Anyone run across this scam?

Unscrupulous actor finds empty, abandoned or foreclosed home, changes the locks, advertises the property (on Craigslist or whatnot) at an attractive rent, then prods prospective tenants for cash up front for the deposit, etc., leading unwitting (often foreign-born) tenants to comply, after which they sign the lease and move in, only to be angrily confronted by the legitimate owner afterwards? And when the tenants try to track down the previous "landlord," he (and their cash) is gone?

If this has happened in your jurisdiction, please call or email me.

Thanks,
-Shannon

[This message was edited by Shannon Edmonds on 09-08-10 at .]

"Kill My Landlord," by Eddie Murphy:

Dark and lonely on a summer's night.
Kill my landlord. Kill my landlord.
Watchdog barking. Do he bite?
Kill my landlord. Kill my landlord.
Slip in his window. Break his neck.
Then his house I start to wreck.
Got no reason. What the heck?
Kill my landlord. Kill my landlord.
C-I-L-L my land lord.

I saw this storyline on a TV cop show....