Would-Be Renter Out $1350 In Craigslist Rent Ripoff; Scammer Tricked Victim Into Transacting Bogus Deal Inside Bank Where He Claimed To Be Employed

In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:

• Nothing Betty Baker experienced after she replied to an ad on Craigslist for a $750-per-month apartment in June gave the single mother any reason to pause. The owner walked Baker through the spotless duplex, the paperwork was in perfect order. So she met the owner at the bank where he worked to sign the lease and hand over a $1,350 check for the deposit and rent.

• The check was cashed. Then, citing damage from a water leak, the owner postponed the move-in date several times. Then he stopped calling, and Baker could not find him. She returned to Synovus Bank on Main Street in Sarasota -- she had previously handed the man her money there -- and was given the bad news by an employee in the lobby.

• "He said, 'I hope you didn't give him any money because someone else was just there with the same story,'" Baker said. "That is the moment when my heart sank and I knew this guy just got me for nearly $1,400." The "owner" turned out to be anything but. He also was not a bank employee. The lease was bogus.

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• Sarasota police identified the man who they say scammed Baker as Teddy Foster and discovered that he allegedly bilked two more people out of $1,000 on the same property in the same manner a month earlier. There is a warrant for his arrest.

• He is part of a fast-growing national scam tied closely to the foreclosure crisis and the Great Recession. The millions of vacant homes that have resulted are ready-made bait for stressed people looking for the cheapest rent possible. The prevalence of the swindle -- with endless variations that also can target the real owner or property manager -- is also a sign of scammers desperate for quick cash.

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• The basic scam works this way: The fraudster finds a vacant home from the ranks of foreclosures, or via a legitimate for-rent advertisement, and places an ad on Craigslist for a below-average price. Included are various perks: all utilities included, or perhaps multiple pets allowed.

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• Sarasota Police Det. Jack Carter had no complaints of online rental scams last year but already has had a dozen since January, three now in various stages of prosecution. The charge is a third-degree felony that carries with it the potential for five years in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

• "The permutations are unbelievable," Carter said. "Sometimes the victims show up on the same day and say, 'I'm renting this place,' and the other says, 'No, I'm renting this place,' and the third says, 'No, I'm renting this place." The scammer often gets the renter off Craigslist but converses with them in other ways to avoid the site's roving online security teams looking for fraud. "They have gone as far as to get a transient to meet the renter at the house," Carter said. "They think the guy is a gardener or caretaker letting them into the house." The house in question has been broken into ahead of time and unlocked.

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• Many law enforcement agencies in Southwest Florida say they have not received any complaints, but Julie LeLande, owner of Sarasota's LeLande Properties, said many cases she has dealt with have gone unreported. "None of the people I've talked to have reported it to the police," she said. "It is just so rampant."

For more, see Web-based scam snaring renters.