Nashville

I received this scam e-mail from reader Mike. The ad was on the Nashville craigslist. This one seems like they’re not even trying anymore…

Michael,

Thanks for the email. I Brink and my wife Dr. Betty own the Apartment and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer that made i and my wife to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and we are looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at all time and we will appreciate it if the person will take it as if it were his/her own.

So for now, We are here in west Africa, in our new house and also with the keys of the house, we tried looking for an agent that we can give this documents before we left but could not see and we also don’t want our house to be used improperly in our absence that is why we took it along with us. I and my wife came over to West Africa for a missionary work, so i hope you will promise us to take very good care of the house.

So get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have had in renting home. Hope you are okay with the price. I am looking forward to hear from you soon, please call us on how to get the house for rent, 011 then 234-803-923-7268 or + 234-806-330-0979

RENT APPLICATION FORM
1)Your Full Name :
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number :
3)How old are you?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
9)What is your religion?

Looking forward to hear 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. I await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you, we have not seen you yet but we only put everything into Gods hand, so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.Please i want you to drive to check the house at the address and let me know if you would like it, the house is locked and i have the keys.

Thanks and you are welcome
Brink and wife Dr. betty

Let’s review for those just joining us. Wanting, clean apartment, bad English (not the band), West Africa, missionary work, can’t see the inside of the house, Nigerian phone number, and finally lame fake names. I mean Brink and Dr. Betty and no last name?

I’m amazed that the people who fall for these scams can actually operate a computer.

I received an e-mail from Michael who was looking for a condo in Nashville and found one that was too good to be true. When he e-mailed the ’seller’ this was the response he got.

Hello,

Thanks for your response regarding your interest in having my apartment for rent.The apartment is much available for now.I want you to know that I amthe owner of this building .But right now i am in africa on a Christain mission with my wife and we have the keys right here with us.I will like toinform you that it was due to my transfer that makes us to leave the apartment and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a resposible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own.So for now,We are here in West Africa,NIGERIA our new house and also with the keys of the house,we are trying to look for an agent that we can give this document before we left but could not see and we are as well as dont want our house to be used any how in our absent that is why we took it along with us here.We are only willing to give the apartment out to a lovely and caring family only, so if you know you cannot give the apartment the neatness it deserves please don’t contact me.But if you promise to always take good
care of apartment,get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in renting home.Hope you are okay with the price of $650 with hydro,heat laundry facilities,air-condition and so on.i look forward to hearing from you ASAP so that i can forward you an application to fill out and discuss on how to get the apartment for rent,also are you ready to rent it now or when?

Thanks,
Marcie anderson.

So we can add Marcie Anderson to the list of fake scammer names.

Michael e-mailed Mrs. ‘Anderson’ back and then ’she’ requested the usual personal information for identity theft purposes. Michael did not e-mail her back of course and he notes that the ad was removed the day after.

Let’s go over the red flags again…

• Broken English: The apartment is much available for now.
• Christian Mission: If there were as many Christian missionaries as they claim to be on craigslist the entire continent of Africa would be Christian.
• Africa: Especially Nigeria, the birthplace of internet scams.
• Asking for money sight unseen: It doesn’t matter how desperate you are for a place, never rent without seeing the inside of the place first.

And remember the old saying applies true even more with craigslist, if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

Police Warn of Stolen Goods On-Line:

Jennifer Szostecki of Nashville, Tennessee was arrested ion Saturday for selling stolen goods. Where was she selling them? Why craigslist of course. She is accused of having stolen $10,000 of professional audio equipment and trying to sell it for $3,000. Szostecki was out on parole for arson and robbery, go figure.

Luckily the victim was able to identify his equipment on craigslist and Szostecki was arrested.

Police in the article also state something very important that craigslist users should know. It is possible for the buyer to be charged with receiving stolen goods. So keep that in mind when you see a deal that’s too be true on craigslist.