Illinois

Lake Zurich man out $2,000 for Bears tickets listed on Craigslist:

As you can tell by the headline a man from Lake Zurich, Illinois is out of $2K after falling for a Chicago Bears season ticket scam on craigslist. The mistake he made wiring the money. He never received any tickets and whomever he wired the money to in California is now $2K richer.

Remember kids, wiring money is the biggest red flag as far as scams are concerned.

I received the following rental scam email from Shannon. It has a most unusal scammer name.

I am so glad i found your site. I contacted a supposed landlord about a great apartment he posted on craigslist. The property is in Evanston, IL. Here is the email he sent back. Total Scam!!!!!

Thanks for your email and interest in renting my house..I am shitayegebeyehu,the owner of the house you are making enquiry of…Actually I resided in the house with my family, my wife and my only daugther before and presently we have moved out due to my transfer from my work now in Warsaw,Poland. Presently my house is still available for rent for $900 USD and $500 for the security deposit (rent already includes utilities).Moreso Now, i’m currently in Lagos,Nigeria for an international christian follower’s crusade.

Pls i want you to note that,i am a kind, honest and trustworthy Man and also i spent a lot on my property that i want to give to you for rent,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house and want you to treat it as your own, It is not the money that is the main problem but i want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i come for a check up.I also want you to let me have trust in you as i always stand on my word.This is the address of the House ..

SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTRESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE
RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW
RENT APPLICATION FORMName: ________________________ State: _______Present
Address: __________ How Long? __________Previous Address: __________ How
Long? __________How Old Are You:_________Phone Number:__________Married:
__________Spouse’s Name: __________When Do You Intend Moving
In_____________________Children? __________ How Many? __________ Ages?
__________Pets? __________ What Kind? __________ Ho

Looking forward to hearing from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you…Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys to you,please we are giving you all this based on
trust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that we have not seen yet and only putting everything into Gods hands,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this…

The house is available for rent at the moment so you are free to move in as soon as you wish to…A Deposit of $500 (which happens to be the security deposit) is required before moving in…Feel free to call me for more information and arrangements on how to get the keys and other necessary documents delivered to you…The house will be available for rent for a period of 4 years so you have a choice of deciding how long you intend staying there…

God Bless,
shitayegebeyehu.

How do you pronounce shitayegebeyehu anyway? Does it involves clicks and whistles?

Anyway typical scam stuff here. Christian missionary, overseas, Nigeria.

Thanks Shannon for sending that in.

• 28-year-old Lynn M. Collins of Caseyville, Illinois. Mugshot
• Douglas Winberry, Lindsey McKeehan and Colby Watson of Boise, Idaho plead not guilty to pimping out two 15-year-olds. Mugshots. Originally posted about here.
• 28-year-old Aaron Pierre Brown of Hayward, California. Federally indicted for pimping out underage girls. Originally posted about here

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Man that’s a whole lot of people who aren’t supposed to be victims.

10 charged in Internet prostitution:
Cook County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois arrested 10 members of a craigslist prostitution ring that ran in Illinois and Indiana.

Rodney “Mook” Williams, Eddie Wells and Terrance “Big T” Greenlee Jr., all of Chicago, and Gregory Key of Evergreen Park are accused of operating the prostitution ring. If convicted, they could face up to 30 years in prison.

Six women were charged with prostitution. The juveniles were questioned by police but released without being charged, officials said.

Yes you read that right, juveniles.

The ring operated in Illinois and Indiana and involved at least 11 women, some of whom were high school freshmen and sophomores, he said.

Two of the juveniles—one from Iowa—were runaways, officials said, adding the alleged leaders recruited some women from a strip club and found others at a currency exchange.

There’s that ‘victimless’ crime again.

Three arrested in Craigslist robberies:
Not too long ago I posted about three men that were arrested for craigslist related robberies. At the time I did not have their names. Now thanks to Chicago’s ABC affiliate we now know that they are Dewayne Morrow, 21, of Maywood, Ill., Stephen Johnson, 18, also of Maywood, and Donquez Nicholson, 17, Chicago.

They would contact sellers that sold high end goods, meet them, then rob them. Police think that the trio had at least 20 victims.

The arrests of two other suspects may be forthcoming.

Caught on Craigslist:
That happy couple are 40-year-old Edward Green and 26-year-old Megan Morris of Aurora, Illinois. They’ve been charged with a running a house of prostitution. Of course they advertised their wares on craigslist but again the offer of prostitution wasn’t all that it seemed.

Green and Morris were charged after one potential customer said he was robbed at Green’s apartment.

According to police, the man had found a listing for illegal sexual services on Craigslist, a Web site that offers online classified ads ranging from apartment listings to furniture swaps.

The victim went to the apartment for sex but instead was mugged by two men, police said. The victim then complained to police.

You would think that robbing johns would be the perfect crime but there’s always somebody that has big enough ones to turn the criminals in.

And again this should serve as a warning to those wanting to do “erotic business” on craigslist. Get hurt or get arrested, your choice.

Thief steals bike, lists it on craigslist, owner finds listing:
34-year-old Kenneth Franklin of Mount Prospect, Illinois was arrested for felony theft. It seems that he stole the bicycle of one Kim Inman. Ms. Inman saw the bike listed on craigslist and called police who set up a meeting with the seller.

For not thinking his cunning plan all the way through Mr. Franklin is the latest recipient of…