South Fulton County

Man says family scammed out of hundreds

By Carl Willis
By Carl Willis

EAST POINT, Ga. — A local couple wants you to learn from their mistake, which cost them more than $1,000, when they tried to rent a house on Craigslist.

Chandler Bass and his wife thought they found the perfect home for their family.

"A house. A backyard for the kids to go out and play," Bass told Channel 2’s Carl Willis.

Boss said they saw an ad on Craigslist, contacted the poster, visited the home and put down the deposit.

"We thought everything was a go," Bass said.

But, it turns out, the house was already taken. The home really was up for rent, but the listing Bass and his wife responded to was fake.

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Another family moved into the home last week and Bass told Willis he's now out $1,200.

"It just makes me sick to my stomach, me as a hardworking parent, my wife as a hardworking parent. (We) don't deserve it,” Bass said.

Willis spoke with a neighbor who said at least two other people responded to the fake ad. She said the property never even had a "for rent" sign out front. She figures the scammer must have pulled the ad's pictures off a real estate website.

"It's just crazy how people can manipulate the system and swindle people out of money," Bass told Willis.

Bass said the poster asked for the deposit and rent to be wired, wrote an excuse about why they couldn't get inside to view the home and urged them not to contact a real estate agent.

"They kept sending us emails about going out and making a key, and I felt like that was preposterous," Bass told Willis. “There's a key in the lockbox, so why can't you just give me the code on the lockbox?"

But the excitement caused them to overlook the red flags. Bass now has a warning for anyone else who is looking for a place to rent.

"Make sure you do your homework on it. Please do your homework," Bass said.

Cox Media Group

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