You Can't Be Too Careful with your Bahamas real estate

When doing any real estate related business in the Bahamas, make sure you use a Bahamas Real Estate Association licensed agent.

We're sounding this warning after U.K. resident Scott Armstrong almost got caught in a scam emanating outside the Bahamas.

According to The Nassau Guardian, Armstrong thought he was on to a good thing when he saw a posting on Craigslist.com, offering a one bedroom apartment in the gated Sandyport community for $600 a month.

"I should have remembered the old adage, 'if something looks too good to be true it generally is,'" Armstrong told Guardian Business.

The advertiser claimed he was in South Africa on missionary work. He insisted Armstrong fill out an online application form asking for personal details, such as his passport number, address and age.

Armstrong became suspicious and searched the address online, only to learn someone else owned the property.

According to The Guardian, this is first published case of an online rental scam targeting the Bahamas.

The apartment in question is a three bedroom and it's quite possible the scammer's never visited Sandyport, let alone the Bahamas, and used the internet to gather information for his attempted scam.

It can happen anywhere and it's a lesson to us all to use local licensed professionals, no matter which country we're conducting business in.

"This is the first time I'm hearing something like this," said William Wong, president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association. "The best way to safeguard them is to deal with a licensed BREA agent.”