internet advertising scams, how do we spot them? Options

[retiredby50]

Hello,

I'm new to advertising on the internet for my places for rent. Already I've had a number of people who sound just a little too...sweet...asking questions via the net and asking for the address.

I don't give out the address until I've talked to them on the phone to determine they're legit. I've heard of people getting the address and 'renting out your house' as if they were the landlord, getting a deposit from a client and then heading for the hills, never to be seen again.

So what other things should we be vigilant about?

What are the ways to spot the bad guys?

What sort of information should we include, or not include, in our ads?

Has anyone out there come across a scam, or attempted scam that is worth sharing?

Thanks in advance for any input.
Keith

Here's the ad, by the way.

http://www.rentfaster.ca/admin/edit_my_listings.php

This post has been edited by retiredby50: Mar 9 2010, 08:43 AM

[robertmcleod]

I was recently targeted by a rental scam so I made good news with CBC to teach people the warning signs.
My recommendation is if they talk just a little too much about:

-Their love of god-SCAM
-Their immigration to Canada from Africa or UK-SCAM
-Their overtly descriptive adjectives making it look like they wrote from a thesaurus-SCAM
-If the email is longer than 100 words SCAM
-If they don't know what they're looking for SCAM

Normally they're just trying to harvest your email address.

Learn more, read to this!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/20...ng-england.html

Robert

Hello,

I'm new to advertising on the internet for my places for rent. Already I've had a number of people who sound just a little too...sweet...asking questions via the net and asking for the address.

I don't give out the address until I've talked to them on the phone to determine they're legit. I've heard of people getting the address and 'renting out your house' as if they were the landlord, getting a deposit from a client and then heading for the hills, never to be seen again.

So what other things should we be vigilant about?

What are the ways to spot the bad guys?

What sort of information should we include, or not include, in our ads?

Has anyone out there come across a scam, or attempted scam that is worth sharing?

Thanks in advance for any input.
Keith

Here's the ad, by the way.

http://www.rentfaster.ca/admin/edit_my_listings.php

[robertmcleod]

I was recently targeted by a rental scam so I made good news with CBC to teach people the warning signs.
My recommendation is if they talk just a little too much about:

-Their love of god-SCAM
-Their immigration to Canada from Africa or UK-SCAM
-Their overtly descriptive adjectives making it look like they wrote from a thesaurus-SCAM
-If the email is longer than 100 words SCAM
-If they don't know what they're looking for SCAM

Normally they're just trying to harvest your email address.

Learn more, read to this!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/20...ng-england.html

Robert

Hello,

I'm new to advertising on the internet for my places for rent. Already I've had a number of people who sound just a little too...sweet...asking questions via the net and asking for the address.

I don't give out the address until I've talked to them on the phone to determine they're legit. I've heard of people getting the address and 'renting out your house' as if they were the landlord, getting a deposit from a client and then heading for the hills, never to be seen again.

So what other things should we be vigilant about?

What are the ways to spot the bad guys?

What sort of information should we include, or not include, in our ads?

Has anyone out there come across a scam, or attempted scam that is worth sharing?

Thanks in advance for any input.
Keith

Here's the ad, by the way.

http://www.rentfaster.ca/admin/edit_my_listings.php