I paid half up front of a rental fee (560) and security deposit (200) for a rental property in Killington, VT. It seemed legitimate. The money went through Western Union. The only thing that seemed off was when I had asked for the specific address, he would glaze over it. Seven days after I sent the first half, I sent him a fourth email and asked about the location, best place to fly in, easy access, grocery stores etc. Frank responded with an email asking for the remaining money so he could do some things to the apt. According to the ad, the condo was fully renovated. I told him at that time, we were canceling our reservation. Per the rental agreement, we had up to three days to cancel. I have not heard from him since then. After doing research that I should have done beforehand, he and a group of people have been pulling this scam since at least Feb of last year in multiple states to include New York, New Orleans, Hawaii and Vermont. The ads are very similar, just different locations, different alleged property managers and a few different owners, who is the one that picks up the money. The phone number he used for me was 504-355-3301 and email was [email protected]. I have found 4 other phone numbers and at least 10 email addresses. The owner is usually referred to as a widow and deaf. I have reported this to Western Union, Craigslist, the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Fraud Dept, local law enforcement and my state attorney general. They have to be stopped.
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