This one has been happening a lot lately. What happens is that the scammer logs onto home rental sites, copies the home information, and reposts it onto another site like Craigslist...

One problem - He posts his own contact information instead of yours!

He sets the price really low so he can lure tons of victims into contacting him for that sweet rental deal.

Then he comes up with some kind of nonsense about how he's on "vacation in Africa" and that he needs you to "wire him the money" before he can send you the keys to the house.

So you're renting out your room or house, and you get this weird email from someone in Africa or the UK. It's usually some pretty African model or a poor missionary that wants to rent your place.

You give them your physical address so they can send you the money...

A week later, you receive this money order for a HUGE dollar amount. You take the money order to the bank and deposit it. The bank confirms the money order, so you deposit it, and all seems fine.

Then the scammer says "Oops, my sponsor sent you too much money, can you please wire some of it back to Africa?"

This one could potentially fool a lot of people, especially if they aren't familiar with wire transfers.

The scammer says "If you want to rent my place, I need proof that you have funds. So go ahead and wire some money to YOUR OWN friend, but just email me a copy of the receipt so I can verify that you have the funds."

The victim feels comfortable since he's wiring it to his own friend that he trusts.

What ends up happening though? The scammer takes the PASSWORD ON THE WIRE TRANSFER FORM, goes to his nearest western union, and takes the money himself!