Real Estate Scam

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I received an e-mail from reader Deborah from Sacramento who said she was looking for a house to rent and received one of the infamous scam e-mails.

The fake scammer name used on the e-mail? Reverend Dago Villa.

It’s a good thing that this ad didn’t run in New Jersey or else my friends Antony and Mario might have taken offense to it.

Anyway Rev. Villa wanted the money wired overseas then would send Deborah the keys. Thankfully she did not fall for it.

It’s only when enough people are educated will these scammers be put out of business.

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This e-mail comes to us from across the pond. UK reader Roger posted an ad on Gumtree renting a room. he got a response from a fake scammer name we’ve seen before.

I’ve just advertised a room for rent on gumtree, and I got an e-mail from a Steven Randy. Here is that e-mail in full…….

“Hello,
My name is Mr.Steven Randy, I am highly interested in making payment for the room you advertised for rent, I want to make the payment on behalf of my Daughter who intends to be at your location to further her education, I am currently in Paris France my family. So I would like to
know how much you will be charging per month with deposit.I would like to know the nearest bus/stops to the universities around the house and few information about the house, Please do get back with your FINAL ASKING PRICE per month and deposite so i can make arrangements for payment asap and also give you more details about my daughter and my family.

Best regards,
Mr.Steven Randy ”

I was a bit suspicious from the off. The advert clearly states all of the facilities available within the house, and that it has very easy access to all bus stops, etc. Also, at the date of reciept the education calender had already been long underway, of course it is normal for students to change college/uni mid term, it just rang false. Luckily I had the good foresight
to create a generic e-mail address for advertising the room, and not have my name plastered on it. Just very generic and fairly untraceable……

……So I replied with:

“Hi Steven,

The average monthly rental, including bills for the room works out around £330 per month. Deposit is £350 (I’m not sure what that is in Euro’s!). Also, because the house is now being rented through an agency, there is a £150 reference fee, which is paid directly to ******** properties, who will then have to reference yourself, and/or your daughter.

The location of the house is close to the city centre, and is within a 2 minute walk to the bus stop (It literally is just less than 50 metres from the house), which services City Centre (which is a 10 minute walk from the front door anyway) - there is also a bus which runs direct to the
universities from the stop as well.

I will be honest though Steven, we would like to meet the person we would be living with before commiting, obviously as we have to live with that person, and that person has to live with us!

Let me know what you think and I look forward to hearing from you.

Roger”

Pretty safe reply, very vague on the location, didn’t give my full name away and Ive planted the bits about referencing and meeting the person first. The e-mail I got back pretty much confirmed my suspicions……

“Hello,
Thanks for your reply, your price is ok by me and every other thing it’s ok with me,i will like you to know that i will be paying you an advance payment first for the month and deposit. I will have my client issue out payment to you on my behalf since i am not in state now to do that myself ok but be rest assured that everything will handled very fine. So he will be sending you Cheque or money orders pending on the one you prefer that your bank will cash for you quick without Any delays.I would also like to inform you that is likely my client sends you an over payment and this will be due to the fact that my daughter will be needing part of the over-payment to come down to your home.Please once the payment is received, you will have
to take it to your bank and have it deposited into your account for immediate clearance and get back to me with the excess funds which will be Sent to my Daughter Through her traveling Agent via western union money transfer same day payment is received, so he can make traveling
arrangements for my daughter to come down to your end ok.You will have to deduct your money for the rent and deposit which is(£830,being payment for a month rent and deposit.) and the excess funds goes to her for her necessary up keeping before coming over for her studies. She will be coming down to your end as soon as payment is duly paid and the traveling agents receives her money to enable her obtain her tickets and some other things that will be needed for her journey. kindly forward the necessary formation for the payment to be sent to you immediately find below the information you need to send me to enable you get payment:

FULL NAME………………
ADDRESS………………..
ZIP CODE………………
STATE…….
CELL PHONE NUMBER…………….

ABOUT MY DAUGHTER & FAMILY
my daughter’s name is Mimi reno Randy,she is 19 years, 5′7″ tall, straight,female and single.she dose not drink or smoke,her hobbies are reading,swimming for fun and sometimes play tennis.

My Full name:Mr.StevenRandy, and my wife’s name:Farla Jean Randy. We have been happily married
for over 40 years now and we are richly blesses with two kids , Mimi and her brother Paul, who is 25 years already married . We are very happy families and my kids are very nice and respectful and responsible. We live in Paris France , I am a chattered Accountant while my wife is a Nurse.
Get back now. I will have her sign for every necessary agreements when she arrives ok.

Best Regards,
Mr.Steven Randy”

Needless to say, I never did reply. Lots of bullsh*t trying to provoke me
to send him my full name and address………….

Good job Roger on picking out an obvious scam and also for using a generic e-mail address.

The two things that jump right out at me is that Mr. Steven Randy even mentioned he would be making an overpayment and asking Roger to wired the excess. That’s exactly like the tutor scam among other fake check scams. Secondly I like how he asks Roger for his State and ZIP Code. ZIP codes are exclusive to the U.S. No to mention the bad English and to an Englishman that’s really bad English.

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Another rental scam e-mail sent in by reader Rose. This time about a property in the Costa Mesa, California area…

From: Andre Ulla Jose Uribe [mailto:anrdreulla@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:50 PM
Subject: Re: $1000 / 3br - 2 bath single family home. (Canyon Cir Costa
Mesa)

Hello,

Thanks for your email and interest in renting my house..I am Andre ulla,the
owner of the house you are making inquiry of…Actually I resided in the
house with my family, my wife and my only daughter 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 $1000 USD (rent already
includes utilities).Moreso Now, I’m currently in Lagos,Nigeria for an
international Christian follower’s crusade.

Please 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 (**** ****** ***
Costa Mesa, CA 92627).
It has a dramatic entry foyer with ceramic floor. Extremely spacious rooms
throughout with lots of big windows…nice and light! New neutral paint and
some newer carpet..Very quiet, low traffic area. New fridge (7/07)…I
believe its absolutely a perfect home for you and your family.Utilities
include Water,Trash,Sewer,Gas
SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE
RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW

RENT APPLICATION FORM.
FIRST NAME:__________?
MIDDLE NAME:__________?
LAST NAME:__________?
PROFESSION:__________?
PHONE:
(CELL)PHONE__________?
(WORK)PHONE__________?
(HOME)PHONE__________?
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS: _____________________
CITY: _______________
STATE:______________
ZIP CODE: ____________
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING__________?
IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________?
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________?
IF YOU HAVE A PET,
NAME OF PET: _____________?
KIND OF PETS: _____________?
HABITS
DO YOU SMOKE ______________ ?
DO YOU DRINK ______________?
DO YOU WORK LATE NIGHT? ____?

Looking forward to hearing from you with all this details so that i can
have it in my file in case 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 $1000 (which happens to be the first
months rent) 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…my number is (+2347084066248 or
0112347084066248).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,
Andre Ulla.

This one is right out of the Nigerian handbook. Warsaw, Nigeria, Christian missionary, all the usual red flags.

I wonder if scam rental ads out number the real ones yet on craigslist.

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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.

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Scammers attack real estate:

It’s not just craigslist where the scammers have taken hold. Every once in a while we get the odd kijiji story as well and this is one of them. In case you didn’t know kijiji is a craigslist competitor that was founded and owned by eBay.

A couple from Calgary fell for the Nigerian scam by wiring money to Nigeria to a man they thought was a Calgray doctor renting out his home. He was allegedly in Africa doing ‘Christian missionary work.’

The house actually belonged to a 79-year-old woman who is selling the house but not on kijiji.

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Some more fake craigslist scammer names to add to the list. The first one is Arsenio Calle which was used on the typical renter scam, thanks to reader Keith.

We also have Peter Terry and Liana Costello with the email address of lai.costello@yahoo.com which were used on rental scams in the Felton, California area. Thanks to reader Denica for those.

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Rachel from Alaska is back with another e-mail response she got while looking on craigslist for a new place to live.

It gets better… the only other one that I responded to besides this, I got this response from “josh korinto” at jkorinto@yahoo.com… I actually drove by the rental and found that it was posted by a rental agency and it was not a house. Just thought I would send you another one.

Hello,
Thanks for the interest in our house. I got contracted by Mobil Producing Unlimited as a project consultant (Petroleum Engineer) and has since been posted to their West Africa regional office in Nigeria. I had wanted to sell the house but my wife talked me out of it and so we are now renting it out. We will be out for a long time and so we are looking for a long lease. I will advice that you go and take a look at the house and its surrounding as we have the keys here with us and you can not enter inside.

Due to the enormous amount of responses I ask that if you are still interested in the house, I will send you the rental form to fill. Please e-mail me the following
information to help speed up the process:

Income per year:
Credit Score:
I prefer if interested renters check their credit score for themselves because I do not feel comfortable asking for SS #.

Thank you
Regards
Phone; 011-234-709-402-4054 and 011-234-808-692-2023

NOTE: THE RENT IS REDUCED BECAUSE TENANT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR UTILITIES

Petroleum Engineer now is it? He must have been promoted from welder. But I will ‘advice’ him that his English still isn’t any better.

You want to feel sorry for people who fall for these scams but most times you want to smack them for being so gullible.

BTW, did you know the word ‘gullible’ is not in the dictionary.

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Latest Internet scam doesn’t fool locals:

A Nigerian scammer tried ‘renting out’ a house on craigslist where a woman in Rhode Island resided. She was selling it with Century 21 but not craigslist. Century 21 decided to e-mail the scammer and this was the reply they received.

“Hi, I got your mail in regards to my house for rent, but I have been very busy with work, it is still available for rent. What really happened is this, am not giving my house out for rent just because of my transfer to West Africa. Am an x-ray welder under ship building, I have been working with Nassco ship building here in united state, you can view site at www.nasscco.com, but have just been transferred to Niger dock Nigeria plc, you can also view site at www.nigerdock.com.

I left united state with hope that I will be coming back in a month’s time, but right now the company have ask me to stay for 3 yrs under contract with them, that is why I have made up my mind to put up my house for rent to whom ever that will take could care of it.

Please if really interested you can contact me on +234-802-220-1721, or email me. also how long do you intend to stay?

Please respond ASAP.

You can go check out the house from the outside now and get back to me for more information and Rental application Form.

Thanks”

He am an x-ray welder? Him speak English not so goodly. And which united state did he leave?

The welding thing is a new one to me. At least it’s different from the Christian missionaries.

I wouldn’t recommend clicking on the website links either.

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This e-mail was sent to me by Rachel in Alaska who is looking for a place to live and came in contact with the following scammer…

As I was looking for apartments yesterday, I came across what seemed to be the perfect place… I emailed sally.carman84@yahoo.com and this was my response… this was posted for Anchorage, AK.

Hello,

Thanks for your email and interest in renting my house..I am Sally Carman,the owner of the house you are making enquiry of…Actually I resided in the house with my family, my husband 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 $1000 USD (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 woman 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 (123 Fake St. Anchorage, AK 99515)..

It has a dramatic entry foyer with ceramic floor. Extremely spacious rooms throughout with lots of big windows…nice and light! New neutral paint and some newer carpet..Very quiet, low traffic area. New fridge (7/07)…I believe its absolutely a perfect home for you and your family.Utilities include Water,Trash,Sewer,Gas

SO IF YOU ARE REALY INTRESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW

RENT APPLICATION FORM. FIRST NAME:__________?
MIDDLE NAME:__________?
LAST NAME:__________?
PROFESSION:__________?
PHONE:
(CELL)PHONE__________?
(WORK)PHONE__________?
(HOME)PHONE__________?
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS: _____________________
CITY: _______________
STATE:______________
ZIP CODE: ____________
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING__________?
IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________?
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________?
IF YOU HAVE A PET,
NAME OF PET: _____________?
KIND OF PETS: _____________?
HABITS
DO YOU SMOKE ______________ ?
DO YOU DRINK ______________?
DO YOU WORK LATE NIGHT? ____?

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 $1000 (which happens to be the first months rent) 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…my number is (+234********** OR 011234**********).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,
Sally and Paul Carman.

— It seemed odd since they were out of country so I did some searching and found this site. I responded to the email and inquired as to why it was no longer listed on craigslist because I wanted to take a look at the pictures again and this was the response:

“I took the posting off craigslist after you contacted me…Dont you want to rent it any longer?”

I haven’t responded since I have done further research, but as you can see, they are really trying the bait. Please beware!

Wait a sec, She’s in Warsaw and Nigeria at the same time? That’s a neat trick. I will say that their English is getting better though. It’s still a scam people. Rachel was smart enough to do some research. Unfortunately not all people are. If they were these 419 scammers would be put out of business.

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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.

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Escalon man arrested in alleged rental scam on Craigslist:

49-year-old Cornell Albescu was arrested for running a craigslist rental scam in Modesto, California. His scam added a new twist to the usual scam.

Albescu would rent out properties that he didn’t own of course. The new wrinkle is that he would get unwitting handymen involved. He would have someone break into the foreclosed property and leave the back door unlocked. He’d tell the handymen to go fix up the place. Then when the renters showed up he’s have the renters give the handymen the money. The handymen would take their cut and send the rest to Albescu.

But he’s been caught. Police are also looking for Mike Russo and Anthony Russo who are also believed to be part of the scam.

Just in writing about these scams I’ve noticed that California seems to actually catch their real estate scammers more than any other state. Just sayin’.

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I received the following e-mail from Amanda who references Christa’s e-mail in an apartment scam that she discovered…

I was doing some research to see if an apartment ad was a scam or not. I put in some of the text and a link for Christa’s email came up with almost the exact same wording. I was hoping that the ad was for real, but unfortunately it was not. Here is the email.

Hello. We are so much excited. My name is Harry Cameron the owner of the apartment and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer that makes me and my wife and little daughter to leave the apartment and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it while we are not at the state 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, our new house and put all my worries off concerning the maintenance of the apartment for, since i am not residing there for now. I left behind some Facilities and electonics which include the rent, DVD player, air conditioning, alarm system. The kitchen is fully equipped with all necessary cooking utensils, refrigerator-freezer, four-hob and oven,microwave, dishwasher and washing machine, my computer connected with Internet access also the keys and document of the apartment are right here with us in West Africa, and the lease document. Which i can send to you after all necessary agreement has been accepted. Also i will like you to know that the rent charges is not really the issue, hope you are okay with the price of $750 per month including utilities like hydro, water, gas, heat laundry facilities, air condition and so on, but your absolute maintenance of my apartment is most important thing, if you are really interested in renting this apartment get back to me so that i can forward you an application form for you to fill so that i can start all necesary
arrangement asap.

Pls note that you will be viewing the apartment from outside only and 100 % sure that you would love to stay in the place because it is located in a very cool, quiet and safe neigbourhood.

RENT APPLICATION FORM
1) Your Full Name.
2) Your Full Address & Phone Number.
3) How old are you ?
4) Are you married ?
5) Sex ?
6) How many people will be living in the house ?
7) Do you have a pet ?
8) Do you have a car ?
9) What is your Occupation ?
10) Short or Long Term Lease ?
11) When do you intend to move in : Date ?
12) Deposit : One Month or Two month rent Deposit needed before moving in
13) Pictures of all occupant that will stay in the apartment
14) Reference Details

There was a man who want to rent my apartment his name was Mr Daniel called me about the apartment, i told him that I can’t give him the apartment because he loves smoking, drinking and dont want him to get drunked and damaged my property one day so If you are still interested, no extra fees. I will like you to give me a call at 0112347081249517 or +2347081249517 on this effect to know how serious you are. I personally will actually come visiting you sometimes during the year as our new tenant. Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issueing the receipt for you and contacting you. Awaiting your
reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys of the apartment to you.

Thanks and God bless
Regards

I hope people research these ads before buying into them. My boyfriend was all for it but something was holding me back. Thank God! It could have cost me $1500

And people wonder what this site’s purpose is. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

Thank you Amanda. The more scams and fake scammer names I post the more people will be made aware to these scams.

Again I say craigslist should be paying me for consulting work. Do you hear that Jim?

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I got the following e-mail from Christa who was looking for an apartment on carigslist…

I’m 20 years old and this is the first time I began searching for apartments. When I saw an ad that looked too good to be true- I hesitated but gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and emailed him. This was his exact response:

“Hello. We are so much excited. My name is Mcgrath Garrett the owner of the apartment and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer that makes me and my wife and little daughter to leave the apartment and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it while we are not at the state 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, our new house and put all my worries off concerning the maintenance of the apartment for, since i am not residing there for now. I left behind some Facilities and electonics which include the rent, DVD player, air conditioning, alarm system. The kitchen is fully equipped with all necessary cooking utensils, refrigerator-freezer, four-hob and oven, microwave, dishwasher and washing machine, my computer connected with Internet access also the keys and document of the apartment are right here with us in West Africa, and the lease document. Which i can send to you after all necessary agreement has been accepted. Also i will like you to know that the rent charges is not really the issue, hope you are okay with the price of $900 per month including utilities like hydro, water, gas, heat laundry facilities, air condition and so on, but your absolute maintenance of my apartment is most important thing, if you are really interested in renting this apartment get back to me so that i can forward you an application form for you to fill so that i can start all necesary arrangement asap.

Here is the apartment address : (California address)
…. Pls note that you will be viewing the apartment from outside only and 100 % sure that you would love to stay in the place because it is locatedin a very cool, quiet and safe neigbourhood. There was a man who want to rent my apartment his name was Mr Daniel called me about the apartment, i told him that I can’t give him the apartment because he loves smoking, drinking and dont want him to get drunked and damaged my property one day so If you are still interested, no extra fees. I will like you to give me a call at (foreign number) or (other foreign number) on this effect to know how serious you are. I personally will actually come visiting you sometimes during the year as our new tenant. Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issueing the receipt for you and contacting you. Awaiting your reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys of the apartment to you. “

I soon googled the e-mail and the only response was for a rental fraud website. I want to make sure this story gets posted because it might help a stupid person from making an even more stupid decision of sending money.

Thanks for your time :)

Thank you Christa for sending this in. It gives one more fake scammer name to post.

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Two plead guilty to renting foreclosed homes they didn’t own:

At least some of the craigslist scammers face justice.

For example take Alexander Braslavsky, 34, and Anthony Patrick Marshall, 38, of Orange County, California. Even though one of them has a legitimate real estate license that didn’t stop them from renting out houses to people even though they didn’t own the house.

They took it to the next level with one victim though. After 44-year-old Linda Smith gave them $4500 for for a deposit and first and last month’s rent they gave her keys that actually worked for the house. When she tried to get the utilities turned on she found out that the scammers didn’t own the house.

The pair pleaded guilty yesterday to felony grand theft. They’ve been ordered to pay the money back to the victims and could spend only 90 days in jail.

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Craigslist scams continue - Complaint Desk - OregonLive

A great post from the Oregon Live blog about a reader of theirs who found a rental scam in Fullerton, CA. The post gives us new fake nakmes the scammers are using and those would be Dr.Michael & Laurie Haling.

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