Anyone heard of this Jazzfest/Craigslist Rental Scam?

[Jayfish]

There are a series of 1br condo/apt rentals on Craigslist w/ availability during Fest and are super cheap $90-$100 per night. They're asking for payment sent Western Union to the "owner" in Minnesota. They even offer to pick you up at the airport. Sounds super fishy to me, but I do not know for sure.

Can anybody confirm this is a scam so I flag these folks on Craigslist?

[swag]

Sure sounds like a scam.

[Rossvegas]

Start by doing a Google street view search of the address. My gal was looking for an apartment once - similar scam - and the address was an empty lot. These scammer people aren't too bright...:>O

[Apostrophe (')]

Western Union is a huge red flag.

[stlbarb]

There are a series of 1br condo/apt rentals on Craigslist w/ availability during Fest and are super cheap $90-$100 per night. They're asking for payment sent Western Union to the "owner" in Minnesota. They even offer to pick you up at the airport. Sounds super fishy to me, but I do not know for sure.

Can anybody confirm this is a scam so I flag these folks on Craigslist?

i believe Craigslist (& Ebay) have a general warning about making payments via Western Union. my gut says SCAM.

remember the old adage: if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is not true.

and even if this is a legit rental, location might not be worth the price.

[bobatude]

http://www.zabasearch.com/

i have used craigslist for the last several years i have attended the jazz fest / when you get somebody that says they are the owner of a property anywhere in the country, you can zaba search them and see if there name is attached to that property/ if you own home or property in the u.s. you can search yourself. i would be very carefull with this senario refered to in this thread, it smells of a scam to me. so if this person lives in minnesota type in his name and the drop down box try the state he lives in to see if he owns something up there, and the put his name in and check and see if he owns the said property in louisinna, if the property address does not match. if he owns the property it still doesnt mean that it is a clean deal,but aleast you know you are dealing with the owner

my success with craigslis has been a result of me posting my lodging need on craigslist, people begin to contact you with offers and or referals.

so good luck and becareful

[completejohn]

Last year I thought that I had found a great deal for Jazzfest on Craigslist. But as I moved towards making the deal, things got very strange. The guy told me that he couldn't meet anyone at the place to show it because he was out of town, I needed to send cash, he didn't want to give me the address. Scam, I figured.

So I kept looking. And found the same thing happening over and over again. Beautiful pictures of apts or condos, cheap rates, screwy instructions.

I would NOT rent via Craigslist UNLESS I could find a place that's willing to show a friend of mine the place before I rent it. Too many scammers out there on CL.

[Jayfish]

Just to close the loop, I called the property managers and yes, these listings are officially scams. Apparently ones that happen every year.

So, if you see a listing for 1br condos for $100 a night on Craigslist - it's more than likely a fake.

Too bad. And too bad CL is unable to police their site for stuff like this. I guess the rules are avoid folks that...

...ask for money orders or wire transfers
...ask to send money to someone out of state
...are offering something that sounds too good to be true ($100 during Jazzfest? Sweet!)
...do not have 504 area codes

[goodabouthood]

Anything that sounds too good to be true, usually is.

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[c0ld]

www.airbnb.com go there if you want to just rent a room somewhere, its much better then the big hotels and the website verifies everything is on teh up and up. I've used the site a few times and only had good experiences!

[Lollygagger]

This was definitely a scam. Last year when I was looking for housing for the fest, I came across these all the time on Craigslist. They always ask for payment via Western Union, they always offer to pick you up, and they make several serious grammar mistakes if not in the ad then in the subsequent e-mails. They also upload pictures from magazines, and the decor and street scenes through the windows never seem to fit the style of the locale (a friend of mine spotted a pine forest through the windows of a place saying it's in the French Quarter). Never pay through Western Union. If you stick to that rule, you've protected yourself against the major scams. When you get an e-mail response from these people, run the e-mail address through Google, and a whole scam thread will pop up in the search. This saved me last year before I became scam-savvy.

There are several good, honest deals on Craigslist, so you should not write it off as a source. The scams are very easy to spot, if not in the ad in the followup e-mails. Craigslist will take these ads down when notified, but then they just pop up again a few days later. Good luck.

[goodabouthood]

www.airbnb.com go there if you want to just rent a room somewhere, its much better then the big hotels and the website verifies everything is on teh up and up. I've used the site a few times and only had good experiences!

I've been looking at these as well, and have friends that have used this website. Definitely a good option for the solo fester.

[Lollygagger]

I've used airbandb for other cities, and apparently airbanb doesn't even transfer the funds to the renter till the rentee confirms that everything is as it should be. But I still believe Craigslist can work fine if you simply heed its warnings about the scams, which it now posts quite prominently on the site.