College Apartment Girl in UK Scam

Welcome eviLocke,

You are correct to be suspicious of both of those emails. Obviously the Sandra Pack name is already posted in this thread, and the script hasn't changed much. The second (Lizzy) email, in addition to bringing up advance payment, contains many of the typical grammatical errors of an African writer.

Hi all, thanks for the forum as I just received some suspicious email from this Sandra Pack too on May 28 when I posted some sublease ads on Craigslist (I'm from US ).

"I'm looking for a place to share or one-bedroom living situation starting by June and also for the 2010-11 school year (possibly longer). I am a very serious and responsible student. I am open to any options available, though I prefer somewhere quiet and safe. I do not party and I like to keep to myself. Please contact me at [email protected] with information.

Thanks.."

When I told her the place is available she replied:

"I will be happy if you can let me secure the place before anyone does."

When it came to this I became suspicious:

"Thanks for the email, i would have loved to see the place before leasing but am far at Spitalfields in the UK. please let me have your name and address so as to be able to forward it to my Dad for the issuance of the deposit.

Thanks."

And I googled her email and found this thread.

Hello cutie and welcome to ScamWarners.

I'm so glad to hear that you googled and discovered that this was a scammer writing to you.

And thank you for posting the emails that you received.

Same thing happened to me on craigslist except he wanted to bye my vacation. The guy says that he has sent the payment but his boss sent too much and that he wants me to western union the money, etc. This is crazy. Is there a way to file charges?
Thanks.

Unfortunately, this scammer is most likely in Africa or Malaysia, which means he is out of the reach of our law enforcement.

It sounds like you already realize that the check is fake and that you should not attempt to cash it.

I got the exact same email here in Australia from "Lizzy Jones"!!

I was ALMOST scammed today. Thank you Scamwarners for helping me solve this strange situation. As you may have read, it is a daughter and father scam. I go to UC-Davis and was desperate to sub-let my apartment. I must have had "sucker" written across my forehead. Things that seemed funny to me while talking to these crooks:
1.) They claim they're from the UK, but their English is horrible.
2.) They have no interest in contacting management or filling in paperwork
3.) They too easily give up their money- they're trusting you, so you should trust them, right?
4.) Extra money gets sent accidentally and you must pay CASH back...
5.) This kind of email:

How are you doing today, I am very happy to inform you that the payment for Mariam,s Room/Apt will be delivered to you today and here is the Tracking Number from FEDEX.com ( 797112025046 ) Please go to FEDEX website and check the status so you can see things for yourself and so you can be sure of when payment will be delivered to you..... But there was a little problem which i guess we can handle with understanding... I instructed my agent client to send out the money to you but there was a mistake in the issuance of the check....I told him to send you the exact first deposit/first month rent and also told him to send some money to Mariam,s travel agent in another check but he claimed he did not get the information clearly so he made all the money out to you but i guess it is a small thing we can work out.

Now the deal is on and we will get through it.what will happen is that ,once you get the check and cash it, deduct the rent and any deposit needed for Mariam,s move in...After that You will deduct extra $100 for yourself which will serve as compensation cause i guess am taking you through stress for helping me out in solving this little problem client caused..

Then you will have the balance forwarded to Mariam,s travel agent who will work on her paper so she can be in the state as soon as possible via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER...I just want to get everything set for her since i may not even be around at her move in date....I guess i told you am a business man and i travel a lot due to the nature of my work.

So as soon as you have the cash and have deducted all necessary charges ....You will go to any WESTERN UNION outlet with CASH balance and Mariam,s travel agent information then you will transfer the money to the travel agent using the information below


Name .... SCOTT KINSEY

Address .... 550 Linden Ave Southeast

City .... Grand Rapids

ZipCode ... 49507

State ... MI.



As soon as you have the money sent to her you will need to get back to me with the WESTERN UNION details such as..

1...MTCN # (money transfer control number) Its always on the receipt that will be given to you at WESTERN UNION outlet

2...Total amount sent after deducting WESTERN UNION charges

3.....Senders name and address as it is written on the receipt given to you at WESTERN UNION...

Thanks a lot for your understanding and i will be waiting to hear from you again as soon as you read this message...

Take care and have a blessed day.

John Muller

Also, they kept blessing me which was really off-putting.
Anyway, here's a warning that these crooks are re-surfacing in the US. Beware!!

So what do you do if you cashed the check, but did not send the money. They also have my address and name.

The check is fake, or it is written on a phished account. Do NOT rely on the fact that the bank gave you cash as proof that the check was cleared.. People mistakenly think that just because they were given cash, the check must have cleared. Banks are required by law to give you cash within a certain period of time, whether or not the check has cleared. They have the right to take the money back weeks, even months later, if they discover the check is no good.

If you cashed the check, and the actual account owner doesn't realize the account was compromised right away, it is possible nothing will happen.

But if the account owner discovers that checks were drawn on the account that were unauthorized, he will report it to his bank--and the bank will go back and identify the unauthorized checks. Your check will be declared fraudulent, and your bank will take the money back out of your account. If the withdrawal causes other checks to bounce, they will charge you fees for those. They will likely charge you additional fees for depositing a fraudulent check, and if they decide to pursue it, they can call the police and have you arrested for fraud (this has happened on more than one occasion). Some banks will drop you as a customer, even if they don't bring the police in.

In summary, you could be in a big mess. The best advice we can give is that you contact the bank and explain what happened-that you discovered that you were being scammed, and now know the check is likely fake.

Thanks to this, I've also avoided being scammed. They used their father's name to contact us. His name is Aron Molnar <[email protected]>, and he also mentioned his daughter Cynthia Molnar <[email protected]>. I started suspecting him when he gave me detailed instructions on how to return his money to him.

Hello,
How are you doing today, I am so sorry for the late arrival of my daughter's rental payment. I am very happy to inform you that cynthia's rent payment will be deliver to you today via FEDEX courier service with Tracking Number from FEDEX.COM ( 8************* )..... As you know that it will take longer period to mail payment from here, so i had to instruct my associate in State to mail out the payment to you so as to be able to secure the place for her before She misses the place but he made a mistake by forwarding the travel agent fund with your money in a check instead of writing it separately and he claimed he did not get the information clearly so he made all the money out to you but i guess it is a small thing we can work out.

Now the deal is on and we will get through it. what will happen is that, once you receive the check and cash it today, deduct the first month rent and any deposit needed for my daughter's move in... After that You will deduct extra $50 for yourself which will serve as inconvenience fund cause i guess am taking you through stress for
helping me out in solving this little problem my client caused..

Then you will have the balance forwarded to my daughter's travel agent today so that she can start work on her paper as soon as she receive the fund, so she can be in Canada on Friday via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER...I just want to get everything set for her since i presently on a trip to get my goods in transit and i will not even be around at her move in date....I guess i told you am a business man and i travel a lot due to the nature of my work.

So as soon as you have the cash and have deducted all necessary charges ....You will go to any WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER outlet with CASH balance and my daughter's travel agent information then you will transfer the money to the travel agent using the information below

KEISHA MOORE
22 WELBURN STREET
ROCHDALE.O L11 1PR
UNITED KINGDOM

As soon as you have the money sent to her you will need to get back to me with the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER details such as..

1...10 DIGIT MTCN # Its always on the receipt that will be given to you at WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER outlet


2...Total amount sent after deducting WESTERN UNION charges


3.....Senders name and address as it is written on the receipt given to you at WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER...

Thanks a lot for your understanding and i will be waiting to hear from you again as soon as you read this message...


Note: that a transfer fee will be deducted from the funds you are sending

I will appreciate you help her out by putting her through as soon as she arrives in the States so she can get a bank account opened that way i will be able to send the remaining rent fee to her all at once when i get back from my trip ,so she can pay you on the first of every month or all at once pending on how you want the fee.


Regards,

Below is the Delivery summary status:

I posted an ad on craigslist.org to rent a room to local college students. Most of the replies I got are from girls who claim they are moving to the states. This, even though my ad specifically states that we will only consider local college students who can inspect the room and interview in person. Here is my list of replies:

Amy Day - [email protected] - emails appear to be automated. If I ask her a question or make a statement, her response is always completely unrelated and is usually requesting more information. Finally, I sent an email with jibberish and received a response about her having a cat.

Christina Gale - [email protected] - claims to be a "humanitarian nurse" living in New Mexico. Then proceeds to tell me all about her interests, like if she were preparing a dating profile.

Clara Lewiston - [email protected] - claims to be a model in the UK comnig to the US on a work visa. I am not in an area where modelling jobs might be found. I have a model daughter and we have to travel to get assignments.

Donna Micheal (sic) - [email protected] -in her own words, "Am Donna and am 30yrs old. work with a STOLT COMES SEAWAY.....in UK,I am relocating back to the United States. Consequent for my educational leave and also looking forward to have my Master degree in a good university around"

Janet Paul - [email protected] - a cosmetologist in Manila, Phillipines coming to the states to work on a project for nine months. Really? What kind of project? Where in the states? She is ready to pay by cashier's check. By the way, I get a new identical email from every time I update the ad.

Kate Morgan - [email protected] - from Tuscon, AZ but currently in the UK. Again the email reads like a dating profile. She even sent me a picture. She does not write English like and American with a B.S. degree from an American university.

Laura Smirth - [email protected] - working in the UK giving advice on aids/HIV. She uses the same wording as Kate Morgan (above). I also get an email from her every time I update the ad.

Linda Anthony - [email protected] - born in Sweden and raised in Jacksonville, FL but writes English lkie a foreigner ("and my mum work as a nanny before they both dead"). She is currently in Nigeria working for a design firm.

Mary Davis - [email protected] - same email each time I update the ad. It says, "How are you doing?Am Mary Davis born in Nc.I saw you advert on the craiglist and am interested in your room.I am presently in UK and am coming back to state to get settle and continue my contract.let me know if the room is available asap today. I wait your response asap."

Regina Darwin - [email protected] - a freelance journalist relocating from Hawaii. Tells me her life's story. Wants me to send her the exact address of the premises so she can send a check.

Sandra Pack - [email protected] - anxious to move without looking at the place.

Sharon Paul - [email protected] - From Ontarion, Canada traleving to the states for a 6 month assignment an a 6 month vacation. Wants to know if I will accpect a check?

Tina Anna James - [email protected] - sent the EXACT email to someone else in response to an ad in May, 2010. The email says she is staying at 55 E Clark St, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA, and her rent is due in "two weeks".

Tina Joanes - [email protected] - yes, same email as Tina James. She is coming to US from Nicosia,Cyprus for an extented 12 montn vacation.

Vanessa Xavi - [email protected] - from Sevilla, Spain. Her employer will pay the rent by US Postal Money Order.

So, please, stay on the lookout for these girls.

Welcome to Scamwarners, and thanks for posting those. It isn't possible to advertise on-line without attracting scammers nowadays. At least you know what to look out for.

It appears the same scammer "Regina Darwin" listed above is still in the business of scamming. Notice how all the 'reply back' emails go to the same centralized account [email protected]

The reply goes to : [email protected]
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
From: "Regina Darwin" <[email protected]>
To: xxx
Hello,
I saw your addvert on craigslist about a room you have for rent,please email me more info.
Thanks

The reply goes to : [email protected]
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
FROM:Regina Darwin <[email protected]>
TO: xxx
Hello,
I saw your addvert on craigslist about a room you have for rent,please email me more info.
Thanks

The reply goes to : [email protected]
FROM:Regina Darwin <[email protected]>
TO: xxx
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Hello,
I saw your addvert on craigslist about a room you have for rent,please email me more info.
Thanks