Five Money Scams to Watch Out for on Craigslist Morgantown

People in Morgantown, West Virginia have been enjoying the convenience of using Craigslist as an online resource for selling items they have for sale. They also find useful used items on the site. You can find just about anything from local sellers including cars, trucks, motorcycles, farm equipment, furniture, appliances and much more. In recent years, there have been more and more scam ads appearing on the site. It’s getting hard to tell the legitimate ads from the phony ones. Here are five money scams that you need to be award of when using the Morgantown Craigslist.

1. West Virginia Attorney General warns of local Craigslist Scams

The attorney general’s office of West Virginia is warning residents of the area to be on the lookout for rental scams that are taking place on the local Craigslist online classified site. Thieves are stealing information from realtors who post homes for sale on other sites and using it to concoct fake ads claiming they own the home and it’s for rent. They make up excuses why they cannot meet you in person but tell you to drive by the address of the home and disregard the for sale sign in the yard. If you’re interested, you must complete a rental application which is quickly approved. They insist that you must wire the rental and deposit money to them and that they will send you the keys when the funds are received. They keys never come and they disappear with your hard earned cash.

2. Grad bilked out of thousands on Craigslist scam

A woman who recently graduated from the University of West Virginia was looking for a job in the classified section of Craigslist. She found one that sounded good only requiring running a few errands and performing documentation tasks. She applied and was hired to work. Her boss sent her money orders totaling $1,850 and a check for $2,450. She was to deposit the drafts into her bank account, keep her salary and send the rent of the funds via wire transfer to a variety of different places. After doing so she discovered that the checks were fake and she was responsible for $4,000 in debt to the bank as a result. She turned the matter over to local law authorities.

3. Realtors warn about Craigslist property scam

Local realtors are warning residents about a series of property scams that are taking place in the area. Cons are stealing information from their listings and using them to create phony rental ads to place on Craigslist as well as other sites. They post pictures and descriptions of the homes and use the ploy to get people to complete a rental application so they can steal their identities and it’s a bonus if they can get them to wire rental money to secure the home. These crooks don’t own the homes they’re advertising and in many cases, they’re not even living in the country.

4. Another rental scam in the area

Here is yet another rental scam that you need to watch out for on Craigslist Morgantown. A local realtor has reported that one of the homes that he manages has recently been used in a Craigslist rental scam. You hear of this kind of thing but it becomes real when you’re personally involved in a property that has been hijacked by scammers. The ads placed on Craigslist are fishy and if you’re being careful, you’ll immediately see the red flags when the so called landlord won’t meet with you in person to show you the home. They demand all rent be sent via wire transfer which is another red flag that signals it’s a scam and you should report it to authorities.

5. Car scam on Craigslist

The local news station reported on a car scam that was placed on the local Craigslist classified site. Scammers list pictures of a vehicle for sale with a ridiculously low price. They agree to a price with interested parties and insist on going through eBay because of their buyer and seller protection program. They send a phony link through an email that looks legitimate with the eBay logo and everything, except it isn’t legit. Another ploy that they use is to have the buyer send payment to another “shipper” which is a fraudulent company who keeps the cash and never sends the car. It’s tough to catch these scammers so only deal with sellers in person whenever possible.