IT’S A TRAP (cont.)
Soooo, I have seriously lost nearly all faith in internet commerce, especially on craigslist. I’m sure it’s still a wonderful service for some things, but as far as housing is concerned… it’s just painful.
It’s probably partially my fault for being attracted to entries that have low rates, but still. One particularly elegant scam involves filling out an application, which in itself does not require any overly personal information, but then asks that you send a credit report which you can obtain for free at such-and-such website.
The site itself is actually really credible looking, but despite its claims of “free!”, it asks for your credit card info and your SSN. Yeah, right. I balked and immediately turned away.
Just now I received a response from another inquiry I made, where they list the address of the apartment so I can “drive by and look at the neighborhood”… and it’s actually the same freaking address provided to me by another scammer. If I didn’t think something was suspicious before, I certainly do now.
I do have a couple credible leads and an appointment to see a place tomorrow. This seems to be the only way to hound out the “real” offers… taking the communication straight to face-to-face as soon as possible. And picking out unique details in the original posting doesn’t hurt either.
Siiiiiggggghhhh.
