Scammers using Craigslist to steal money for cloned realty listings

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Craigslist scam has returned and has already hit Bowling Green.

The scam, which happens quite often, is aiming to steal citizen’s money by scamming local realtors.

In short, using legitimately listed homes and cloning them.

This can lead people to spend money online to rent a property that’s in fact only for sale.

Or even show up in person for a fake listing.

Late Saturday evening, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a local realtor.

She had one of her houses listed online “for sale.”

However, the realtor later found that same home listed on Craigslist “for rent.”

Sheriff Brett Hightower tells us the scammers are cloning realtor’s listings by stealing their photos.

Then, reposting the listing on Craigslist and lowering the price to an appealing rate.

Hightower recommends walkthroughs of properties you want to lease, have the keys in hand as well as a signed contract.

Otherwise, people will lose their real money over fake deals.

Hightower says scammers are also doing the same thing with cars and motorcycles, going as far as cloning VIN numbers of vehicles.

This results in people exchanging money for a vehicle not really for sale.

Hightower, whose family has experienced the Craigslist scam, warns everyone to be cautious.

If you run into this scam or any others, you’re urged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 270-842-1633.