CRAIGSLIST RENTAL CHECK SCAMMER

Hi,

I posted yesterday an offer because we are renting a room in our house with my wife.

Less than 5 minutes after my add was published I receive a wonderful answer

I'm systematically very suspicious with everything on internet!... and I'm glad I am because i figured out later that this was a scam. And exactly the same happenned this morning. I will post the answers (plus the emails of the persons) I received so you will be aware but I want to give 2 advices which work very well (and actually one of the method brought me to this forum..):

*1: copy and paste the first sentence of the email you receive between quotation in the google search for instance "My name is GEINA and I am looking to rent a place to live". This way you may find other people who already received the exact same email and who were scammed...

*2: copy and paste the email adresse from which you receive an answer in the search field in the very top of the facebook page (when you are logged on), and I consider most of time that if there is nobody linked to this email adress then it's very probably a scammer... I'm not saying that you have to be friend with the person or have access to his entire profil but I mean if you obtain a message like "no result found" for the email address you can have a lot of doubt...

Anyway it helped me a lot in the past for different things so I hope it can help you too...

The next 2 posts will be the responses I received for my add on craigslsit:

FROM: "viera rose" [email protected] and [email protected] (2 different emails address for the same topic!!!)

*HER or HIM!!!
is room still available......?

*Me:
Hi, I already received some answers (we have planned some visits) but the room is still available yes.

* HER or HIM!!!
--- On Thu, 7/7/11, viera rose <[email protected] wrote:

From: viera rose <[email protected]
Subject: Re: $500 Bedroom+bathroom for rent in a house -
To: xxx
Date: Thursday, July 7, 2011, 10:21 AM
Thanks for getting back to me and i am Viera Rose,I am 27yrs old,I am fun loving person, friendly,clean, caring,and respectful of others.a non-smoker, don't do drugs,i drink occasionally.I graduated last year from the national university of Ireland, I am single and have no children,i do bible study and sometimes we do karaoke night n with my roommates then.I need to secure this room for myself before i leave here as I'll be moving in with my luggage.You seem to be a very interesting person to be with and I must confess to you that you will enjoy staying with me in the house because i am an easy going person and i make people happy.I will be in the state before the end of this Month for the next one year and during my stay,i will be doing my masters degree. I was born in England,my dad is from the states but my mum is British,I attended the national university of Ireland,i speak both French and English.i am presently on research work in Guam but i am almost done with that because its part of my perquisite for my masters in Microbiology.I would have loved to call you but this is a remote area and calls are kinda hard to go through from here and i don't want to waste much time.i am really interested in renting from you and i do really love pets but i don't have any at the moment. I would have loved to see it but since i am far away then pictures will do just fine. I will also like you to tell me more about you and if you have garage or parking space cos I will have my own car to make use of there as well, pls let me know the total payment of the place and more over I will send your email to my dad for him to email you later bcos he will be the one paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you to send me your full Name and the mailing address, your phone number as well,so my Dad will issue out the payment for the place as soon as possible,with that you can hold on the place for me till my arrival down there. I will be looking forward to your email soonest.

Regards
VIERA


!!!SCAMMER!!!

FROM: GEINA [email protected] and [email protected]

Subject in HIS or HER email: "I NEED A ROOM"

My name is GEINA and I am looking to rent a place to live. I am a young professional and will be needing to move ASAP. I am willing to pay first and last months rent .I am very responsible and open to any kind of lease. I am an Humanitarian worker and was posted on a new job to your area.I will be glad if i could hear back from you sooner.
Thank You

!!!SCAMMER!!!

HE or SHE never heard back from me because I used my second method that is to say I typed "My name is GEINA and I am looking to rent a place to live" in google and I found your forum saying that was a scam. Thank you!

I hate that and unfortunately I feel like like we are trying to empty the ocean with a spoon... but that's always better than nothing, right?

I hope this help and please send the scammers's email address and email you have.

bye

Hi tienou,
thank you for posting this warning!
Of course, there are honest persons who don't have a FaceBook account; I am one of them.
Please delete your own email address from your post, it can be harvested by spammers and scammers.

Thank you, I did remove my email address...

Yes you are totally right of course, the honnest persons don't have to have a facebook account!

I just wanted to say if the email sounds weird or too beautiful then this can be a way to check but this is not the perfect solution...

In all cases for this kind of stuff I never ever provide anykind of information before having seen the person in the "real-life"...

bye

Here is another
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=20533

Hey!!! look at that GEINA is back and he or she thanks me for my answer!!! ... but... I id NOT answer! lol
The worst is that you can read "This sender is DomainKeys verified"!

subject: AM OK
Friday, July 8, 2011 3:38 PM
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
"[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Add sender to Contacts
To:

Hello,
Thanks very much for e-mailing me back ,i really appreciate it, am also sorry for getting back to you late.. I am GEINA SIDWELL by name and live in Seattle, WA. I would have been kind of happy if we can meet before
making any plans, but am very busy and i have a lot of things to do right now.. I will really appreciate it if you can tell me more about the place and tell me little about you because my uncle is presently very sick, and
i have to travel to Finland to see him but i want to secure the place down before going. He was involved in a car crash with his new car some weeks back and now ill seriously, I need to check on him and take good care of
him.I am staying in CHRMC Children's Hospital Seattle staff Quarters now The address is below:
4800 Sandpoint Way NE Seattle, WA 98105 I am moving cause of my job, am a medical Humanitarian nurse for united Nations. I work for CHRMC Children's Hospital in Seattle but will be working in a local clinic over there, More about me, am a neat type of person, honest, humble and responsible. I like honest, responsible and hardworking people while i hate the lazy, messy and uncaring people....well am a quiet and gentle going person to live with....I am 27 yrs old female, 5.4 in height ,i like tourism and i don't keep late at
nights neither i will have overnight guest around but am ok if you do.. I was born and brought up in Finland, i studied there i had my university education right there while staying with my uncle.. I lived all my life in
Finland before coming down to Seattle, WA have been living with my uncle from age 13 ...Then i was member of the Red Cross Association it really sounds interesting for me... Am sure You 'll really like the person that i am ,because i will also do the dishing if you like I work when i am to and relax when i am to, I also
like sharing my thoughts also....paying rent on time will not be a problem as i will also be making the rent fee before the month ends.... I do not have any pet, i really like dog and cat but have none of it now, so there is no problem about that. I must confess am comfortable with the price and I will want to secure the place down before my arrival so i will want you to tell me all about the place as i can't see it before my arrival but the pictures...I also will want you to know that i have my car that i will be coming over with little of my furniture. please let me know if there will be room for them. With all that I've said above I have told you more about me and more picture of mine will be attach in the next email Let me also know how i can go about securing the
place down before my arrival as i will also be busy from next week and let me know if you can take off the ad off the site as i am going to secure the place with a deposit Feel free to ask me any question and as I've said i am looking to move in by the availability of the place but want to secured it now Thanks..

Thanks for posting tienou but if you take the time to browse our site, you will see that we already have a list (this site) and we have sections for different scams in order to help people find the scam that is relevant to them.
You have just posted the details of a lottery scam in the "rental" section when it would be more helpful to post it in the "lottery" section here: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

If you go to the "specific scams" section: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=30
You will see the various scams listed by category.

If you go to the main index: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/index.php , you will also see some useful advice sections as well as the main scam genres.

Thanks for your help but please keep it relevant.

Thank you Support Team! I did move the two Lotto posts to the Lotto forum. The encouragement by Con Warner is very relevant and with posting by topic, it is easier to keep the forum organized and chaos from reigning here.

We appreciate posts of scams. Please try to put them in the appropriate topic area(s) as pointed out by Con Warner.

If in doubt, send the post to a Moderator and we can help you find the best forum for the scam information.

Hello,

Yes thank you for your precision, actually I put that here because I received that through my add for a rental room but anyway, I'll be more careful in the future...

Hopefully by doing that we'll reduce the number of these f.... scammer! Sorry but it drives me so crazy...

Lisa Bella and Viera Rose must be twin sisters:

(From:)
Lisa ATlisaciousbellaATgmailDOTcom Lisa [email protected]

Thanks for getting back to me and i am Lisa Bella,I am 27yrs old,I am fun loving person, friendly,clean, caring,and respectful of others.a non-smoker, don't do drugs,i drink occasionally.I graduated last year from the national university of Ireland, I am single and have no children,i do bible study and sometimes we do karaoke night with my roommates then.I need to secure this room for myself before i leave here as I'll be moving in with my luggage.You seem to be a very interesting person to be with and I must confess to you that you will enjoy staying with me in the house because i am an easy going person and i make people happy.I will be in the state before the end of this Month for the next one year and during my stay,i will be doing my masters degree. I was born in England,my dad is from the states but my mum is British,I attended the national university of ireland,i speak both French and English.i am presently on research work in Guam but i am almost done with that because its part of my perquisite for my masters in Microbiology.I would have loved to call you but this is a remote area and calls are kinda hard to go through from here and i don't want to waste much time.i am really interested in renting from you and i do really love pets but i don't have any at the moment. I would have loved to see it but since i am far away then pictures will do just fine. I will also like you to tell me more about you and if you have garage or parking space cos I will have my own car to make use of there as well, please let me know the total payment of the place and more over I will send your email to my dad for him to email you later because he will be the one paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you to send me your full Name and the mailing address, your phone number as well,so my Dad will issue out the payment for the place as soon as possible,with that you can hold on the place for me till my arrival down there. I will be looking forward to your email soonest.

Regards
Lisa

Probably both have extremely hairy armpits, smelling quite unfeminine


E-mails to watch: [email protected] & [email protected] & [email protected]

- The last one from guess who? Veira Rose!

Pattern is they/she/he/it send a couple of short "enquiries", then eventually the large one with all the university of ireland crap, no doubt to be followed by "please send your bank details, so's daddy can pay you"

Damned time-waster.

DennisR

I'm glad you recognized these phonies quickly--it sounds like the double approach saved you some time on research.

This particular scam variant usually progresses to a "I'll send you a (fake) check for way over the cost of the rent, you cash it and send the extra by WU to my tutor/decorator/travel agent/spirit guide/best friend's dog etc. (you get the idea)" Of course the check originally looks good to the bank, and there's a reasonable chance you will be issued the cash (if the bank hasn't proven it's a fake within a certain period of time (length of time depends on the type of check), by law they have to give you the cash). Then, later, when the fake is discovered, they will take the cash back (which the law also allows them to do), charge you all kinds of fees for the bad check, freeze your account, and possibly have you arrested for check fraud, which is a pretty serious offense.

Hi,

and here is a new one...

adress: [email protected]

email:
From: kimberly davis <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011 3:48 PM
Date: 2011-08-16, 9:59AM CDT Reply to:

I'm so glad to read back from you. I will not be able to come and see
the place now but picture will be okay the most important thing to me
is your location it really works for me, I could have love to call
you but i don't have international calling plan but i will try to get
an international calling card to call you later in the week but i
believe we can still exchange emails for the main time or you call me
on my Land line number which is +447045712915 and make sure you dial
as presented. I'm sure i am the type of person you will like to let
out the room to,I will like to tell you lil about myself, You can call
me kimberly Davis. and I'm single 27yrs old, I was born in Spain, I
don't smoke i don't drink. I'm easy going person and i make people
around smile. I'm an Humanitarian Doctor and I need to secure this
room for myself before i arrive as I'll be moving in with my luggage.
I must confess to you that you will enjoy my stay in your home, I am a
chemist by profession and i am currently working with Southern General
Hospital 1345 Govan Road, Glasgow G51 4TF. I'm single. I will stay in
the house for one year and during my stay i will be working with the
General hospital for HIV/AID prevalence rate in the state which is a
private research work....It will be a great pleasure seeing you soon.
Really i am interesting person to live with, i will also attach my
picture in the next email so that you have an idea of who you want to
let out the room to and what i really look like, Do you have a parking
space and will i have to pay for it?

Sincerely,
kimberly Davis

i am currently working with Southern General
Hospital 1345 Govan Road, Glasgow G51 4TF. I'm single. I will stay in
the house for one year and during my stay i will be working with the
General hospital for HIV/AID prevalence rate in the state which is a
private research work....

WHAT THE HELL IS MUGU TALKING ABOUT? We don't have these in the UK. We call them something else but I won't educate the illiterate and ignorant.

and it continues...


From: mary dean <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: $500 Bedroom+bathroom for rent in a house - big yard (Little Rock)

Thanks for getting back to me, My name is Mary Dean.I am 24yrs old,I'm
fun-loving, personal,friendly,clean, caring,and respectful of others.a
non-smoker, don't do drugs, not a drinker and drama free. I've been
searching and searching for two weeks for a place an been having no
luck,Males/females doesn't matter as well as homes with a lot of
roommates. I graduated last year. I am single and have no children.
However, I don't have Pets. Am coming for my masters degree I was
born in Virginia Beach in Virginia. My dad is from there too but my
mum is from Canada.Am on research work at Guam (USA), am almost done
with that Because its part of my prerequisite for my masters in Micro
Biology .I would have loved to call you but I am not mobile my mobile
have been disconnected due to moving out of Guam.Am really interested
in renting from you and I want to know everything about the place I
do really love pets but I don't have any at the moment. I would have
loved to see it but am very far,but with pictures,I am glad. I will
also like you to tell me more about yourself and if you have pets. I
don't smoke.Please let me know the total payment of the place and more
over I will send your email to my dad for him to email you later
Because He is the one that will be paying the bills(Rent and deposit
fees), but nevertheless,I will like you to send me your full Name
and the mailing address street...City..State...Zip Code,your phone
number as well, so that my Dad will issue out the payment (Cashier
Check)for the place as soon as possible,with that you can hold on the
place for me till I come.Thanks and have nice day.
Best Regards
Mary