New warning after costly rental scam uncovered in Henderson

Neighbors believe people are flocking to the home because of a cheap listing price on Craigslist.

"I would say that 98 percent of everybody that showed up wanted the house," said Berger.
 

13 Action News saw two vastly different prices for the same property posted on Craigslist.  One post had the rent listed at $1,100.00, the other had the price at $1,535.00.

Our crews confirmed the cheaper listing is a scam.  The company, who owns the property, provided a statement to 13 Action News.

“All consumers should be vigilant when researching the legitimacy of a rental listing. We encourage any consumer interested in renting one of our homes to contact us directly via our website.” – Invitation Homes

Code Enforcement has received a call regarding this property.  Police want to hear from potential victims so they can investigate, according to David Cherry, the Communication and Intergovernmental Relations Manager for the City of Henderson.

Invitation Homes provided the following tips to spot a scam:

Most scams request a wire transfer, and provide a convincing story as to why. Never wire funds to anyone you haven’t met.
Be cautious of the owner who lives abroad. Many people claim to be either interested in selling, renting or purchasing a home due to being missionaries, UN workers or in the branch of the military.
Look out for the typos and sob stories. British spelling of words and stories of family or financial troubles are a clear signs of a rental scam.
 
Here are some tips in case you think you are being scammed:

Research the property address to see if a professional property management company is listing the property. If so, call or visit their website to verify the listing.

Report the listing to the site you found it on, for example, Zillow, Craigslist, etc.

Report the information to the FTC, local authorities, and Internet Fraud Complaint Center. Include as much information as possible, specifically if money was wired or transferred to the recipient.

Include the following info: the name and address of the sender, the send location, the date and amount of the transfer, the transfer fee, the date and actual location of the receipt, the name of the receiver, any information recorded regarding the receiver’s identification, the reference number for the transfer, and the details of the nature of the issue and communication.

Donna tells 13 Action News she's proud of her husband for ringing the alarm in this case.

"He's a brave guy to do this, I don't think a lot of people would," she said.