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Don't rent a house from "me" (it's a scam).

There are a lot of funny things that come with having a unique name.  People say it wrong.  People always want to know if you're related to the other <uncommon last name>s that they know (yes).  You spell it for people without being asked.

 And, if someone on the internet has your name you know they are trying to impersonate you.  It's not just someone who so happens to have the same name.  It's the lowest form of ID theft.

 Someone is out there masquerading as me.  

 We started hearing about this a few weeks ago, when we listed our old house for sale. Someone was trying to rent out our old house on Gorge Classifieds and other sites, asking people to send them a deposit to rent our house without even seeing it.  He was using our house to scam people.  But, the thing that put it over the top is he was using my name to do it.

 Eventually this person tried scamming someone who actually knew me.  The email was forwarded to me, and, sure enough, there was my name on the from line (using an email address I’ve never seen before).

Enjoy this message from our antagonist:
From: Daniel Polehn
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 5:48 PM
To: <redacted>
Subject: 1018 Snipes St The Dalles, OR 97058
Hello,
Thank you for contacting me confirming your interest in my house. we had our house for sale before but recently my wife and I we recently had a change of mind not to sell it again but to lease it out ourselves because the realtor that was in charge of our rental property was asking too much of an agent fee which was making it tough for people who cannot afford the rent. My house is Available for Rent and ready to Move in ASAP, I also have available the RENT TO OWN Option, Pets are ALLOWED as long as they are not destructive. I relocated from my Home one Months ago when I got a better job here..I'm giving the rent out low because I just need someone to help take care o the house while I'm away,It's not about the money..It's about finding someone that will take care of the house like they own it.
Can we know you by telling us little bit of yourself and family and the period of time you plan staying in my home if you were eventually picked you as my tenant? Also you can drive by property at your convenience time and i can send you more interior pictures inside of my house

Property Single Family Address: 1018 Snipes St The Dalles, OR 97058

Number of Bedrooms:3
Number of Bathrooms:1
Rent fee: $1,200
Refundable security deposit: $1,200
Its available for rent at $1,200/Per Month *Covering all Utilities* listed as follows: Garbage , Trash disposal ,, Heating, Gas & Internet.Tenant only pay for Tv cable,Electricity and Water. There's also the payment of the REFUNDABLE Security Deposit of $1,200 set aside for damages/commitment

Please note that I would not be available to do a one on one showing because I am very busy here with 2 Jobs and I have quite an extended family to take-care of and I also do not want to involve any 3rd party because I want a good Landlord-Tenant relationship I also have other applicants but pending that time you can take a drive by monitoring the surroundings and neighborhood and also look through the windows to see the interiors of the house, it's currently available for move in and get back to me if you are willing to get started with the Application/Rental process.

QUICK NOTE :- Kindly ignore the for sale sign in the yard, because my initial plan was to sell the house recently but right now my house is no more for sale, I am putting it up for rent to get a serious tenant to rent the house and take care of my property.Also the keys are here with me because I had to take them back from the agent that almost ruin my property and that is why I am handling this myself as i do not trust anyone to drop my keys with.but the keys will be mail to you anytime you want to view inside of my house
Thanks,
We are looking forward to hear from you

 If you can get through the terrible grammar to actually read and understand anything from this email, I'll reassure you none of it is true.  I don’t even own this house.  I wouldn’t fire our realtor (Charlie is pretty great).  I only have one job.  Renting out a house would most definitely be about the money for me.  It's about the money for this person too since they don't have any legal right to request money for it and are doing so.  I'm pretty sure this "deposit" is actually non-refundable also.

 Apparently this person is following up asking for people to pay the deposit before seeing the house.  This is the kind of scam I would never even think to worry about but people are always finding new creative ways to do evil.

 Bottom line: if you’re looking for a rental and get an email from “me” don’t believe it it’s a scam.  If you get an email from newhome.rent532@gmail.com, about anything at all, don’t believe it, it’s a scam.  Feel free flood newhome.rent532@gmail.com inbox with inane garbage.  Do not fall for similar scams.  Last but not least spread the word about this scam. 

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