Beware of Craigslist ads
by ANDREW HORANSKY / KVUE News
kvue.com
Posted on May 4, 2010 at 8:35 AM
A recurring Craigslist ad continues to promise great deals on Austin apartments. Every month, more people fall victim.
The ad gives the address for the 360 Condos on Nueces and indicates rents for as low as $660 a month, with parking included.
KVUE asked Martha Bowles, a rental agent with years of experience, how much a unit should rent for in that building.
“I would be dancing for joy if I could get someone in here for $1,400 a month,” Bowles said.
KVUE showed the ad to Denise Bodman, who rents and sells at 360 Condos, and she says she started seeing ads just like it months ago.
“Personally I was getting about five calls a month on it,” Bodman said. “And I would just have to let them know that it was false advertising and that it’s not advertised by me or anyone affiliated with the building.”
In a KVUE Defenders investigation, it was discovered that people have found similar ads in cities around the country. People thought they found affordable opportunities that did not exist.
Since a phone number was not provided with the Craigslist ad, KVUE e-mailed the listing and received a prompt reply from someone who said their name was Hanna Farren.
The e-mail went on to say that “I am interested in showing you around the building,” and that “due to poor renting experiences in the past I am requesting you confirm you have a reasonable credit score.” Farren asks about interests and hobbies and said that she wants a credit check to avoid dealing with any “under-qualified” tenants.
She asked us to apply for a free credit report, and provided a link.
Consultant Brian Milliron investigates Internet fraud, and believes says Farren -- or whoever posted the link -- signed up as an affiliate to different credit reporting sites and is making money by sending traffic to them.
KVUE contacted one of the sites the link lands on, which is annualcreditreport.com, and received a written reply. It warned against linking to their site through third parties like Hanna Farren.
Milliron says sites like annualcreditreport.com might not even know that they are getting traffic this way.
“But it’s still their obligation to keep a watch over these people they’re hiring to advertise for them,” he said.
Of even more concern is that the link is connecting to websites which ask for social security and credit card numbers. It is crucial information that could be misused or stolen. Also of big concern is that third parties like Hanna Farren are often untraceable.
Jason Lavender had his identity stolen and called the process “a nightmare.” He found out what happened when officers came to his home, after someone used his ID during a traffic ticket.
“They read your information and ask is this your name, is this where you live, is this your address?” Lavender says. “And you’re left saying well it’s not me.”
Now a specialist in ID theft, he has a theory on Hanna. He believes her link is something called a redirection.
“So she’s capturing the information and just making it look like annualcreditreport.com probably,” Lavender said.
On the website trulia.com, KVUE found a long list of complaints against Hanna Farren. Victims from Miami to Sacramento reported that they put alerts on their credit files and canceled credit cards after finding out their credit scores through the link on Craigslist.
Though Craigslist pulled the Austin ads KVUE initially found, new ones have since surfaced.
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