FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, MI – Jennifer Mosher thought she’d found the perfect rental home for her family, only to learn it was all a scam and the home was never available to rent.
The Moshers, who live in Rothbury, recently learned they were losing their home to foreclosure and started looking to rent a house big enough for their three daughters and three pets, Mosher said. She found what seemed like a perfect match in the Fruitport area and her rental application was accepted, but things started looking suspicious while they tried to handle sending the security deposit.
The person who had posted the house for rent asked Mosher to wire the money to an account in Malaysia. Mosher said several parts of the poster’s story didn’t add up and she never sent the money – a good thing, since the house was up for sale, not for rent, and the owner still lived there, not in Malaysia.
Mosher said she found the rental ad on Craigslist. The “owners” said they were a retired couple working as missionaries overseas, she said, and asked her to fill out an application with questions about the family’s employment, but none about references.
Fortunately, they didn’t ask for more specific information, like Social Security numbers, she said.
“Now I’m very thankful that they never did ask for that,” she said.
Mosher said she drove by the home and saw a “for sale” sign, but the “owner” told her he had attempted to sell it before and the realtor hadn’t taken the sign down.
Red flags started going up when the “owner” said his wife was a prominent local attorney, but no one recognized her name when the person asked her to wire money to Malaysia, Mosher said. She then called the realtor, who said the house was for sale, not for rent, and that similar scams were popping up online.
She stopped responding to the “owner’s” emails and never sent any money.
The Moshers were just one of several area families taken in by online scams in recent memory, Fruitport Township Police Det. Bruce Morningstar said. Despite the stereotype that scammers target only the elderly or other vulnerable populations, anyone can fall victim to a scam, including people very intelligent people, he said.
Other recent scam victims in the Fruitport area included a person who wired $9,000 to buy a boat on Craigslist and never received it, a person who wired money in an attempt to buy a Toyota Prius and a person who received a call from someone claiming to be a relative in need of money to avoid jail in Las Vegas, but became suspicious and never wired the money.
Someone asking you to wire money is a major red flag that a transaction may not be legitimate, Morningstar said. If possible, meet with the person with whom you’re considering doing business, he said.
Craigslist’s online scam information specifies that it doesn’t certify sellers, but advises buyers to make sure that they see the item they want to buy or the property they are renting before sending money, to never give out personal information like Social Security numbers and not to submit to background or credit checks before meeting a prospective landlord in person.
Though some of her family members have had good experiences with Craigslist and other sites for online transactions, Mosher said she doesn’t want to use them again. The family is looking for an apartment to rent, she said.
“I don’t trust anybody now,” she said.
Follow Megan Hart on Twitter @meganhartMC