New form of scamming on craigslist?

[PointBlank]

So I've been helping a buddy find a place to rent by looking on craigslist for him. I've been noticing a lot of ad's for cheap places that are very vague. Doesn't give any contact information, no pictures, and doesn't even remotely state where exactly the property for rent is located. I emailed a few of these and the responses I got were almost the same. All I asked them was where the place was located, and I get some long drawn out email about the condition of the place, why they want to rent it (one person is on a mission in Africa), and then the application. Basically they totally sound like an automated response type of thing. None of them are willing to tell me the address until they have enough information to check a credit score. I smell a scam.

Anyone else agree?

[mtnbikaah]

agreed. sounds like a scam.

Go with your gut instinct. If it looks like a scam, smells like a scam, and sounds like a scam, it probably is a scam.

[Ralphie]

I wouldn't really call it a new form of scamming...

people having been doing that since the beginning of craigslist....

I have seen ads like that for plenty of items in the f/s sections...

[deevergote]

I'm sure people were doing that with print ads as well.

Even if they're not scamming credit cards, I GUARANTEE you'll see an increase in email spam, snail mail spam, and even phone spam (text/call) if you're not on the do-not-call list. Selling lists of info like that is an old moneymaking scheme. I considered doing it when I was younger, but my conscience got in the way. It's seriously shady.