The Athens Police Department has received multiple reports stemming back to a home on Ohio Avenue that has been falsely advertised as being available for rent by individual(s) that are suspected to be from out of the country.
The Athens Police Department is investigating an alleged rental property scam stemming from one home on Ohio Avenue that has been falsely advertised through several portals — much to the dismay of the owner.
The local homeowner recently alerted Craigslist officials and APD to the posts falsely advertising the sale of her residence on the website, requesting their removal only after she had already received several inquiries for her home.
Apparently, the suspect individual or individuals have been frequently posting on Craigslist's sale pages, offering the 44 Ohio Ave. home for rent, according to APD officials.
The individual or individuals then send rental applications to those interested, asking for “a lot of personal information," according to an email sent to APD Chief Tom Pyle from APD Officer Nick Magruder. The individual or individuals also ask interested parties to send a deposit via MoneyGram — a money transferring site — if they're interested in a key that would allow them to check out the home.
Magruder said in the email to Pyle that the individual or individuals are "very persistent" and are calling from an Internet-based line, meaning it's likely that the calls are coming from outside of the country.
After the owner of the home on 44 Ohio Ave. asked Craigslist officials to take the posts down, she told APD her home showed up on even more rental sites.
Pyle said that to his understanding, interested parties are even being urged to look through the windows of the home on Ohio Avenue.
