My House is Being Used in a Craigslist Scam

So my wife got a call or email yesterday (can't remember which) notifying us that our house is being listed as a rental property on Craigslist.  Huh?

Yeah, someone just copied the pictures and details from the legit listing of our house, and relisted it as a rental.  I'm sure they are just trying to get people to send them a "security deposit" or something and then they'll disappear.  In case you didn't know, this type of thing is very common on Craigslist, so never send money orders or anything like that.  Always get cash and in person. 

Here is what the scammer wrote about our house to the gal that first notified us about the scam:

Dear,

Thanks for your email and interest in my house. I am Mrs.Clara Jones the owner of the House you are interested in. My House is located at Albuquerque NM. Presently am in Texas with my family, we came to stay with my mother-inlaw who is suffering from breast cancer On getting here we discovered that we will be staying here for at least 5 years. so we decided to look for a responsible and caring person to maintain and take proper care of my House.We are honest and sincere family and have spent alot on our properties so I will want you to treat it as your own. You will pay $700/month (AMAZING DEAL) The money involved does not matters to me but I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that I will be glad to see it neat when I come for a check up.

Initialy I and my Husband wanted to sell the house on getting to Texas on a second thought we decided to rent it out since we will be returning back to the house in the next 5 years I will like you to go take a look at the exterior part of the house because you will not be able to go inside to see the interior hence I have all the keys here with me. You can get back to me if you are truly interested.

My house is a 4bed rooms,2.5bath. Very well furnished, the living room also has a fire place, and a mounted plasma screen television. The bedrooms are well furnished with a cheery wood night stand and a chest with a dressing table, a foot board and a head board. (COMPLETELY FALSE) the mattress on it is a serta pillow top mattress, this is the same in all rooms except the master bedroom which had a walking closet and mini Jacuzzi tub, 2 vanity double sink, and a sleep number bed. (FALSE) This room also has a 37 inch plasma television. (VERY FALSE) The kitchen has a stainless steel electric cooker and a self cleaning oven, a built in microwave and a double door whirlpool refrigerator. The house also has a central cooling and heating systems, with ceiling fans in all rooms. Plates, cutlery, and sheets are all provided. Extra blanket and sheets are in the extra closet located by the bathroom. (WE DON"T HAVE AN EXTRA CLOSET IN THE BATHROOM) The cable, light and internet bills are all included in the rent. (WOW, THIS IS A SCREAMIN' DEAL!)  Do get back to me if you are truly interested and sure of taking proper care of my house there is a rent application form which I will like you to fill and Send back to me. If you can do all this for me, then I will be willing to rent my house to you.

Looking forward to hear from you. Your full information will be used to process all documents that will be coming together with the keys leading to the house and this will come to you through UPS courier service. Thank you and remain Blessed.

Mrs.Clara Jones

So after the honest person who got this email notified us wondering what was going on (she must have seen this fake ad and our real ad), I thought I might have a great opportunity to mess with these people, so I emailed them yesterday with this email:

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see a reply in my inbox!  Her response:

YES!  Here is what I wrote back just a little bit ago:

Hopefully I can keep this going with "Clara" for awhile and perhaps it will all be a little entertaining for a few days.  The fake listing has been taken down but as long as "Clara" keeps emailing, I'll keep responding!