This scam isn't new: someone posts a listing for a place for rent, they get someone to sign a lease and give them money, and then the tenant finds out that they don't actually have the place because the person that posted the listing isn't the real homeowner.

It's an unfortunate situation! But this specific instance gets a little complicated.

"Claudia found the house for her mother on a Craigslist ad," KARE 11 writes. The listing for a beautiful home in Farmington was on a legitimate site called Rently, where out of town homeowners can post their home for rent.

With Rently, when you want to tour a place since the homeowner isn't nearby there's a lock box that you use to gain access and you then take a self-guided tour.

Claudia and her mom went and checked out the place, loved it, signed a "lease" and wired the person three months of rent and a damage deposit. The scam artist told them exactly where to find the key (under the doormat). The key was exactly where they said and was in a Rently envelope and everything!

When Claudia was helping her mom move in,  another person showed up. He showed them the exact same lease that Claudia's mom had recently signed and they realized they had both been scammed.

Not a fun situation! The police are still trying to hunt the person down.

KARE 11 spoke with a representative from Rently who said, "when you sign up for their app, they warn you not to wire money and to only call the phone number they provide."

 

Source: KARE 11

 

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