Home stripped after hoax internet ad

EVERYTHING including the kitchen sink was stripped from a rental home in Tacoma, Washington after an Internet classified ad invited people to take whatever they wanted for free.

But the landlord says the ad, posted on the craigslist website, was fake. “In the ad, it said come and take what you want. Everything is free,” Laurie Raye said.

Raye had cleaned out the rental after evicting a tenant. After the ad appeared, the property was stripped of the sink, light fixtures, the hot water heater, the front door and a vinyl window.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said the ad was posted last Friday and was on the site for less than two hours before users flagged it down.

He said craigslist rarely encounters such false postings.

Police said they’ve seen craigslist problems before. “We’ve had prostitution things happen, rental scams, fraudulent activity. In this case, it appeared the items were going to be given away, but they were not,” police Detective Gretchen Ellis said.