FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 4, 2009
Contact: Dee Kassab

The Kassab Team Warning of Potential Identity Theft With Fake Craigslist Postings

Joplin, Missouri – Identity theft is rampant, and apparently not even those searching for rental property are immune. Dee Kassab, one of the owners of PRO 100 Inc., Realtors and head of The Kassab Team, recently learned that some of the scams that have been running rampant nationwide are now happening right here in the Joplin community.

Scam artists are using actual real estate listings and then passing themselves off as the landlord through postings on Craigslist, a popular website that offers free classified advertising, in an effort to claim deposits and more from unsuspecting renters. After a call to her office last week, Kassab learned that not one but two of her “For Sale” listings, complete with her verbiage, photos and so on, were being advertised as rental houses on Craigslist, meaning that Joplin area residents were being targeted by scammers.

“When we received a call about the first one being listed as rental property, there were several red flags,” Patti Kassab, Dee Kassab’s assistant, said. “First of all, we knew it wasn’t for rent, it was for sale, and secondly, we don’t advertise on Craigslist.”

The caller forwarded the Craigslist posting to The Kassab Team, and responded to the ad to see what would happen. The response she received was that yes, the house was still available and they would love to show it…after of course she filled out an application which asked for credit information, etc. Knowing it was a scam; the caller didn’t fill out the application, but did let The Kassab Team know of the posting response. The scammer in the Kassab case was not after a deposit, but instead their motivation was identity theft.

From New York to Florida to Kentucky to Washington State, similar scams are stealing people’s identity, money and more. And it isn’t always an ominous distant e-mailer; people are even taking this to a face-to-face level. Take for example a recent case in Sacramento, a renter in the middle of eviction decided to raise money for his next place. Instead of working for it, he placed an ad on Craigslist offering to rent the apartment that he was being evicted from. The bad part of it was, it wasn’t until he had 4 prospective tenants give him a deposit that he was busted.

Given the nature of the scammers, the only real way to combat the problem is through consumer awareness. Craigslist has some suggestions posted on their website, and suggests many ways that people can sidestep would-be scammers by following common-sense rules, including: DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on Craigslist. NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)

When a scam or suspected fraud or scam has occurred, Craigslist suggests notifying:

* FTC toll free hotline: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357)
* FTC online complaint form
* Internet Fraud Complaint Center
* Software Piracy
* Non-emergency number for your local police department.

If it is suspected that an item posted on Craigslist may be part of a scam, people are urged to email the details to "mailto:abuse@craigslist.org", including the URL (or 10-digit post ID number) in the message.

While no one was scammed in the two recent attempts, that Kassab is aware of, it does demonstrate that the Joplin area is not immune to Internet predators. If Kassab has learned one thing for sure through this experience – people can’t be too careful.

“Everyone should always be very leery about giving out personal information to an unauthorized person over the Internet,” Kassab said. “As far as we know, we have only had two listings targeted in this way, but we are going to have to be vigilant, and so are the people in the Joplin community.”

Whether buying or selling, when it comes to real estate, The Kassab Team is in the know. With decades of experience and now a new website and strong Internet presence, The Kassab Team are the area experts in making their client’s dreams a reality.

For more information, contact:
Dee Kassab
Pro 100 Inc., Realtors
2401 E. 32nd Street
Joplin MO 64804
417.626.5568
dee@deekassab.com