So this is a new one for me *Update in OP*

I have a house that hit the market last week.

My A/C tune-up guy was there yesterday and all was well.

My brother got there today to check on it. Someone has taken down the realtor sign, broken in, changed the locks, hung "no trespassing" signs in the window, and begun  moving things in.

We think that what happened is that a scammer changed the locks, pretended to be the owner, and rented it to an unsuspecting victim.

My brother and the realtor are there now, waiting for the police.


**Updated**

The house is almost an hour from me so my brother was there and called me, and then the realtor came. 

When my brother told me he went inside and saw toys, I told him to get right back out and wait for the cops because he didn't know if anyone was still inside or whatever.

The police finally came, and went in with him, and they walked the house. There were a few other random toys, but nothing else. So the toys could belong to the scammer's kids, or to an unsuspecting tenant. Looks like they were just absent mindedly left behind while parents were Changing locks? Taking measurements? Taking photos? Who knows. The realtor is the one who told me people were moving things in. She was just incorrect. Or assumed, or something. But no one had moved in yet, thank God.

Police walked though but said there was nothing else they could do because nothing had been taken. They had taken the entire door knob and deadbolt off the front, including the realtor's lockbox. They'd changed the locks. They'd brought their dog because there was dog poop all over the back yard but said dog wasn't there. They'd pulled the realtor's sign out of the yard and thrown it on the side of the house. They'd disabled the garage door openers so they could presumably come in and out. So my brother was able to get in that way using our own key.  A few windows had been unlocked. 

Mean while I went to Home Depot and bought all new locks and drove them out so he wouldn't have to leave the property unattended.

We changed all the locks, locked all the windows again, re-engaged the garage door, posted a sign in the window that the house was NOT for rent and if anyone thought they had the right to live there, they didn't and to not attempt to get in, put the realtor sign back up, spoke with ALL the surrounding neighbors (one of whom saw a guy there this morning), and had the sheriff file a report. We also called the realtors for the other two houses for sale on the block and told them to keep an eye out on their homes too. We called the utility companies and put passwords on the accounts so they can't be switched.

So now we're not quite sure if it has been "rented" or not or if the stuff belongs to the scammer. If it belongs to the scammer, he may come back because he hasn't rented it yet.  I'll be interested to see how everything is tomorrow. He would have had to have acted REALLY fast because he was just there this morning, and my brother was there with the cops within a couple hours. So hopefully no one has been victimized yet. I've been combing Craigslist to see if there are any listings for it and nothing has come up yet, thankfully.

***Update Thursday***
Still quiet on the western front. They haven't come back and the neighbors are all watching like hawks. One called the realtor on me because I hadn't introduced myself to her yet and a different house called me when she saw my brother. The weekend poses too much risk for the scammer because so many people go see houses on weekends and all the neighbors are home. By now they have to know we know and I can't believe they would circle back around to us after the weekend. My gut tells me this started with the open house. My guess is they will hit another open house and pull the cord on their garage door and start this all over again. Coincidentally this was or first open house on any of our flips.