Beware of Rental Applicant Scam

I've received two of these emails now. In both cases the emails were prompted by an advertisement that I ran for my rentals. The emails were sent by individuals who claimed to be British subjects, looking to transfer to the US for their very high paying jobs. The messages would go on about how much they liked what I'd said in my ads about the properties, and that since they were unable to personally view the properties, they wanted to make application to them.

So far so good.

They went on to say that since they were British subjects (doubful) that they would not be able to pass my traditional background check with its accompanying credit check, and that they would overcome that burden by paying the full year's rent up front with certified funds.

OK, that works for me.

Let's say that the monthly rent would be $1,750 for a nice townhome, somewhere in Fairfax County. The total amount due for a full 12 months would then be $21,000. After acknowledging the specifics of the rental agreement, I was informed that certified funds for this amount would be forthcoming.

And indeed, the registered letter would arrive with a certified check in the amount of ... $31,000?! A quick email to the applicant, asking why the extra money was sent, would be answered with, "Oh my god, I'm sorry ... I made a mistake. Please deposit my check and send me certified funds back for the overpayment."

The scam was that the applicant's certified check was bogus, but an American bank wouldn't know that for a good two weeks since that check would have to be cleared through a British bank. In good faith, and not wanting to wait for the applicant's "certified" check to clear, I was to immediately go to my bank and issue a good certified check in the amount of $10,000, the overpayment, and send it to the crook. About two weeks later, my bank would then advise me about the bogus certified check, but by that time my good check would have been cashed.

Fortunately for me, I had read about this scam and opted not to reissue a refund until the applicant's check cleared, which, of course, it did not.

When I tried to reestablish contact with my overly-anxious rental applicant I did not receive any responses.

Be aware!

Ray