In a housing market like Bend’s, with a vacancy rate below 1 percent, it’s not just newcomers who have a hard time finding a place. Sites like Craigslist have a lot to offer, but when a place seems too good to be true, is it?

Ellen Klem, director of consumer outreach with the Oregon Department of Justice, admitted sometimes when a housing opportunity online seems too perfect, it’s likely a scam. Whether it’s someone who claims to be a pastor overseas renting out his Bend home or an apartment for rent at an incredible price, it’s necessary to be cautious before handing over money or personal information.

In 2009, a Bend man filed a complaint with the DOJ explaining he owned a house in Bend that had been for sale for one year. He found out that someone posted his house on Craigslist for rent and used his name. The ad asked those interested to send money to rent the house; the information and photos about the house had been taken from the listing for the house on a real estate site.

Sgt. Dan Ritchie of the Bend Police Department said it’s easy for criminals to find basic information and photos online to create a fraudulent listing for an actual local house. He said that Craigslist has barriers to prevent this kind of fraud but it still happens.

When people are desperate to find a place, scammers take advantage with enticing deals — often at lower costs. But Klem said she prefers to educate the public on housing scams generally as opposed to discussing the latest scams. As soon as she speaks on a current scam, she said, criminals are probably already using a new one anyway.

It’s better to know the general signs, Klem said, and take precautions when searching for housing online. From complaints filed with the Oregon Department of Justice, it’s clear the scams aren’t new.

“Just like anything else that’s reputable, bad guys also get in there to use it for their crimes,” said Ritchie. “It’s very simple to act like you own it. All you have to do is cut and paste the picture of the property.”

But when Bend Police Department sees cases come through, it’s often hard to investigate them.

“One of the things that’s important to understand is it’s not on a local level; it’s on a national level,” said Ritchie.

He added that instead of seeking only prosecution, it’s a matter of prevention. He wants community members to be educated on how to avoid such scams; Ritchie gives talks to local civic groups on different kinds of scams and identity theft. “You have to protect yourself,” he said.

Kristina Edmunson, communications director for Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, agreed: Criminals behind these scams aren’t usually local and that’s a trend seen in complaints across the state.

DOJ’s Klem said that when victims file complaints, they often can get their money back if a credit card or check was used. If money is wired, though, Klem said it can be difficult to find.

“Once the money hits their pocketbooks it may only be there for seconds,” Klem said.

In a complaint from 2011, a Bend woman was tricked into sending money overseas. A man replied to her Craigslist ad seeking an apartment, telling her he was a pastor on a mission in Africa. He explained his home was in Bend and he wanted to rent it while he was away. The woman was told to send the deposit to him and that he would send the keys and documents in return. After she sent the first deposit, the man asked her to send more money, explaining FedEx wouldn’t send the keys or documents.

The woman then asked for her money back. The man agreed to return her money by FedEx to her address but then said his assistant had accidentally written the check for $3,000 instead of $400 and asked that she send the excess money back. When the woman went to cash the check, the bank staff informed her it was fraudulent and to report it. In their final contact, the man offered to resend the check that was caught in the mail, but the woman declined and never heard from him again.

A similar complaint was filed in 2012: A Bend man answered a Craigslist ad for a house for rent in Bend. The person said he was a Christian missionary in Nigeria and that the house would be available during his absence up to five years. The Bend man was told to send $500 to get the keys to the house. He sent the money through Western Union but found out it was a scam; he got his money back from Western Union by canceling the payment.

In another case, though, a Bend woman caught onto a scam before being duped.

She received an email about a property that sounded promising but also suspicious. She looked it up through Deschutes County records online and found the owner actually lived in California. The person masquerading as the owner said he was new to the landlord business. The Bend woman said the rental was listed first through a real estate agency then privately with different prices. She thought it was common sense to conclude the listing was fraudulent, contacted the actual owner and the DOJ.

But Klem realizes knowing the signs isn’t common sense for everyone. She worked with Rosenblum to point out six signs of a potential scam. The person (or people) may:

• contact you out of the blue,

• claim the circumstance is an emergency and ask that you respond immediately,

• ask for your personal information,

• ask you to wire money,

• tell you the transaction is a secret or the proposition may just sound too good.

Ritchie said he has seen senior citizens especially susceptible to these crimes, perhaps because they are not as familiar with technology, or are too trusting of people they don’t know online.

“In their generation, you trusted everyone,” said Ritchie. “Now things have changed.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0325, kfisicaro@bendbulletin.com