Jan 5, 2013
I received an email from someone claiming to be "Stan Newberry" who gave me this phone number to contact him. I contacted this person via a Craigslist-generated email address regarding an advertised rental property (thankfully, I used a disposable email address to do so). According to another website this is a land line number in Seattle, Washington. I searched the white pages to see if there is a Stan Newberry in Seattle, Washington and found none. The email addresses the individual was using is skylarkllc@mms-uscell.com and stan.newlandrealty@live.com. The first email address is to a brand new (23 days old as of this message) redirect website (according to this report: http://wscheck.com/trust-report/mms-uscell.com). This is a serious RED FLAG. I don't believe the person is either named Stan Newberry or a real estate agent as the email implied. He wanted a credit check through a seemingly shady website (creditreport.com - search for reviews online and you'll understand why I say "shady") and would not even give the address of the advertised rental property unless I first did a credit check through this website. Since that's not how the real world works (not divulging rental property ADDRESSES without a credit check... not signing leases without a credit check - yes - but not telling the address - no!), I don't think this individual is anybody he/she makes him/herself out to be. It appears to be something of a copycat scam: http://www.ripoffreport.com/realtors/phillips-properties/phillips-properties-tanya-phil-72047.htm. I went back to Craigslist to flag the posting, but someone else had beat me to the punch - it was already flagged for removal by another person who saw through this scam. Moral of the story - Don't believe what you want to hear when it's an on-line offer that is almost too good to be true unless you have first done your homework. For reference, here's the email message I received:
Hi,
Not trying to waste your time and mine, but I have three stipulations for anyone interested in renting from me:
1. NO criminal background history
2. NO bad rental history - meaning you broke the lease and stopped paying. (missing payments is alright, thats why there are late fee's, etc.)
3. Leave the apartment as good or in better condition than when you rented it.
Now, as stated in the ad, I will need you to go to this link: http://creditapplicationform.info/creditcheck.php and fill out the credit report. If your rental history checks out ok, then I will give you the address and lockbox combination so you can checkout the apartment.
Thanks,
Stan Newberry
Office: 206-984-8411