Mortgage Scams are Still Out There

Tags: con artists, fraud, mortgage scams, mortgages

‘Beware E-mail Scam Involving Craigslist Ads’

I just noticed this message on one of the boards that RE/MAX agents frequent.  I thought it was important enough to re-post here.

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This is a Nov. 20 advisory from the RE/MAX International Legal Department being posted on remax.com and RE/MAX Mainstreet:

RE/MAX is concerned about online consumer fraud. It has come to our attention that some classified ads for rental properties featured on Craigslist have attempted to convince potential renters to pay rental deposits by incorrectly stating that a RE/MAX office would be facilitating the transaction.Responding to e-mail inquiries, the landlord says that he or she is out of the country and is working with a RE/MAX office in the country where he or she is located (in some versions of the scam, Greece) and has arranged for the U.S.-based RE/MAX office to send keys and a lease. In return, the potential renter is asked to pay a deposit using an online payment service or to overnight a check to an address that was claimed to be a RE/MAX office. However, there is no RE/MAX office involved in any of these transactions.

If you encounter any online advertisements like this, please be very careful. You can check the name, address and contact information for any RE/MAX office or agent on remax.com using the Find an Office or Find an Agent features on remax.com. Please feel free to contact the appropriate RE/MAX office directly to verify the information.

If you believe you have been the victim of an online scam involving the RE/MAX name, e-mail it to us at abuse@remax.net. If possible, please include the URL of the ad you responded to, and include full e-mail headers of messages you received so we can try to determine the message’s origin. In addition, you may wish to report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov or to Craigslist.

Useful links and information:
RE/MAX – Find an Office
RE/MAX – Find an Agent
Craigslist information: Avoiding Scams and Fraud or Report Spams or Scams
Internet Crime Complaint Center
How to display full e-mail message headers

Tags: abuse, beware, Craigslist, e-mail scams, online payments, RE/MAX, RE/MAX International, Scams