Well, they have been hitting this area with a a vengeance.  As a Property management Company in Medford, it can definitely be a royal pain in the bahookie.  On top of it all, we are in a small town, who would have thought that these overseas jerks would be targeting our small town in Medford.  I guess it just reinforces that the Internet puts us all on an even playing ground.

We had actually written a few articles about this over a year ago just warning folks in the valley about these scams because other people in the valley and in the rest of Oregon were experiencing this.  Well, they have now gone after our listing personally….so game on.  Well, OK, not too much we can do except continue to over communicate to our Clients and Tenants about these losers and let them know that they are placing bogus listings all over Craigslist.  For example, we placed an ad last week for a nice 3 bedroom home in Medford, I think the listing was for $1,350 per month.  Well, here is the thing, these guys are pretty good.  They are looking up and doing some pretty extensive research on the properties before they advertise.

When they posted the ad, they were able to find out about all of the characteristics of the property, past sales and even some rental information, which is kind of scary.  There is a lot of public information out there, but this seems extreme from another country.

Their MO is that they take the listing, then do some great research, so when they are questioned they have so much knowledge about the property (mind you over email exclusively) they APPEAR to be the true owners.  The they market the property for a SIGNIFICANT discount compared to the true listing.  For example, ours was listed through us for $1,350, they then created an ad for $1000, which would be a size able discount large enough for anyone to call on.  Which, this is exactly what happens.  They then give some long drawn out story about them and the property and after the process the way to secure the property is to send them a western union check for the 1st months rent and security deposit.  Duped.

Here is a great little website, which is a combined effort from the FBI and the National White Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice, where you can report these idiots:

http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

We actually created an anonymous email client and emailed these people acting as if we were an interested party in the Medford Rental that they had so delightfully “stolen” from us.   Here is a copy of the initial response email that was sent to us.

The address came from William Stacey, I am sure that they will not use this email address again when they strike, but either way they will likely utilize a similar email response:

***BEGIN BS EMAIL****

Hi,

I did get your response concerning the AD I posted on craigslist. The apartment is still available but presently I’m not around.. I did bid for a portion of petroleum land sometimes ago in West Africa and fortunately I won the bidding so I have to move quickly down to Africa to have my company set up because I will still have to rebid for it in the next 10 years. I came over here with my wife, we both built the home when we got married. As soon as we settle down here I had a thought of selling the home so I have to look for an agent, after getting one, we got a deal but later my wife advised against that.. She said we may not be able to win the bidding next time, in other to keep our head when we return that we have to keep the home. I reasoned with her and accepted her advise. So I contacted the agent back and requested for my keys and documents. Later we decided to have the home rent out, we would have give the same agent this job also but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with him later.  If you notice, you will discovered that the price we are offering is far below standard price, this is enough for you to know that we are not after the rental fee but the  absolute care for the property. I know there is no way I can be sure that you are the right person to live in the home because we won’t be able to see physical before sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space. But I just had a  feeling that anyone who knows what it takes to put the kind of structure down should know that maintaining a building is mandatory, so if you belief you can take good care of the home and handle it like yours then I will be more than happy to let you rent the home.

House Address: 1726 Dove Lane, Medford OR 97501.
House rent: $1000
Refundable Security Deposit Payment: $600

Please if you are ready now to occupy the house kindly provide the
information below for record purpose

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
Full Name__________________________

OK, that was the email.  So, please be careful. If you are a Medford Property Management Company or a Landlord here in Medford, don’t think for a second that we are shielded because we are in a small town.  The Internet makes us just as vulnerable as the big boys.

What to do:

If this happens to you, be sure to call ALL of the people that had called on your rental previously and let them know that the scam is occurring, flag the listing and have a friend of your flag the listing as well.  It only takes 2 people to flag the listing to get it booted.  Next report them at www.ic3.gov.  Then I would even update YOUR listing to say that there is a Fraudulent listing that is falsely advertising the property for much less than the actual rental amount.

If you are looking for a rental and suspect this, then go here to learn how to verify the proper owner of a property in Jackson County, Oregon: Verify Medford Oregon Rentals Don’t assume anything when you are dealing with this.  It could cost your THOUSANDS.

Shelly & Patrick Rogers

New Foundations Property Management Medford Oregon

View our medford rentals here.