Online rental ad lures Eugene woman into scam
EUGENE, Ore. -- Facing foreclosure and looking for a rental home in the Bethel neighborhood, Mary Parker said the lesson she learned is a painful one.
"Financially, a thousand dollars to me is like a million dollars to somebody else," she said.
Parker just wanted to find a three-bedroom house to rent for her family since her current home is under foreclosure.
She eventually found an ad on Craigslist.
"It says welcome home -- beautiful home on a quiet street," Parker said.
Soon she was swapping e-mails with a guy identifying himself as Mark Havens, purportedly a missionary, who said he had a house to rent.
He asked Mary to wire him $1,060.
You know the result.
"Then I drove to church on Sunday and we saw that there were people in the house," she said.
Havens the missionary is a fraud, and Mary is out the money.
"Now I feel like a fool because I've wasted my money and obviously--I got took," Parker said.
KVAL News called the Attorney General's office in Salem to find out if these international money scams are on the rise in Oregon.
The office logged 132 complaints in 2008.
Last year, the loss amount went down, but complaints skyrocketed nearly tenfold.
Eugene police said this type of fraud is just way too common. So that you don't become the next victim, police said be aware of certain catchphrases or words in the ad.
"The request for a wire transfer is the biggest red flag," said Det. Pat Willis from the Financial Crimes Unit. "Anything having to do with some kind of money wire transfer."
Parker called the KVAL tipline to tell her story and warn others about her expensive lesson.
"Basically I work my butt off as I've always done and try to save enough money," she said.
