Don't be fooled by Craig's List scam

We've received several complaints about scammers referencing our "Go" page in rental solicitations. The scammer says they have an apartment/house for rent while they are serving on a mission trip in West Africa.

The rental is listed on Craig's List and the victim is asked to wire deposit money. The scammer even provides a link to Go West Africa's Go page or Hands-on-Africa page to make the request seem legitimate.

Some people are falling for these solicitations but they are NOT legitimate. We can't do anything about people who claim to be associated with our organization via e-mail and cannot be held liable for their fraudulent activity.

We recommend you to stop correspondence with the scammer and familiarize yourself with Craig's List's fraud information: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

Sample Scam Email

From: ** scammer **
To: ** victim **
Sent: Mon Aug 11 19:50:22 2008
Subject: NY Apt

Thanks for the mail,this is a furnished house,  I intend renting it out  because I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the GO WEST AFRICA ORGANISATION,here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.(http://www.gowestafrica.org/go/index.php#handsonafrica ). so needs a tenant to take care of it but since  I am out of the state now,I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it is located in a very good area of New York,but I still have to make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it. This property is brand new designer furnishings, sub-zeroappliances, hard wood floors, a cozy fireplace, full kitchen, plasma screen TV's, and five-star linens. Five minute walking distance tonumerous celebrated New York City benchmarks, Time Square, Central Park, Tiffany's, Madison Ave., Park Ave., Rocefellar Center, St. Patricks Cathedral, The Today Show, Trump Tower, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Deli, Carnegie Hall, and The Museum of Modern Art to name a few. Unit sleeps 6, lush pull-out couch.pets are allowed as well as long as they are not destructive. so if you know you are capable of the task,get back to me so that I can forward you with the RENT APPLICATION FORM,so that we can proceed with the rent. it is located below.
210 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036

Regard
** Scammer **