BATH

Police have determined that what appeared to be a Craigslist rental scam probably was not the case.

At 4:42 p.m. last Saturday, a Dike Road resident reported that her home was posted on Craigslist as being for rent. Officer Dan Couture investigated the report.

“The officer e-mailed them, but there was no response,” Lt. Dan Cielinski said Monday. “There was an error in the address ad.”

In other words, Cielinski said, there was no way to respond to the ad.

“We’re thinking it could be malicious intent from a previous tenant,” he said.

That doesn’t mean these rental scams aren’t happening, advises Scambusters.org. Scambusters advises people selling or renting property to “keep an eye on Craigslist.com after you (or your Realtor) place an ad in the local paper or post information on the Internet’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS).”

Otherwise, Scambusters says, your property may become the “bait” that lures unwitting victims into forking over hundreds or thousands of dollars to scammers.

Scambusters continues:

“In a number of recent cases, scammers have taken information from real estate ads placed in local newspapers — and also scanned photos of the houses for sale — and posted classified ads on Craigslist.com that have convinced potential renters that they (the scammers) were renting these houses.

“In some instances, scammers wanted just a little money from a lot of people. They exchanged emails with victims, claiming they (the fake landlords) were outside the country. Then, they asked the victims to send small sums to receive copies of the house keys, so the victims can walk through the premises themselves.

“In other cases, scammers actually gained access to vacant houses, gave tours to the prospective renters, and accepted deposits for renting the properties.”

Anyone who discovers their information has been used in a scam should contact their local police department.

lgrard@timesrecord.com