"For Immediate Release"

Media Contact: Carrie Eleazer, PIO 863.298.6217 (office) or 863.287.7440 (mobile)

Date: March 30, 2012

Sheri Judd Warns Residents About Latest Internet Scam

Sheri Grady Judd and Polk County Sheris Iden ty The Task Force detec ves have re- ceived several reports recently concerning a new and serious real estate scam u lizing the free online adver sing service Craigslist. Suspects, usually located overseas in remote areas that make it dicult for U.S. law enforce- ment to prosecute, copy ads found elsewhere on the Internet for proper es for sale or rent by real estate agencies, including the pictures, addresses, and descrip ons of the proper es, and then re-post them on Craigslist for well below market value under their name or fake business. Buyers who fall for the hoax send the full purchase price or a deposit to the suspects bank account, and wait for contracts or deeds to be delivered. Meanwhile, the seller takes the money and never contacts the buyer again. Suspects o en receive money from several buy- ers on the same falsely adver sed piece of property. This is a varia on of the well-known Nigerian scam, which entails conning people into sending or wiring money overseas. Here are some warning signs to avoid scams such as this: Scam "bait" items include apartments, laptops, TVs, cell phones, ckets, and other high value items Common countries currently include: Nigeria, Romania, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Netherlands - but could be anywhere Apartment lis ng may be local, but landlord/owner is "travelling" or "reloca ng" and needs you to wire money to them abroad Deal o en seems too good to be true: the price is too low, the rent is below market value, etc. There is a sense of urgency scam ar sts count on decisions made in haste
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Sheriff Judd Warns Residents About Latest Scam

Here are some ps from Iden ty The detec ves to avoid being vic mized: Only deal with landlords or renters local to you. Do a web search for the renter's name to see what comes up. Do a web search for the property address to see if there are other, legi mate lis ngs Craigslist advises the following informa on in order to help avoid scams: DEAL LOCALLY WITH PEOPLE YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam a empts on Craigslist. NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - any- one who asks you to do so is a scammer. CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transac ons, provide escrow services, or oer "buyer protec on" or "seller cer- ca on" NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security num- ber, eBay/PayPal info, etc.) AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAM- MER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION. DO NOT RENT HOUSING WITHOUT SEEING THE INTERIOR, OR PURCHASE EXPENSIVE ITEMS SIGHT-UNSEEN - in all likelihood that housing unit is not actually for rent and that cheap item does not exist. DO NOT SUBMIT TO CREDIT CHECKS OR BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR A JOB OR FOR HOUS- ING UNTIL YOU HAVE MET THE INTERVIEWER OR LANDLORD/AGENT IN PERSON.

How to report a scam: Contact the Internet Fraud Complaint Center at WWW.IC3.gov or The Federal Trade Com- mission at WWW.FTCcomplaintassistant.gov/ For further informa on regarding Scams check out WWW.FTC.gov or contact your local law enforcement agency. The Polk County Sheris Oce can be reached at 863.298.6200.
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