Thinking Of Heading To The Jersey Shore? Police Are Warning Of A Scam

By MICHELLE SAHN

If you are thinking of renting a home down the shore this summer, police want to warn you about a scam.

Sea Girt police say they are investigating a series of summer rental home scams that have cost residents of New York, Virginia and Massachusetts thousands of dollars.

In each case, victims found a summer home for rent on Craigslist, and police say the most recent scam ads for Sea Girt homes have been placed on the Jersey Shore, North Jersey, New York City, and Long Island pages of that website.

According to a warning from Sea Girt police:

The ads show photos of the homes, and a list of amenities.

The con artist, who claimed to be a homeowner, communicated with the victims via email. After reaching an agreement, invoices (which appeared to be legitimate) along with check-in instructions and rental rules were sent to the victims, who were instructed to wire their payments to a bank account.

Then those victims arrived at the homes to start their vacations, only to learn that they had been conned.

In one case, the victim arrived at an empty lot.

Police believe the con artists are visiting real estate websites and downloading photos of homes that have recently sold in the area. Then they are using those photos and the descriptions of the homes from the MLS listing to craft the fake ads.

Police are offering the following tips to help visitors avoid rental scams:


• Most homeowners who rent their home seasonally use licensed real estate companies to assist in the transactions.
• Whenever possible, home rentals should be conducted through a licensed realtor or through a professional property management company.
• If the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Take the time to seek out comparable properties and see if the home you are interested in is priced close to similar homes in the area.
• Most scams involve a request to wire funds directly to another bank account or use a wire service such as MoneyGram, Western Union or any other online money transfer service. Do not wire funds to anyone you have not met or know personally.
• Be wary of long-distance landlords. Many of the scams come from outside of the United States or from areas far away from where the home is located.
• Check the advertisement carefully for typos, grammatical errors, improper wording, or phases which appear out of context. The advertisements often contain errors.
• Any request for your bank account information, social security number, or request you cell phone number in order to send a confirmation code or verification code are indications of a scam. Most homeowners or professional property managers will not request this information to be sent through e-mail.
• Be aware of any person who will not communicate over the phone or who keeps the conversation very short without much detail.
• Conduct an internet search on the address of the home you are trying to rent: If the home has been rented before, you may be able to see reviews and other information about the home. If the home recently sold, you may be able to find the real estate company that facilitated the sale. That real estate agent may be able to assist you in determining if the home is really for rent.
• If you sent any money or bank account information over the internet, contact your bank immediately.

Anyone with information about a rental scam in Sea Girt is asked to contact the Sea Girt Police Department at 732-449-7300 ext. 432 or Monmouth County Crime Stoppers at 800-671-4400.