Police Chief Bob Burford warned last week about a scam using Sweet Home addresses in rental ads.
No one has reported being victimized in Sweet Home, Burford said, but rentals and property descriptions are in Sweet Home.
Police found the scam on craigslist.com, Burford said. The ads note that rentals may not be available for several months “when in fact, the houses are not for rent currently. The person you’re emailing has nothing to do with the house.”
The scam begins when someone responds to the ads, Burford said. The hopeful renter sends an email. The response email sends a link to an information gathering site asking for financial information.
Potential victims are certainly going to be local, Burford said, and he wanted to warn the community about the threat.
“Beware, in answering local ads for rentals, that you’re not being misdirected in an attempt to get your personal identity information,” Burford said.