We have a house for sale in Frankfort KY, and a prospective renter they contacted contacted us when she realized it was a scam.  I don't know what we can do about it becazuse they are in New York and we are in Kentucky, but I will contact our attorney general for advise.

I found a rental listing on zillow.com for a property in Renton, Washington. Same scam, same email, same person. I regretfully believed it was legitimate up until I found out that the house was owned by someone else and was pending inspection. Fortunately I googled the number and read through all of your comments as well. This is the initital email I received:

Hello

Thanks for your interest regarding our house our home is still available for rent, we are looking for a responsible neat person or a family whom we could trust and rely on with our property, a family that will handle our property as if it were theirs. We initially had our home for sale before leaving for my new appointment with Chevron oil which will last a total five years,for this reason we decided not to sell but put it up for lease since we will be spending that much time.We lost our previous agent to cancer last November and leaving our home empty is not a good option for us.

Our priority isn?t 1,700 sqftthe rent but that our property is well kept as myself and my family will be away for good 5 years or more that's why we require a responsible and God fearing family whom we can trust and rely on with our property.We would also like to know more about you and your family, your renting experience, how long you wish occupying and when you plan moving into our home before we proceed as we require a good and responsible family whom are very neat freaks, a photo of you or your family will be greatly appreciated, below is the address of the house for you to go view it.

Address: 2420 Northeast 13th Street, Renton WA 98056

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 2

Size: 1,470 sqft

Monthly Rent: $900

Security Deposit: $900 (Refundable)

Hope you are pleased with the sum of $900month,security deposit $900 when we receive your reply we will send you our rental agreement to decide if you would love to proceed,YOUR PETS ARE FULLY WELCOME! We look forward to read from you soon.

Have a wonderful day,

Mr. & Mrs. Richard

text us on 3477462657 for faster response.

THIS WAS THE SCAM I CAME ACROSS IN NJ.



Hello


Thanks for your interest regarding our house which is still available for rent,we are looking for a responsible and very neat person or a family whom we could trust and rely on with our property,a family that will handle our property as if it were theirs.We initially had our home for sale but change plans to lease as we left for my husbands new appointment with Chevron oil international which will last a total five years,We lost our previous agent to cancer months back and leaving our home empty is not a good option for us.Our priority isn?t the rent but that our property is well kept as our family will be away for five years or more,thats why we require a responsible and God fearing family whom we can trust and rely on with our property,Though we are not in the country we want you to know we have at heart to provide our tenant the best comfortable means secured mode of dealing but before we proceed;we would like to know more about you,your family,your renting experience,how long you wish occupying the property and when you plan moving in.a photo of you or your family will be greatly appreciated,below is the address of the house for you to go view the environment and exterior,


Address: 32 Mayflower Street, Clifton NJ 07013
BEDROOMS: 3
BATHROOMS:2 full,1 partial
Size:6,534 sqft
Monthly Rent:$800
Security Deposit: $900 (Refundable)




The rental price is below the usual not because we want it that way but because my husband and i decided it is the best medium for us to make our tenant understand how important keeping the property in good condition means to us,if you wish to proceed upon receipt of your mail our rental agreement will be attached and more details about us shall be given,YOUR PETS ARE FULLY WELCOME!




Have a wonderful day,
Mr&Mrs.Jones
Text us on 3477462657 for faster response.

Thank you so much for the info. It did a little suspect when the home owner only wanted to text or e-mail, he was not interested in talking over the phone.

Who is the owner?

Heather, this number sent the same email to me.

This is A SCAMMER

Hello

Thanks for your interest regarding our house our home is still available for rent, we are looking for a responsible neat person or a family whom we could trust and rely on with our property, a family that will handle our property as if it were theirs. We initially had our home for sale before leaving for my new appointment with Chevron oil which will last a total five years,for this reason we decided not to sell but put it up for lease since we will be spending that much time.We lost our previous agent to cancer last November and leaving our home empty is not a good option for us.

Our priority isn?t 1,700 sqftthe rent but that our property is well kept as myself and my family will be away for good 5 years or more that's why we require a responsible and God fearing family whom we can trust and rely on with our property.We would also like to know more about you and your family, your renting experience, how long you wish occupying and when you plan moving into our home before we proceed as we require a good and responsible family whom are very neat freaks, a photo of you or your family will be greatly appreciated, below is the address of the house for you to go view it.

Address: 2009 Lawrence Street Northeast, Washington DC 20018

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 3

Size: 1,224 sqft

Monthly Rent: $1,500

Security Deposit: $900 (Refundable)

Hope you are pleased with the sum of $1,500month,security deposit $900 when we receive your reply we will send you our rental agreement to decide if you would love to proceed,YOUR PETS ARE FULLY WELCOME! We look forward to read from you soon.

Have a wonderful day,

Mr. & Mrs. Polite

text us on 3477462657 for faster response.

They sent the exact email to me, but for a rental in DC.

My husband and I are looking for a house to rent and a house came along that was too good to be true.  I e-mail anyway, without giving any important info to see where it would go.  This is the e-mail response I received:  



Hello

Thanks for your interest regarding our house our home is still available for rent, we are looking for a responsible neat person or a family whom we could trust and rely on with our property, a family that will handle our property as if it were theirs. We initially had our home for sale before leaving for my new appointment with Chevron oil which will last a total five years,for this reason we decided not to sell but put it up for lease since we will be spending that much time.We lost our previous agent to cancer last November and leaving our home empty is not a good option for us.

Our priority isn?t the rent but that our property is well kept as myself and my family will be away for good 5 years or more that's why we require a responsible and God fearing family whom we can trust and rely on with our property.We would also like to know more about you and your family, your renting experience, how long you wish occupying and when you plan moving into our home before we proceed as we require a good and responsible family whom are very neat freaks, a photo of you or your family will be greatly appreciated, below is the address of the house for you to go view it.

Address: 1503 Stony Run Drive, Wilmington DE 19803

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 2

Size: 1,583 sqft

Monthly Rent: $900

Security Deposit: $900 (Refundable)

Hope you are pleased with the sum of $900/month,security deposit $900 when we receive your reply we will send you our rental agreement to decide if you would love to proceed,YOUR PETS ARE FULLY WELCOME! We look forward to read from you soon.

Have a wonderful day,

Mr. & Mrs. Roddy

You can text us on 3477462657 for faster response and reply to our email if interested, send us email.

I thought it was strange that they didn't have a Delaware cell phone number, so I typed the number into google.  I am glad I did!!

Also scamming in the Tallahassee, FL area....good tip for others: check with the property appraiser for your county; they can tell you the legal owner of the house, when it was purchased, etc.

almost fell for it. my family is relocating and this house looked promising. I got suspicious when they told me they lost their agent to cancer and then slipped up and said they lost the care taker to cancer. They also refernced God more than 3 times in the last email and didn't answer any of my questions. They also said they were working for Chevron off the shores of Europe. The creepy thing is they asked about my family and myself and requested a picture to make sure we looked like good people. I feel violated. I wish I knew about this earlier. At least they didn't get any financial or personal information other than my email before I realized they are a scam.

I just saw a rental in my area and decided to check it out after i noticed that house is for sale. I saw this and realized it's a scam....

Thanks for posts...also seem to be scamming in the dc metro area. Unfortunately posting on an otherwise reliable site, www.zillow.com, sent a long email about leaving in pursuit of oil and their prevous agent dying of cancer. That's so obnoxious because I have more then one friend battling the disease and to use the word cancer to manipulate people is just horrid.Yuck!

From the above listed messages, it appears to be scamming house rentals in Oklahoma City, OK as well.

A scam on rental property in Des Moineds, IA.

This number is from a known real estate scammer. Will take your money.

Is listed as the # to call in a return e~mail for HotPads inquiries@hotpads.com   on a home rental in Boise Idaho.

This is a copy of your HotPads.com inquiry on "3BR/2BA Single Family House - Boise".
If you don't hear from them soon, try calling them:
Phone: 347-746-2657