This is a variation of the fake rental agent scam except this time they are pretending to be a man of the clothe. The Winnipeg police are warning people that a man using the last name of Strampher using Craigslists and other such sites claims that he is renting out property while he is away on a religious retreat. He asks potential tenants to fill out an application and then wire money for a damage deposit.
Tags: Craigslist, Craigslist scam, Linkedin, rental property, Strampher
Reading Tea Leaves by Randy Wilson 
March 4, 2009 at 9:01 pm |
My daughter responded to this exact same ad on Craig’s List yesterday. The man’s name was supposedly Pastor Andrew Strampher who owned an apartment on 800 6th Avenue, New York, NY and was renting it out because he was away on a 4 year retreat in Oregon. The rent was $800.00 per month including utilities (sounded too good to be true). Luckily my daughter called the church he was supposedly a Pastor at in California (St. Paul’s Anglican Church) and they had never heard of him. Then I found this blog and it confirmed it was a scam. Who can I report this to.
March 6, 2009 at 1:00 am |
I would start with Craigslist and complain to them about the listing. Also I think they have a scam watch on their home page.
March 30, 2009 at 3:00 pm |
Don’t bother complaining to Craigslist. The site is riddled with scams and they do absoulutely nothing about it.
March 30, 2009 at 4:21 pm |
Yes, it buyer beware. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing but it does require a smidgen of worldliness, in particular, the belief that there is no free lunch.