Rental Verified Rental Verified and Craigslist scam for the purpose of identity theft Internet

This is another instance of the rental scam reported on July 2, 2013 by KeepItReal in California, but this took place in Florida the object of which is identity theft.

The victim sees a to-good-to-be-true ad for a rental house on Craigslist, answers the ad, receives an email reply. The replier does not identify herself, nor reveal the address of the object. But she includes a detailed message of what things to bring to a showing, including a background check done by Rental Verified. Victim pays Rental Verified for a one-time background check, giving his credit card data.

Replier's message is an exact word-for-word duplicate of the mail sent to Jennifer in California in the above named report. With only one changed detail. The responder concludes message with "I will be available tomorrow, Monday morning." Jennifer's message concludes "I will be available tomorrow, Thursday morning."

The victim replies, asking for the address and suggesting a time. Respondent never replies. Instead, by the afternoon two additional unidentified respondents with similar email addresses request additional personal information. That way the responders keep the victim dangling. Meanwhile, Rental Verified has the credit card number, CCV and expiration date as well as essential personal information (driver license number, SS number, current and previous addresses, employer, etc.). This is sufficient for identity theft.

Craig's list was supplied with a photo of the object and a location map, but no address. I drove to the location, but there was no house there matching the photo. Before the day was over I blocked my credit card.