Rental Scam - Curtis Wood Fowler

I got recently very excited about a nice place in my price range. I am desperate to move, and almost fell for it. He is now using the name John Weis, and was posting on Craigslist an apartment in Sunnyvale, CA. I was worried about subletting problems, since he was asking almost half of what a 2 bedroom goes for in the complex. He was very pressing on the phone for an IMMEDIATE wiring of funds and decision. He momentarily FREAKED when I mentioned I had contacted the the complex to ask about their sublease policy. I can't afford to move in somewhere and get kicked out immediately because I am not legally renting. He claimed the deal was between us and him, he's just going to say we're family moving in.

0112347033626503 Same phone number, won't bore you with detailed email conversation. John Weis is another name to add to your books.

Hi Kignturlis and Welcome to Scamwarners.

Thank you for posting this additional information.

Of interest is where he says he is from, I think it's Gmail that will always state Sunnyvale as the senders location so by doing that it will always appear to be where he is from.

If you have any information that is not already posted, please provide it here, I promise we wont get bored

You seem to have a good understanding but if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

A lot of my understanding comes from this website. I had left it with him on the phone earlier that I had to make sure what my funds were. It made me extra worried when he said anything would be fine, just let him know what I can send. His number was Nigeria area code and he spoke with a thick accent. The apartment he was posting is in Sunnyvale, CA in a place called Avalon. They are a big company so some of you may have heard. When we contacted Avalon Silicon Valley they stated they had a strict no sublease policy, but that the address provided was in their complex. However, they were unwilling to tell us if they had a tenant by the name John Weis.

The sense of urgency with this guy was the first thing that made we wonder. He wanted whatever we could send as soon as we could send it. We were almost ready to do it too, I'm glad we stopped to think for a minute. Emails are as follows for those interested:

from john weis <[email protected]>
to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - address removed - Michelle
date Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 9:13 PM
subject RE: Craigs list
mailed-by hotmail.com

hide details 9:13 PM (17 hours ago)

Thanks for your interest and inquiries about my house.Yes the Apartment is still available for rent and we are looking for a responsible person/family to occupy and maintain the Apartment now that we are not around.Myself and wife just traveled to West africa for a programme called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education, the programme is taking place in major countries in Europe and Africa which are UK, Spain,Germany,South Africa,Ghana,Nigeria.We will be away for 3 t0 5 years or more that is why I have made up my mind to put up my Apartment for rent to whom ever that will take good care of it.Also how long do you intend to stay? How soon do you intend to move in?
Here are details of the Apartment:

Bedrooms:2
Bathrooms:2
FEATURES :
Laundry
Electric Range
Electric Heat
Master Bedroom
Garage

AMENITIES:
Air Conditioning
Patio/Party Deck
Cable TV
Ceiling Fans
24 hours Internet service
Dishwasher
Garbage Disposal
Microwave
security alarm
Pets Allowed
Refrigerator
Washer / Dryer

Rent:$1000 per month including utilities
Security Deposit:$1000
Please feel free to ask any questions you do not understand and i will be looking forward to recieve your email as soon as possible.
Here is my phone number: Here is my phone number 0112347033626503 or +2347033626503

I am not around to show the inside, you can go check out the Apartment and the neighborhood from the outside and get back to me if you really like it for more information.
=========== RENT APPLICATION FORM ============
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL


Please answer these questions below if you are Interested
1)Your Full Name_________________________ ____________
2)Present Address(where you reside now) & Phone ________________________ __
3)How old are you___________________________ __
4)Are you married _ _____________________________ _____
5)How many people will be living in the apartment __ _________________________
6)Do you have a pet ____ __________________________ ___________
7)Do you have a car _______ _______________________ ____________
8 )Occupation ____________ _________________
9)How long are you willing to stay _______ ____________________-
10)When do you intend to move in ___

Hope to read from you as soon as possible. Thanks and GOD bless you.

Cheers!
John

from Kathryn ***** <****@gmail.com>
to john weis <[email protected]>
date Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 12:06 PM
subject Re: Craigs list
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 12:06 PM (2 hours ago)

For some reason when I try to call you, Verizon comes up with "Call cannot be completed as dialed". I have tried 0112347033626503 and 12347033626503. I guess I don't know how to do the international calls. If you could call me back, or perhaps have a hint as something else to try, that would be great.

Kathryn

He then called us again, but the cell phone was dieing going in and out. He sent us the address again (no apartment number included whole time BTW). So we sent this:

from Kathryn ***** <*****@gmail.com>
to john weis <[email protected]>
date Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 12:55 PM
subject Re: Craigs list
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 12:55 PM (1 hour ago)

1267 Lakeside Dr. is an address for the Avalon Aparentment complex. So far there is no apartment number included in the information you have provided me. This is what google maps shows me when I put in the address. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... earch+Maps

When we went by it is a gated complex. We could see little from outside the gates. I have gone on the Avalon website as well as put in a call to them to ask about sublease policies. They apparently have a strict no sublease policy. That means anyone renting a place there, can not leave and rent that place to someone else. Their 2 bedrooms also start at $1800 a month, so I am finding it hard to understand why rent to you would only be $1000. Do you perhaps have any friends or realitives in the area that could expidite things?

Thank you for your time, I hope things can progress from here,

Kathryn

That's when he said he had something he HAD to tell us about the place. Said he would just say his family was moving in. Only a deal between us and him why did we call Avalon? Scary experiance.

Quotes added for clarity - Michelle

Same here, but it was almost clear it was a scam at the very beginning. I think it's the same guy with somewhat more experience now, though still not good enough . He changed his name though to Micheal Andrew. The room, or actually apartment was sooo beautiful, it had to be a fake, for only 400 pounds per month! They needed an tenant, but it was no problem if I only stayed for 6 weeks!

>>
I appreciate your mail,...I am Micheal Andrew,the owner of the Flat you are making inquiry of.Actually I resided in the Flat with my family,presently we moved away due to my transfer from my working place,my Flat is Located in Rosary Gardens,South Kensington London, SW7 4NT,England and presently my Flat is still available for rent for 400 GBP per month including the utilities like hydro,washer,gas,internet, council tax and one secured parking Space,it is fully furnished but we can get it unfurnished for you if you prefer that.Now, I went for a Crusade in the West Africa and i will like you to get in touch with my wife in the United states for more details & pictures of our flat as She is with the keys and the documents to the Flat..I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i eventually come to London to see our clean it is and will try to do that some day..Where are you located? let us know how soon you are willing to move in as we are deciding very soon on who to take our flat. Email my wife Jane on ([email protected]) she will attend to you better.
Best Regards.
>>

So I wrote "his wife" and she got back to me:
>>
Hello,my husband owns the Flat, also want you to know that it was due
to my husband's transfer that made us to leave the Flat and looking
for a responsible person that can take very good care of the it, we
are not after the money for the rent (which is why is so low)but want
it to be clean all the time.So for now,I am in Greensville NJ in the
United States in our new home for a seminar and also I am with the
keys and documents of the Flat since the agent we trusted let us
down,so viewing won't be possible for now as we will never trust any
agent nor realtor due to the bad experience we've had.We don't want
the Flat to be used any how in our absence that is why we took the
keys and documents along with us here since my husband is also in West
Africa for a mission for God's Work.I hope you will promise us to take
very good care of the Flat which is what we are really looking for.So
get back to me on how you could take good care of our Flat or perhaps
experience you have in renting a home.Hope you are okay with the price
per month with hydro,gas,electric,internet facilities,council tax all
included in the monthly rent...View pictures in the attached files.I
am looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible so that i
can forward you an application to fill out and discuss on how to get
the apartment for rent.
Hope to read from you soon.
Jane Andrew.
>>

His English is bad by the way. That gave him away too, I was looking for a room in London..
Also, in the first mailed he talked about not trusting an agent to keep an eye on their house, but later he's bullshitting about trust.

>>
Hello ,
Thanks for promising to take care of our flat.Our flat is located in a safe area and a very good and quiet street.The garden has different houses and our flat garden has a car park as well.So dont be bothered as you will love to live in our flat because it is one of the best.
Everything is intact and there is nothing to repair.
Below are the final questions that you must answer to qualify for the rent..You can rent our flat for a long term or short term on monthly basis.you can as well let us know whenever you feel to move out from our flat..
Note that you will are not allowed to enter the flat now until everything is being finalise as the keys/document is here with me in New jersey.

*******RENT APPLICATION FORM *******
(Private & Confidential)

Also,Pls let me get this answer.
1)Your Full Name
2)Present Full Address(where you reside now) & Phone Number to Reach You
3)Age
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?
Occupation?
9) Citizen of which Country?
10) When are you ready to Move In ?
11) When are u planning to leave the flat ?
12) How many months rent can you deposit upfront (plus security deposit(300GBP which will be given back to you after the contract)??

Looking forward to hear from you with the application form being filled.Once i get your application form,I will be forwarding it to my husband for approval.If he doesn't approve it,theres nothing i can do about it but if he does,then you are lucky as we have alot of offers that are also ready to move in ASAP.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the documents and the keys to you..Please,I believe that we have to do this transaction based on Trust & Honesty and again I want you to stick to your word (every single word i mean),
N:B : I had an accient which affected my hearing and my legs , I am currently on a wheel chair right now, I do not use a phone that's why I am always online,Just fill out the application form above and email it back to me so that i can forward it to my husband for
approval..
Thank you so much and have a Wonderful Day..
God Bless..

Jane.
>>

>>Hello,

Thanks for your time and interest.
I will include the complete description of our flat when i will be mailing you the packages,the reason we decided to keep it this way is because the last time we gave our flat address to a man,he broke into our flat and took our valuables away,so we dont want to experience that kind of incidence anymore.
I am giving you my word that everything will be fine.My husband is a man of God and as soon as he confirms your deposit,so to keep our flat for you...you need to make the deposit today first thing this morning,the £400+£300 refundable security deposit is approximately $1'100 American Dollar..i will go ahead and have the keys and documents sent to you.Please you can go ahead and make the deposit now and I will commence with the shipment as well.
Here below is my husband 's details to send the money:Make sure you Send the Money asap now.
Here are the details to send the money below:
***Name-- ------ Micheal Andrew
***Address- ----6 Allen Avenue,Lagos Nigeria

Question and Answer to use at the Western union if requested:
**Question-- In God
**Answer--- We trust
And get back to me with the following:
***Sender's name and address:-
***MTCN/Control number:-
***Exact Amount Sent:-

I will make sure i ship the Keys/Documents to your address immediately you make the payment and it will be delivered the next 2day at your door step. I will like you to stick to your word as well immediately you get the Keys/Documents in your possession.Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks again for your understand and God bless.
Please get back to me asap.
God Bless.
>>


Notic how he never adressed me with my name, and almost always sent me a standard message instead of answering my questions in my previous mails(not shown here). He probably got very busy. Also he is using words like: immediately, please go ahead and make the deposit now, send the money asap. But most of all: Western union is always bad news. One good advise is:
Never pay before you have seen the apartment yourself!

Welcome to Scamwarners.
Scammer use and share scripts, so it may or may not be the same one.
Can you post the email address he used please?

Ofcourse,

[email protected]

and his so called wife:

[email protected]

Thanks.

Hey guys, I am still corresponding with John/Michael or whatever his name and the "wife". I knew it's a scam from the beginning, but carried on talking to them to see what happens. I have reported them to the police, so all our emails have been monitored. They used the same email address and exactly same email content, but the flat was in London. The very fact that they're doing it, means some people do pay them. We need to spread the word and stop these idiots. I have foolishly fallen for similar add last year and with my partner lost over a grand, and couple of my friends lost 3000 pounds on something like this!

The same scammer is currently active with different ads on Gumtree:
http://www.gumtree.com/london/33/57111233.html
The long email I received after replying to this ad (or, rather a previous version with the same wording a few weeks ago) is identical to what others list below.
Thanks for the warning!!

Hi Tiredofscam and welcome to Scamwarners.

I am glad to hear that we were able to help you, that is what we are here for

Thank you also for the additional information, one equestion for you however, was the email address the email came from also the same as what we have posted here, if not could you please post it as well as any other information that is not posted.

By doing that you may well stop the next person from being scammed.

You seem to have this under control but if you have any questions now or in the future, please dont hesitate to ask

- Thanks for your reply, Ralph.

The scammer sent his email from [email protected] (name "Larry Bevard", and also referring to his wife "kelly" on [email protected]. However, to anyone trying to find warnings about a suspected scammer, I would strongly recommend simply searching for a sentence (within quotation marks) in the email sent to you (or even searching with a sentence in the original ad). Reason: The email address and names may actually change with every single email (with the help of simple spam/spam software), but the actual scam email (contents) is likely to change very little.
To illustrate:
The email address above gave nothing whatsoever with a Google search, but by picking out a single sentence and entering it in quotation marks in Google, I found several sites (98 matches) warning about this particular scammer, as seen here:
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&source=h ... 872b349109

(Btw, since you are the moderator, Ralph, I know this stuff is old hat to you. Just wanted to remind others about the above technique.)

Feel free to mail me for any other questions/discussions (I may not have time to visit this forum very often). I have an IT background and may be able to add to a discussion about what to do about this issue from a technical point of view.
------
Just in case, here is the scam email in full:

Re: Reply to your ad: This elegant apartment has a nicely furnished living/dining room
This sender is DomainKeys verified
"Larry Bevard" <[email protected]>

Thanks for your email and it is my gladness to hear from you.I am
Larry,the owner of the Flat you are making inquiry of.Actually I resided in the Flat with my family,presently we moved away due to my transfer from my working place,my Flat is Located at 24, Rosary Gardens, South Kensington London, SW7 4NT and presently my Flat is still available for rent for 320GBP per month including the utilities like hydro,washer,gas,internet, cou ncil tax and one secured parking Space,it is fully furnished but we can get it unfurnished for you if you prefer that..Now, I went for a Crusade in the West Africa and
i will like you to get in touch with my wife in the United states for more details & pictures of our flat as She is with the keys and the documents to
the Flat.Please, i want you to note that i am a kind and honest person,also i spent a lot of money on my property that i want to give you for
rent,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this Flat and want you to treat it as your own,I hope you understand that.I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i eventually come to London to see our clean it is and will try to do that some day...Where areyou located? let us know how soon you are willing to move in as we aredeciding very soon on who to take our flat.Email my wife kelly, on ([email protected]) she will attend to you better.
Thanks for your interest.
Best Regards,
Larry
NB Viewing wont be possible now but everything can be done accordingly if you are ready for this to be done and we are not just after the rent but someone who will take good care of our flat.Its still available and you will enjoy it .

This guy is DODGY, had just received this email and thought it was too good to be true and decided to google the email...
I was on the phone to him and he tells me that he's on a 'mission for god', what a load of rubbish!
He's a dirty rotten scammer! He said I can't have an inspection until I pay the money...
Does he think I'm stupid????
His new email is [email protected]
Stay away from this guy!

Welcome to ScamWarners milliemaybee. The scammer doesn't know if you are stupid, he just hopes you will fall for the lies he is telling.

We are pleased you searched the lie you were being told and did not fall for the scammer. Thank you for posting information here.

Im currently dealing with the exact same thing...except he is using a different name; Nelson Clark (also calls himself lark or neil) His skype name is henry_1544 and its regarding exactly the same property in south kensington!! his email is [email protected]!!!! be careful....hes trying to get a lot of money out of me (obviously he wont) but hes also using religion to lure you into a false sense of security......some people have far too much time on their hands!!

Hello Tenant,

My name is Curtis Bryan Brayboy Woods,I'm in the US Military in branch of the Army and I'm the owner of this home. (2 Bedroom apartment, 2 bath fully accessorized). I lived in this beautiful home for over 5 years and loved every day of it. The home is fully furnished with all necessary amenities (exactly like in the pics), has a very large bedroom with spacious inbuilt wardrobe , living room with dining area, 2 bathroom, dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer,there is a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture (if you don't like it and you want use your furniture). Pets are allowed. Few months ago I was currently stationed to North Carolina,(U.S) for a mission,I wanted to sale it before but now change mind to lease so I only need someone that can occupy the home and I really want to find a good and responsible tenant for it, and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself.



NB: You can go check the neighborhood if you like and get back to me for
further discussion.

The monthly rent for the apartment is $650. I want to receive first month's advance $450 refundable deposit ($1100 TOTAL).

I am looking for someone who is honest and trust worhty to rent from 4 months to 4 years because i still have four more years to live here for the mission. Everything is included (water,electricity, Internet,cable, parking,air conditioning, fireplace, dishwasher, garbage) and I want to receive the money monthly. You can move in the property in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I'm the only person who has the keys and I have nobody in the area that could show you the property (my son and nephew are my only family). In order to check & see if you like it (I'm sure that you'll love it), you need to receive the keys and the Documents by postal service UPS (Next Day Delivery). Obviously we need a way to complete this deal in a safe and fast way for both of us and the solution is provided by me, in sending my sergeant which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys to you and makes sure that the tenant is fully satisfied with the property before I receive the money. In conclusion, the money will be deposited to the sergeant that will send/mail the keys and documents to you and If you want to know more about how this deal can work please get back to me ASAP and I will text you the step by step procedure. Let me know if you are interested because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of the this week. Please don't forget also to fill up the Application and get a scanner to sent it back to my email so that I can reviewed it and pray over it for the paper-works to be done and for it to be Approved.


Details of the property is below:

Rent: $650.
Security Deposit: $450
2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathroom.
Pets Allowed: Cats and Dogs.
Home available for immediate move in at Washington DC

Best Regards.
MR. Curtis Wood


Second Email:

Thanks to filled out the Rental Questionnaire, I reviewed and pray over this now and see how sincere you are which really give me a mind rest of seeing the right person which we have always been praying for. I and my family are extremely happy because the content of your letter is clear and frank. So we have decided to accept you as our new tenant,why i made my house so inexpensive because i believe everybody deserves a home both the rich and the poor am not after the money We just want our property to be incurred under a proper monitoring and make sure you conform to your promises.We are giving you this opportunity base on trust please do not disappoint us.We ask for the refundable both the security and deposit is 650$ so that we can ship the keys/documents via UPS Courier Service and also i will email you the LEASE AGREEMENT that you will be signing on and email it back to me once you get it done..Then we will discuss on how you are going to be paying your rent when you move in, alright!
1

Kindly Reconfirm your Address for the shipping of the keys/document across to you ASP:4411 Conneatiect Avenue apt t 14 City: Washington State: DC Zip: 20008


Here are the contents of the documents of the house which would be send to you with the keys via UPS courier service upon payment confirmation, and you will receive the package in just 12hours after payment.
1) Entrance and the rooms Key.
2)Paper/Permanent house form(Containing your reference details).
3)The house documentary file.
4)Payment Receipt.
5)driving direction/Full description of the house.
6)Hard copy of lease Agreement

Below is the instruction on how to make the payment to my Sergeant, the money should be wired Via MONEY GRAM Transfer,

RECEIVER'S NAME: Alvin Hamilton

CITY: Hilton Head

STATE:South Carolina

ZIPCODE: 29926


Get back to me with the following details as soon as the payment is made to able me send the package asap

SENDER'S NAME:
SENDER'S ADDRESS:
AMOUNT SENT
REFERENCE OR MTCN#:

Thanks and God bless you.
Curtis Wood & Family