ST. PAUL, Minn. - The housing market is hot. And for Hannah Olson and her husband Cory, that meant last week their four-bedroom, two-bath St. Paul home garnered 58 showings, 13 offers, and a pending sale over asking price.
But then during the middle of Easter dinner, they received another visitor who hadn't booked a showing.
"And I was like, excuse me?" Olson said.
A young woman walked right into their yard and said she was there to rent.
"And she's like, 'Cory sent me.' And I'm like, 'That's my husband.' And he's like, 'I have no idea what you're talking about," Olson said.
It turns out, the woman had answered a Craigslist ad, where a scam artist using Hannah's husband's name ripped their home listing right from the realtor's website, offering the home for rent at a below-market price.
"This is the exact picture the realtor took of our home, and this is what our realtor wrote. This is the exact wording from Edina Realty that our realtor wrote," Olson said, pointing to the description on the Craigslist ad.
"Being under market value, that should be your number one sign that something's off," said Dan Hendrickson from the Better Business Bureau.
Hendrickson says the scam isn't new, but they're popping up in this tight housing market.
"We see people fall for this. Usually what happens is they send away the first month's rent and a deposit. And often via wire transfer. And once they do that, the money's gone," Hendrickson said.
"People are willing to do just about anything. And that's really scary," Olson said.
Hannah's thankful she stopped the young woman before she lost any money. But knows plenty more are house hunting on Craigslist and need to know about this scam.
Some red flags to look for: the homeowner or landlord claims to be out of state or out of the country and can't meet in person. They only want to communicate through email. And they ask for money without letting you inside the home.