We’re just about to move to a new house that we’re in the process of buying. Obviously, we’re leaving the house we’re renting, and our landlord has relisted it.

This past Thursday, she left a voice-mail saying that she’d had someone lined up to come preview the house that day (off topic: this was the first we’d heard about it, and the house was a mess; thanks!) but they’d cancelled (the good news).

On Friday I was home watching the kids while Mindy was off galavanting, when the doorbell rang. I answered the door to find two nice looking guys who said they’d been in contact with our landlord (and had her name right) and she’d said they could stop by and take a look at the house. I was slightly frustrated, but given the message I’d received on Thursday (both the fact that we’d never confirmed that we were available for the house to be seen, and the fact that she was showing it), I didn’t think much of it. I let them see the downstairs of the house since the kids were napping.

As they were leaving, they casually mentioned three things that made me extremely suspicious:

1. They’d only been in contact with the landlord via email, from an ad on Craigslist
2. They didn’t know that we’d extended our lease by one month
3. They were under the impression that the landlord was in Africa

Today the landlord called. Not from Africa. And she didn’t have an ad on Craigslist. Oh, and she never told anyone they could come over. It took me about 5 seconds to find the listing on Craiglist, complete with an incorrect email address. No address, so they must have found it from the pictures.

We’ve all heard Craigslist horror stories before, but this is close to home: someone’s running a scam for the house I’m currently living in.

Beware the Craigslist!