“Regarding the payment, you will be instructed to deposit the amount to a Move.com Agent from [the] United Kingdom. They will hold and insure your money until you check the apartment and decide if you want take it or not. That is how their buyer protection policy works.”
An apartment rental scam is infiltrating Boston, and has largely focused on apartments in the Financial District, namely Broad Street, according to several potential victims who have provided details of their ordeals.
The scam ensues by luring potential renters to respond to a Craigslist advertisement for a high-end Financial District condo that is being offered for rent at a very (unreasonably) attractive price. The landlord claims that they are in a foreign country, and that in order to preview the unit, the keys will be sent to the prospective renter after a deposit is made – the landlord claims that the “only problem is that I`m the only person who has the keys and I have nobody in [the] United States that could show you the condo. In order to check [it out]”. To get the keys, the renter must provide a deposit to the landlord, which is facilitated by a website (move.com), and once the website is holding the funds it is claimed that the keys will be sent. The landlord claims that “If you do not want to rent the apartment the funds will be returned to you”. Luckily, we are not aware of any renters who went so far as to send a deposit.
In the most recent account, a potential renter was responding to an advertisement for a unit at the Folio (a full-service luxury condo development) located at 80 Broad Street in the heart of Boston’s Financial District. A two-bedroom two-bathroom condo was being advertised for rent for $800 per month. There were several context clues in the advertisement and email exchange that followed between the renter and landlord that pointed to the fact that this was a scam. For instance, Folio opened to residents in 2006, however, the landlord states in email communication that they have lived in the unit for 5 years. The pictures of the unit, while they represent a higher-end condominium, do not accurately reflect the Folio’s interiors. Lastly, no unit number was provided in either the advertisement or any follow on communications, and monthly rent at $800 is unheard of in the downtown Boston market.
There are legitimate rental units available in the Financial District currently, but nonetheless, renters should proceed with caution should they experience anything similar to the apartment rental scam experienced recently by several Bostonians.
Keith Munsell 
People should be aware enough to avoid this scam. If you spend more than 5 minutes looking for an apartment in Boston you should be well aware that this rent is ridiculously low and therefore able to spot the scam a mile away.
That it exists is annoying. That people might actually fall for it is ridiculous.
This has been going on for a while. I responded to an $800 Fenway apartment over a year ago. The instructions were pretty much the same as this. Obviously, I didn’t send any money.
If someone’s asking you for money to be sent anywhere you should never do it. I saw these adds on Newbury St. had a dialog with the owner, thought it was too fishy, then checked public record and found no owner for the apt stated (or i should say that the person i was having the dialog with was not the owner of the property). Check public record to make sure these people are who they say they are.
They’re also using Park Lane in the Seaport district for a similar scheme on craigslist, a friend of mine sent me a link on it last week.
I was totally unaware of this scam, and now I am curious on how many other cities have been targeted! Thank you for sharing the details.
We’ve seen our own version of this scam in Las Vegas. Usually they’ll target vacant homes.