Scam at the shore: Fraudulent Craigslisters duping summer renters
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org
Ocean City, New Jersey police are investigating an online scam to bilk unsuspecting summer fun seekers out of their shore rental deposits.
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Lieutenant Stephen Ang of Ocean City Police says the department is investigating multiple cases of people going to the website Craigslist in search of a rental property, and finding a phony ad.
Ang: When they arrived at the property they noticed real estate signs and they went to a local real estate agent and they found out from the real estate office the listing on Craigslist was not authorized by the owner of the property.
The ads asked for a fraction of the usual deposit. Jeff Stull of Century 21 in Ocean City says the customary deposit is designed to protect both renter and owner.
Stull: We get a third, that way the landlord is safe taking the property off the market.
Craigslist warns people using the site to watch out for fraud and report it when it's discovered.