Hello again. If you've found yourself on my blog, but have no idea how you got here, welcome to the club! That's how I got here too. This is part two of a great story, so if you haven't read part one, go enjoy that little nugget and come right back.
Ok, so now you know that I reported a dude to the FBI for attempting to rent a house to me that was NOT HIS HOUSE. In order to report such fraud, one must simply fill out a form online at the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, which I did. I was high on life for a full day. I did my civic duty! I am a fantastic human! Power to the people!
Except I felt powerless.
I couldn't relax. Why? Because there were NINE MORE homes listed, on the same stretch of sand, and they all appeared to be listed by the same fraudster. Yes, nine more homeowners who may have a stranger walking around their backyard because "Perry" told them, like he told me, that the house was vacant. "Go check out the pool, see if you like it. The gate is open."
The problem was, I couldn't verify if they were legitimate listings. The perfect pictures and detailed descriptions were taken from past real estate listings, and each house was the same price, same font, same acceptance of pets, same everything. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, get the Peking duck sauce, I always say. The contact name was blank so I couldn't tell if it was "Perry." If I emailed him and started asking questions, he'd recognize my name and I could be putting myself in danger. I could do nothing but wait.
My fiancé assured me that the FBI would soon stop "Perry," and all of his listings would drop off of Craigslist like the scab on a cold sore.
Except it didn't happen.
It was the week before Christmas and the FBI had their hands full, so I had to be patient. A week later, however, the original house I reported to the FBI, Zane's house, reappeared on Craigslist!
I literally wanted to kick "Perry" in the gonads so hard that his future children would know that I was wearing Bodyglove socks and that my Nikes were tied in double knots.
(My real foot to prove I mean business).
I immediately emailed Zane and told him his house was re-listed and that he should flag it for removal again.
I suddenly had the need to find out if these other nine homes were fake. I had knowledge that could prevent gullible people from getting scammed out of money by "Perry." So yours truly, the crazy lady, spent the next 8 hours getting the name of the homeowner for each house, and then searching for their contact info on Google and Facebook. Yes, I need medication, but that's beside the point! My search was not in vain. I found...one!
Better than none, right!?
I messaged the woman on Facebook and told her to flag the listing for removal if she didn't post it. She answered the next day with a simple, "Oh no. I did not list it. Thanks for letting me know. I'll look into it."
I expected her to hand me the keys to the city after this discovery. Where's my free latte, and/or steak dinner, and tour of city hall!? As far as rewards go, this one sucked.
And that's all she wrote. Literally. She didn't even "friend" me, the ungrateful little brat!
Eight to go!
I had no leads.
My fiancé thought it'd be creepy for us to drive to their homes and knock on their doors, so we didn't. Instead, we decided to send the cops to their house.
Don't judge me! We slept on it first!
Five of the homes were in the county's jurisdiction, so the Sheriff's department said they had to meet with us first. They were superbly unhelpful. They said that these scams were so common that they didn't have the manpower to go to each house to inform the homeowners. Besides, "no crime has been committed until someone loses money."
(Insert curse words here). (Really, there were SO MANY curse words. I didn't even know I KNEW that many curse words).
(They sounded so funny with my lisp!).
Breathe. Just breathe!
Okay, so five people got letters mailed to them because I was NOT about to "just let it go" like the deputy said.
The other three homes were in the city, so I called the city police department and a nice detective said he'd personally visit each home to ask them about the listings. What a guy! As far as we know, he did.
The story ends here, but I still owe you the chance to be a superhero like me.
So here it is:
All TEN HOMES were re-listed this morning, plus four more, and "Perry" is the contact name.
The good thing about capes? They look great over pajamas.
----The end.
To report internet crimes, even if no money was lost, go to https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
*All photos are my original photos.
Great post!!
Thank you!! :).
Wonderful post! Great writing! What's next!
That's a really good question. It's a secret that my brain is keeping, even from me! ;). Thanks Roger! :).
Congratulations @f1gureofsp33ch! You received a personal award!
Click here to view your Board
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Congratulations @f1gureofsp33ch! You received a personal award!
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!