At least four more rental property owners have come forward to report that they believe they were targeted by Nigerian scammers trying to dupe people into renting homes the scammers did not own.

A spokesman at the Kailua police substation said that three people who were advertising rentals on O'ahu had called and said they believed someone from Nigeria was advertising their properties on Web sites and trying to rent them under false pretenses.

All of the possible frauds had "a Nigerian twist" to them, the police spokesman said. He said detectives would begin tracking down the leads today.

Meanwhile, a doctor in Waipahu told The Advertiser that someone with a Nigerian connection had falsely listed a rental property he owns on a Web site, but a potential renter was savvy enough to check out the situation and realize it was a scam.

The reports came a day after police warned of such scams, highlighting the case of an O'ahu family duped into paying rent on a Kailua townhouse that the con artists did not own. The legitimate owner, Elene Tzetzos, returned to Hawai'i from the Mainland on Feb. 7 and found the victimized family had moved into her 'Aikahi Gardens townhouse and changed the locks.

The family had responded to a phony ad on craigslist.org and were bilked out of about $2,500 for rent and other costs, police said. Using information from an Internet ad placed by Tzetzos, the scammers created their own Web ad and advertised the property for far less. They told the renters that the keys were not available but said they had permission to move in and change the locks.

Yesterday, Dr. Ben Galindo, who practices medicine in Waipahu and who often goes on humanitarian medical missions to the Philippines, said the scammers targeted him in January.

"I was advertising a rental in Foster Village in Salt Lake," Galindo said. "I had a rental agent and advertised it for $2,800. But a phony ad showed up on a Web site advertising it for $1,500."

The ad said that Galindo was in Nigeria on a medical mission and needed to rent the property, Galindo said.

But one of the potential rent- ers who saw the ad became suspicious, found Galindo's home address and drove there to inquire.

"He asked my daughter if I was in Nigeria and she said no I wasn't," Galindo said.

He said the potential renter had called the number in the ad and talked to a man in Nigeria posing as Galindo who "didn't have a Filipino accent," Galindo said. "It didn't sound right; that's what made him suspicious."

Galindo said his rental agent called the man in Nigeria and told him that he knew the ad was a fraud. The ad was quickly taken off the Web site, Galindo said.

Honolulu police have no jurisdiction in Nigeria.

Police advise anyone with information about similar situations to call 911.