Crime & Safety

Craigslist Swindler 'On Alabama Mission Trip' Takes SLP Woman for $400

The swindler said the St. Louis Park woman should wire the money to him in Montgomery, Ala.

A St. Louis Park woman was swindled out of $400 while trying to rent an apartment on Craigslist.

The woman exchanged emails with a man who claimed he was renting out his St. Paul home while on a mission trip in Montgomery, Ala. The woman eventually used Moneygram to wire the man $400—a down payment, she thought, on the $1,500 per month he was charging for the home.

But on June 13, the woman logged back onto Craigslist and found the property still for rent. She called the property manager, who told her the property actually cost $4,000 per month and that he had never heard of the man she had wired the $400.

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On its website, the St. Louis Park police department offers tips on how to avoid scams and swindles.


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