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom house for sale in Manoa.
"Things are more roomier here, like the bathrooms are really big," she said.
And for just under a million dollars, it can be yours. But according to this post on Craigslist, the same house is apparently for rent, for only $600 a month. Ah Moo, had no idea.
"You know I didn’t know about this property in particular until you called me," she said.
So, we showed her the fake post that uses the exact same photos as her listing.
"Six hundred dollars for single-family home in Manoa? For rent? You can’t even get a one-bedroom for that amount," she said.
KHON2 continues to receive numerous alerts from viewers about this type of Craigslist rental scam, where con artists use someone else’s "for sale" ad but change it to appear as if the property is for rent. There are many signs this is a scam: the low rental price; asking for the money upfront, without a property showing, and the errors. The con artist posted this as a rental, in Honolulu, located on the Big Island.
"But the scam’s not new, it’s been 10 years since I first started when I knew about it so it’s not really a surprise," Ah Moo said.
A KHON2 viewer sent an email to this fake Craigslist post, and got a response filled with grammatical and factual errors, including the property owner.
"Don’t know who that person is, no relation to anybody with this house," she said.
So what can the real property owner do? If you would like a Craigslist post removed, you can go to the Craigslist homepage and click on the help and abuse link. Under general help, click on contact us. Fill out this form that allows you to flag Craigslist for any scams. And that’s what Ah Moo did, after KHON2 told her about the false listing. She also says, if you’re looking to rent, you can avoid potential scams, by going directly to a company such as Prudential Locations.
"We have a property management and they list their rental properties, so besides for sale, you can find rentals there as well," she said.
Be careful, and smart, to prevent yourself from becoming a victim.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
