“House for rent” -- you see the ads on websites like Craigslist.com. But more and more often, those ads are fake.

For example, a big, beautiful house for just $1,000 a month in Beaverton. It sounded just perfect to the Hassan family.

With three daughters living the same apartment, the family went online to find a house with more space for everything. Sami, the father, found that $1,000-a-month house on Craigslist.

The ad’s author claimed to need a renter/house sitter while they were out of the country.

“It was like a beautiful a huge house close to my area same school for my kids,” said Sami, recalling the thrill of finding the perfect rental offer.

But, in a subsequent email, the ad's author required a money wire for first month's rent and a security deposit. That’s when Sami became suspicious.

“Why does he want to use the money before he sends me the key?”

After taking a second look at the house in person, Sami noticed the house’s real owner had posted a sign out front reading, "private property: if you have seen this home on craigslist you are being scammed."

The state department of justice is investigating a stack of craigslist rental scams.

In the case of the Hassan family, the woman who owned the house in question had her online identity hijacked from her legitimate rental ad for the house.

“You could be dealing with a teenager in Nigeria sitting at an internet café,” explained Jan Margosian from the oregon State Department of Justice.

The state was able to shut down a Florida operation recently and recover lost money.

Margosian urges people to never wire money for a product or service found online. She says Craigslist.com has fraud warning all over its website.

“And you should follow those,” she said. “If not you shouldn't be shopping around on Craigslist.”

If the state catches a scammer it can collect $25,000 per transaction in civil penalties. If the scammer is out of the country it's very hard to catch them, she said.