COLUMBIA (WACH) - Richland County Councilman Seth Rose is used to hearing people's concerns; but even Rose wasn't prepared for the news he received at his home Thursday.
"We were getting some knocks on the door; come to find out that our home was the subject of a Craigslist scam," said Rose.
Rose says someone poached pictures of his home from a realtor's website, then reposted them on Craigslist. Rose says he had to turn away a disappointed woman who thought she had a good deal on a room in his home.
"She said she had spoken to someone, basically saying that he needed a $500 deposit that would be sent overseas, and that gentleman spoke with a foreign accent," said Rose.
Rose already sold his home before the woman inquired about the listing.
"Every other time this has happened to me, my office assistant goes to Craigslist marks it as spam, and shuts it down," said Rose's realtor Franklin Jones.
"The difference is this time they're going to Seth's door," said Jones of the people responding to the bogus ads.
Rose, and attorney, says he's brining this matter to the attention of the Attorney General's office.
"Having been a former prosecutor, this is actually a scam I've heard of and informed others about," adds Rose. "It's kind of funny how my home becomes the subject of such."
Jones says you should never make a down payment on a home without seeing it in person. He also says if a cheap listing appears in a neighborhood with expensive homes, it's probably too good to be true.
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