is this a rental scam

I contracted a person about a home for rent off of craigslist for a house in enfield conn. This is what they sent me for a response.

I will love to have showed you round the house and the inside, but am sorry i am presently out on a missionary trip.I have been posted to the West Africa by the United State Christian Organization for (Worldwide Missionary Outreach). We are now in West Africa for the Missionary work and so all you can do is drive by the home anytime. i wanted to sell it before and later changed my mind to rent it out for investment purposes since i might still come back some time 5 years or more to come. So we have ordered them to stop all advertisement about the home for sale and that will be effective asap. So i wouldn't want that to bother you at all I could not find an honest agent to hand over the place before leaving so i and my wife decided to post the property online. Here is our rental application form that you will have to fill if you are still interested in this house.

SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW.

RENT APPLICATION FORM.
Name (First name/ Middle name/Surname ) : __________?
Phone # : __________?
E-mail : __________?
Best time to call : __________?
How many proposed occupants : __________?
List all in addition to yourself including approx age : __________?
Present Address : __________?
City/State : __________?
Will you have pets : __________?
Please describe Breed, size : __________?
Personality of pet : __________?
Preferred move in date : __________?
Intended length of lease: __________?
Earliest possible date of deposit payment: __________?
Length of previous tenancy : __________?
Present occupation : __________?
Are you a section 8 applicant : __________?
Do you run a business from home : __________?
If so what kind of business : __________?
Do you work late night : __________?
Do you smoke : __________?
Do you drink : __________?

I CERTIFY that answers given herein are true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I authorize investigation of all statements contained in this application for tenant screening as may be necessary in arriving at a tenant decision. I understand that the landlord may terminate any rental agreement entered into for any misrepresentation made above.Here is my contact my cell phone number you can reach me on anytime so that i can attend to you better +2347086073088 or 0112347086073088


Best Regards and Remain Blessed

I did file out the app but the email would not go thru during the day. But I retried sending it again last night and it went thru. I got another response saying

Thanks very much for your reply and also I can see your willingness in my house . I have decided to let you live in my house. The house is available now, you have to provide the security deposit to hold the house, and also we will send the keys and document of the house to you via FedEx to the address you send to me and the tracking number will be sent to you. Please once again,we are giving you this on trust and do not disappoint us, and I promise you that you will love the house. So I am with the below document here with me, and I will like to know whether you are ready for the payment via western union.Get back to me via email
Here are the contents of the document.

1) Entrance and the rooms Keys

2)Paper/Permanent house form(Containing your reference details)

3)The house documentary file.

4)Payment Receipt.

5)Full address and description of the house

I will also need you to confirm your delivery details and also to answer the below questions so as to certify my worries about you taking charge of my house:

Delivery Name:
Delivery Address:
Phone #:

So pls get back to me today.
I await your reply ASAP.
Regard and God bless you!!!

to this I did call the enfield townhall to find out if this person really owned this house & they do. but I live in Wisconsin so I can't go to the house to see if anyone really lives there. I did find online the house with a realtor & gave them a call & am waiting for a call back. I do not want to send money to anyone if this is not for real. I've been scamed many years ago & lose money for a puppy. So any help would be greatly helpful.

Thanks Deb

I only had to get as far as "missionary trip" to tell you this is a scam. It is a standard format, used again and again by scammers. The writing tells me this is a typical African scam, in which the scammer copies information about a home for sale or rent, poses as the owner (owner information can be found online--the scammer simply looks it up, and then opens an email address using the owner's name), advertises it for rent at a great price, and then collects money from potential tenants. In reality, the scammer has absolutely no connection to the property--he has never even been near it.

So i wouldn't want that to bother you at all I could not find an honest agent to hand over the place before leaving so i and my wife decided to post the property online

This is typical scammer logic. Legitimate agents can't be trusted, but they are willing to hand the keys to their home to a random stranger based on a couple of emails and a deposit?

Legitimate homeowners do not travel halfway across the world with the only keys to their home. They WILL have a realtor and/or a friend with access to the house. Even if they weren't renting it out, they would need someone with access in case of emergencies. Issues like storm damage, flooding, fire, broken windows, etc. do happen, and no responsible homeowner who is leaving long-term is going to leave without someone who can handle such things. ANY ad you respond to that requires that you send money or that you get a copy of your credit report before you can visit a property is going to be a scam.

Please post the name and email address this scammer is using, as it may help others to avoid being scammed.