New Orleans Rental-is it a Scam?

Hi! I saw a craigslist post advertising a condo rental. They replied with their phone number. When I gave them my number, they called right away. There was a bad connection, so our conversation was cut short and was continued through text message. Initially, they said the rate was $200 a night, but when I offered $330 for two nights, the accepted. They said that total would cover all fees and required no deposit.

They said they ask for the money up front, after you fill out a rental agreement. They accept payment via PayPal and credit card.

When I received the rental agreement, it included an address. Upon googling the address I noticed that the photos of the exterior matched, but that it also belonged to a guest house with a working website, but I different phone number.

So I called that guest house number to ask if they knew anything and the guy said that "he's sick of people calling about the rental condo above them. The people who own the condo above me rent it out, you'll have to go through them."

I'm just concerns because I can't find any info online about this condo rental besides this Craigslist post and I'm hesitant to send money before seeing the location.

The email associated: [email protected]

The name:
Joan Bryant

The address:
835 Bourbon St
New Orleans, LA 70116
USA

I want to think that it isn't, because it sounds like a great deal and she seems very nice, but I thought I'd run it past all of you to get some piece of mind.

Hello,
The bad phone connection and a transfer to text sounds shaky to me. Please post the telephone number the landlord is using.

That number is (504) 596-9807

The number is a VoIP - Pinger which means he could be located anywhere in the world that has high speed internet service.

The best option is to always view the property before making any deposits. Any excuse why you can't preview the property is a sure sign something is not right and it is time to walk away and look elsewhere.

So probably a scam?

Definite scam. The person who wrote the last message learned his English in Western Africa and is probably located there now.
Just block him and ignore all messages. Do not tell him that you know it is a scam, just go silent and let him wonder what happened.

The free listing sites are full of fake vacation rental ads.

They just called me from another number, this time it was a man. The number was (561) 331-1958. Definite accent. And I received the call after not responding to the following text messages:

"Good morning are you no longer interested let me know before I give it out days now you have not fill the agreement form....Let me know
Someone is ready to book for it ....if you are not interested......I already reserved here for you due to your birthday party"

Received those at 6:30 PST.

(561) 331-1958 is a Google VoIP number from Florida. Thanks for posting the additional number.