Room for Rent Scammer - [email protected]

From: Joshua Chilsom < [email protected] >
Date: July 19, 2010 5:08:35 EDT
To: Michelle
Subject: Re: $800 / 2br - 2 bedroom furnished apartment (450 Massachusetts Avenue, NW)

Thanks for your interest in my apartment.. I am an artiste, self employed currently relocated to California on a new contract, and I will be here for long that is why am putting up the apartment for rent. The apartment is located at:

450 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001

This unit is available for immediate move in. Modern 2 bedroom & 2 bathroom, The apartment is strategically located in a very cool and lovely environment with five (5) appliances including dish washer with in-suite laundry room and plenty of storage space and parking space . Professional and mature neighbors ensure peaceful living arrangements. Freshly painted and immaculately clean.

The rent is $800 per month including utilities and $400 for damages deposit....I will like you to drive by to the building today to view the exterior of the building for you to know where the apartment is located and get back to me so that I can forward you the full interior pictures to you to have an idea how beautiful and spacious the inside looks and we can proceed to the next step which is the application process.

Thanks for taking your time in writing me and hope to hear back from you.
Regards.

The thief will tell you that you can rent his accommodation only if you can prove that you have genuine interest. He will ask you send money by wire transfer (normally Western Union) to yourself or a member of the family to show that you have sufficient finances and that you are not a "time waster".

Another variation of this scam is that you need to send (by Western Union) money in order that the keys and other documents can be couriered to you

He will ask you to send him the transfer details.

Make no mistake ! Western Union Transfers can be picked up virtually anywhere in the world and with the minimum of identification. They are almost impossible to trace once the money has been collected. You will never get to see the accommodation or your money again.

If you are reading this because you are looking for property to rent, and you are in contact with this thief you are probably searching Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment by Western Union before viewing, then it will also be a scam. Please forward the mail to me at the address in my signature line and I will investigate and list them if necessary.

We got almost the EXACT email from him, I am SO glad I found this page before I ended up screwing myself over. This time he was offering some condo for an unbelievable rental price in Toronto Ontario.
I couldn't help but think it wasn't right and I am glad that I decided to look further into it.

This is the one he sent us.

Thanks for your interest in my apartment.. I am an artiste, self employed currently relocated to California on a new contract, and I will be here for long that is why am putting up the apartment for rent. The apartment is located at:

210 Victoria St,Toronto Ontario, M5B 2R3

This unit is available for immediate move in. Modern One bedroom & One bathroom, The apartment is strategically located in a very cool and lovely environment with five (5) appliances including dish washer with in-suite laundry room and plenty of storage space and parking space . Professional and mature neighbors ensure peaceful living arrangements. Freshly painted and immaculately clean.

The rent is $600 per month including utilities and $300 for damages deposit....I will like you to drive by to the building today to view the exterior of the building for you to know where the apartment is located and get back to me so that I can forward you the full interior pictures to you to have an idea how beautiful and spacious the inside looks and we can proceed to the next step which is the application process...

Thanks for taking your time in writing me and hope to hear back from you.

Regards.

as you can see it is very nearly exactly the same.

Quotes added for clarity - Michelle

Absolute scam and I am SO GLAD I came across this website.

I got the exact same email as Lunasea did. And it went off as a red flag when I read the Craigslist ad because I know what building 210 Victoria St. is - The Pantages Hotel and Spa. It is HIGH class and there is no way on Earth that it would only cost $800/month for a 2 bed, 2 bath, all utilities and full amenities like that. It's illogical and you'd have to be out of your mind to believe it.

I played along and asked Joshy to send an application. I'm interested to see it as I have worked as a rental agent and know what it ought to look like.

Any further steps I can take in stopping this guy?

welcome to Scamwarners.
There's nothing you can do to stop him, I'm afraid. The Internet makes it easy for scammers to operate anonymously, they tend to be in countries with poor or corrupt police forces, making international action impossible. Your local police won't have the resources to start an investigation, certainly not when you haven't been scammed.

Hello phiit87 - Thank you for your contribution.

Public education is the only way to stem the flow of this kind of cyber-crime.

These scammers post dozens of fake advertisements every day of the week using different e-mail addresses each time and hundreds of people are replying to each one. Please consider contacting your local newspapers and radio station and tell them about this scam - this is the kind of topic local Radio Stations are interested in.

If you use a Social Networking website such as Facebook/Myspace/Twitter, then free to post about this scam and how it works - feel free to link back to this site.

Now with phone number :-

Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 08:34:12 -0700
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: $500 Roommate Needed ASAP (Chelsea)
To: Michelle Banks

Thanks for showing interest in my place.. Let me start by saying a little about me, I am a mechanic and deals with repair and rebuild of vehicles, self employed and the owner of my own company. I have just opened a new outlet here in United Kingdom and moved so i am looking to rent this unit out for a long term purpose. Located at: 505 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019

Available for immediate move in. Modern 2 bedroom & 2 bathroom, and I am renting out just 1 of the room and that will enable you access to the rest of the apartment with five (5) appliances including dish washer with in-suite laundry room and plenty of storage space and parking space . Professional and mature neighbors ensure peaceful living arrangements. Freshly painted and immaculately clean.

The rent is $500 per month including utilities and $500 for damages deposit....I will like you to drive by to the building today to view the exterior of the building for you to know where the apartment is located and get back to me so that I can forward you the full interior pictures to you to have an idea how beautiful and spacious the inside looks and we can proceed to the next step which is the application process...Feel free to call me anytime +447045710257.

Thanks for taking your time in writing me and hope to hear back from you.