Beware of a New Real Estate Scam That Just Hit This Maine Town

Hot Real Estate Market

It goes without saying that the real estate market across the country is still absolutely booming with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. On the plus side? Some people are making BANK off of their property, usually selling for way above asking price and even having additional fees waived.

On the downside? It's almost impossible for someone looking to purchase their first home, especially alone, to have a fighting shot at buying anything decent that they can afford. On top of that negative, there's another one that usually rears its ugly head with popular items -- the probability of scams.

Over the weekend, the Westbrook Police warned citizens on their Facebook page of a brand new real estate scam that they had been made aware of by its victims. Essentially, at least based on this occurrence, the scam targets homes that are on the market for sale.

Craiglist Fraud

In this instance, the home was fraudulently posted for rent (as opposed to for sale) on Craigslist. The homeowners said their realtor reached out to them after the realtor fielded multiple calls inquiring about renting -- some of which had mentioned they had already put down money to rent the property. As soon as the Craiglist post was reported, it was taken down immediately.

Westbrook Police reminded the public to never pay to rent a place sight unseen, as realtors will generally set up either an open house for interested parties to see the property, or they'll schedule a private tour individually. Point being, don't just toss money down because you feel like it's the only way you'll have a shot at renting or buying a new place in this current market -- you never know what you're actually putting money down on.

Westbrook Police also went on to say if, like the homeowners in this situation, you actually are selling property and this same thing happens to you, to do what they did -- reach out about having the post taken down, and contact police.