17 News has learned who may be behind a Craigslist rental scam we uncovered here in Bakersfield.
Real estate agent Debbie Guill is upset and mystified over a Craigslist.com rental scam that used a home on Veneto Street in northwest Bakersfield she is selling for a client. She found out about the scam when Dana Pizzi and his fiancée contacted her. “We're coming out from Montana and we only have a couple of days to look for house and we looked up on Craigslist what looked like good deal,” Pizzi said.They drove by the home and saw the for sale sign in the yard, and got Guill's number off the sign. Guill told them, “It had never been for rent and it was probably a scam, which is going on very, very badly in our industry right now.”
Another man contacted her and said he saw the Craigslist ad and he had a long-winded and poorly written email from the scammer. It said it was from a man named Richard Kerley, who is the real homeowner, and that he took a job in West Africa and wanted to rent the house. It also said to ignore the ‘for sale’ sign in the yard.
“That was weird that they actually have his name right,” Guill said. She thinks the scammers are in Africa. The email listed a phone number that is out of the country. 17 News called the number and a recording that the phone was not in service.
Guill thinks the scammers many have ties to someone in real estate, and that’s know how to get detailed property records. “With all the scams going on right now, I would not rent a house on Craigslist or anything like that,” she said.
Another clue it was a scam, the three bedroom 2,000 square-foot house was listed in the fake rental ad for $780 a month. Guill said if it really were for rent, the price would be double that.
She said the safest way to rent a home is go through a reputable property management company that checks the property out to make sure it's legit.
