LifeLock Blog

Scammers will try all kinds of things to rip you off and take your money. One of the recent scams, and not the only one, is on Craigslist and more specificity rental properties. A person claims they own a  house they are offering for rent and will demand a deposit before they will send the keys in the mail. This is of course a scam and you should know what to look for.

The rental scam looks like this, someone is offering a house for rent typically cheaper than it should go for. They want you to make a deposit on the house before they send you the keys in the mail. Why in the mail? Because often times, in this scam, they claim they own the house, but live outside of the country, so they will have to send you the keys in the mail. How convenient for them, they can’t meet you and you can’t see the house because they have the keys and don’t live in the country.

People don’t do business this way! If they do they are dumb because how would you manage a property without a third party. If there were a third party you would be able to verify the house is in fact for rent and they were the owners.

A couple of things to remember when looking for houses for rent on Craigslist. Only deal with local people who can meet with you. Only deal with people who will allow you to pay a visit to the home, which is a good idea anyway. Why would you rent something you have never seen?  These things should prevent you from being scammed on Craigslist.

Frederick Eugene Wood’s story is a cautionary tale. Never use methamphetamine. Never share needles or engage in unprotected sex. Use caution when making purchases from Craigslist. And–in light of his sentencing this week on ID theft charges–beware of peer-to-peer file-sharing software.

Wood’s elaborate identity theft scam started with Craigslist ad for computers. When prospective buyers responded to his ad, Wood, 34, used LimeWire file-sharing software to access bank, credit card and tax return files on their computers.

To delay detection, Wood met with the buyers to deliver what were ostensibly the promised computers, but were actually computer boxes full of stuff like rocks or books to give them the appropriate heft.

When he was arrested, his computer contained personal and financial files belonging to more than 120 people; his wallet held eight driver’s licenses bearing Wood’s photo, but each having different names, addresses and birth dates. His victims hailed from New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon and California.

“One thing I wish more than anything else is that I could look the victims in the face and apologize to them to their faces,” Wood said at his sentencing hearing.

Addicted to methamphetamine and infected with HIV/AIDS, Woods told U.S. District Judge James Robart he was optimistic the compulsory drug treatment he’ll undergo in prison would restore him to a productive member of society.

Robart wasn’t very optimistic, citing Wood’s history of manipulation and his three failed drug rehab attempts, and sentenced him to 39 months.