BEWARE

I hope this is now going to show as a post. I have been having a lot of problems trying to get things posted lately. YAY! It worked.

I have to warn you all of a scam I just recently encountered. While I absolutely adore my little studio sometimes it seems a little small. What with designing bags, refinishing furniture and quilt making I quickly run out of room in my 450 square foot castle. So every now and then I look on Craig's list or Zillow for homes available in my area. Lately I found two homes that seemed legit but were complete scams. I found a 2 bedroom home in a 55 and older community for 700 dollars a month. Too good to be true? It was. The man renting it said he and his wife went to Africa as missionaries and needed to rent out their home in the states. Since I am going to Zambia, Africa on a missions trip my heart went a little soft for the man's story. But none of it was true. He got my personal information except for bank and social security info. then I found out he was trying to rent out a house the he doesn't even own. In fact the home is a government owned HUD home. Creepy!

My dad warned me that this might be a scam so I looked up the information and found out he was right. Thanks dad! I love you.

Later my daughter suggested that I not look on Craig's list but try Zillow instead. This time on Zillow I found another home for $700 but it was a three bedroom 2 bath home that looked amazing. I thought there must be a mistake and they were probably just renting out a room for 700. So I responded to the add and got almost the same story as the previous home. Missionaries, this time in Christchurch, New Zealand, at a conference in West Africa, looking for good God fearing renters to take care of their home. Their telephone number was in Nigeria. Well, I contacted the listing agents for both properties and was told that this is happening all the time on listings for about the last year. These people from Nigeria, posing as Missionaries, cut and past from real listings and pretend it's theirs to get your money. So BEWARE! Do not buy from anyone out of the country. I heard from a government site that England and Africa are the worst for these frauds.

I also reported this to Zillow, Craig's list and the FBI for internet fraud. If you know of anyone looking to buy or rent a house please warn them of this scam. It needs to be stopped as unsuspecting people are being harmed.