MOSES LAKE - Police suggest users of online classified listings, such as Craigslist, should exercise caution before responding to rentals advertisements.

"When used incorrectly (the Internet) breeds opportunities for people to be scammed," said Moses Lake Capt. Dave Ruffin. "A criminal only has to be successful a few times to make a profit."

Quincy resident Shane Ripley said he's seen about seven of the fraudulent ads while looking for rentals in the Moses Lake and Ephrata area over the past couple weeks.

"I have found numerous homes. They are all missionaries in Africa and want me to fill out some information - a tenant application," Ripley stated. "I have not (done so), but I don't know if anyone else has fallen to this. It has all the makings for identity theft."

Ruffin said he tells people who make deals online to never give out personal information that could be used against them, never give money up front and never sell items to unknown long-distance buyers. Out-of-area sellers or renters are always a red flag, he said, especially when the ads originate from third world countries.

"The problem is, it's very difficult to track it back to the source when totally fictitious information is given," he said. "There's an awful lot of it going around."

For more information, visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.