FOLEY, Ala. (WALA) – Baldwin County Real Estate agent, Deborah Benton has the nickname “Lucky.”

She’s had the fortune of selling properties that otherwise wouldn’t move.

But recently, “Lucky” Denton’s properties have been the target for some unlucky renters.

Benton, a 16-year real estate veteran, said she has had at least three calls from people interested in renting some of her listed properties.

The problem she said was the properties aren’t listed for rent; they’re listed for sale.

“I had a phone call from a lady who had ridden past a house I have listed,” said Benton, “I said, ‘Do you want to know the price?’ And she said, ‘No, no, no. I’m interested in renting it.’ And I said, ‘Renting it? It’s not for rent.’ And she said, ‘Well, I don’t understand because I’ve been talking to this person whose been sent to Africa, and he’s offering it at a really low price.’”

Benton said the clients found ads on Craigslist that listed some of her properties for rent, well under market rental rates.

That call wasn’t just some fluke. Denton received two more calls on another property.

A woman called from Missouri asking about a listing, and then a man drove over from Florida to have a look at one of the properties for himself.

“And he said the gentleman I talked to said he would rent it to us for a fairly inexpensive price,” said Denton, “And I said, ‘Wait a minute, rent? What are you talking about?’  And he said, ‘Well, I don’t understand. The guy told me he’d been transferred or had to go back to Africa, and needed somebody that would take really good care of the house.’”

In each instance the renters first exchanged e-mail with the scam artist, followed by a phone call to a number beginning with the country code: 2-3-4: Nigeria, Africa.

The FBI’s South Carolina bureau posted a warning online back in 2009 about this type of scam.

A local FBI agent said sometimes these crimes circulate to other areas.

“When the prospective renters called the phone number from the Craiglist ad, a man would tell them he had to move to Africa and was trying to rent the property right away,” Benton said.

Benton said the man asked the callers to wire him the first month’s rent, last month’s rent, and a security deposit.

Luckily, they called Denton first and she had to break the news to them that the ad was a scam.

 Click here for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Fraud Web site.