hello... almost victim of 3 Rental Scams from Craigslist

I found the Scamwarners site the other day while googling the name of a person from whom I was going to rent an apartment from. I was about to send of the Western Union payment to one of the scammers until I took a good look at the rental agreement, which seemed weird (absolutely no phone number, etc). I then received a warning from the Scamwarner Michael. I'll go ahead and print the emails here, in case anyone else looking for an affordable vacation rental in NYC is having dealings with these people (or if you want to have a good laugh at how gullible I was). Sorry if anyone finds this crashingly boring, forum moderators are free to edit as they see fit.

The first one is from a "Smith Chamberland". I noticed the discrepancies in the location / address he gave me

--- On Thu, 9/23/10,wrote:
From: XXXXXX
Subject: inquiry: $45 Unique & Lovely Studio>>>Wow!!! You Will Love It!!! (Downtown)
To: [email protected]
Date: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 9:22 PM

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is, my husband and I will be in NYC in early November. I saw your ad listed on Craigslist and am interested to know if you have any availability for the following dates:

Thank you very much in advance for your assistance,
XXXXXXXX

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:44 PM, Smith Chamberland <[email protected]> wrote:

I am very glad to hear from you regarding my apartment,the apartment is available for the chosen dates, the rate is reasonable and affordable.
The total for the rent will be $45/Night:450 $ (10 Nights) you will have to pay upfront 50% ($225) plus refundable security deposit of $200= $425
All you need to pay to secure or hold the chosen dates will be $425 and you will receive the $200 security deposit during your departure time via cash.

Thanks
Hope to hear from you soon
Smith

--- On Thu, 9/23/10, wrote:
From: XXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Apartment Details
To: "Smith Chamberland" <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 10:57 PM

Dear Smith,

Thanks so much for your quick reply. Just one question before we decide: what part of downtown is it located?

Looking forward to your reply,
XXXXXXXX

On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 3:48 AM, Smith Chamberland <[email protected]> wrote:

The apartment is located at Manhattan, 4 blocks north of the Holland Tunnel, on the 12th floor.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Smith

From: XXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Apartment Details
To: "Smith Chamberland" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, September 24, 2010, 9:34 AM

Dear Smith,

Thank you for the address info.

Just to be sure: it is a private apartment, right?

Thanks again,
XXXXXX

On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 12:19 PM, Smith Chamberland <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi XXXXX ,

The apartment is a private one.All you need to do is,you will need to transfer the deposit via western union but i will forward you an agreement and booking form to fill the form and return it with payment, you will meet me on your arrival face to face so that i can give you the keys of the apartment and show you around.Once i hear from you i will forward you the agreement and booking form.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks,
Smith.

--- On Sat, 9/25/10, wrote:

From: XXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Apartment Details
To: "Smith Chamberland" <[email protected]>
Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010, 1:05 PM

Dear Smith,

This is XXXX, I'm the person interested in the apartment you are renting out.

Not sure if you received my previous email, but I indicated that we are ready to proceed with whatever we have to do to rent the apartment.

Best regards,
XXXXXXXX

from Smith Chamberland <[email protected]>
to XXXXX
date Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 9:14 PM
subject AGREEMENT AND BOOKING FORM

Hello

Thanks for your mail, i am so glad to hear from you and i will secure the apartment as soon as you send the deposit of $425. I do want you to send the deposit to My Project Manager in 230 Pelham Rd, Greenville, SC 29615, USA., you can view the name and address to send the deposit to in the agreement and booking form. Please do fill the agreement and booking form and you will also email me the receipt of payment for the Western Union:

Sender's name and address:
Mtcn#:
Amount sent:
Text question and answer:

Please do forward me the payment confirmation as soon as you send the money also scan the receipt and send it to me for reference purpose, i will be waiting to hear from you with the agreement and booking form along with the payment confirmation so that i can commence with the booking and reservation.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks.
Smith

I was then sent an attached "rental agreement" asking me to send the money to his project manager "Erick Thompson" located at the above-mentioned address in South Carolina. AT THE SAME TIME I RECEIVED THIS SEPARATE EMAIL. Notice the completely strange address (NOT downtown NYC) and the fact that he can't even spell his own name correctly.

Re: Apartment Adress
Smith Chamberland
to me

show details Sep 24 (5 days ago)

from Smith Chamberland <[email protected]>
to XXXXXX
date Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 1:09 AM
subject Re: Apartment Adress

This is the adress of the apartment 125, E 42nd St, New York, NY 10021.

Hope to hear from you soon
Smit

at the same time I was interacting with 2 other scammers, who I guess are pretty famous

from sherri gordon <[email protected]>
to XXXXXX
date Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM
subject Re: inquiry: $50 / 1br - Gogeous Top Rated Spacious Perfectly Maintain Apt (Greenwich Village)

Hello XXXXX,
The property is much available for the date you stated,This fully furnished apartment with bath, fully equipped kitchen, a queen size bed, A/c, Wifi access,TV for your relaxation and comfort...on 105 E 9th St, New York, NY 10003
( Nov 4 to 14 ) to secure the apartment you are to pay $50/night x 10night: $500 + $200 (refundable security deposit ) = $700 To reserve your date 50% is required to hold the date ($350),The security deposit($200) will be refund to you on your departure day if there is No damage done to the property rented to you...

Let me know if you are okay with the terms,and if you have any question regarding the apartment on how to pay the deposit..so i can forward you the contract form to fill, this will allow me to commences on the booking,hope to hear from you soon

Regards
sherri

from XXXXXX
to sherri gordon <[email protected]>
date Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 2:42 PM
subject Re: inquiry: $50 / 1br - Gogeous Top Rated Spacious Perfectly Maintain Apt (Greenwich Village)

Dear Sherri,

Thank you for your quick reply. I will go over the details and try to reach a decision as soon as possible.

from sherri gordon <[email protected]>
to XXXXXX
date Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 3:21 PM
subject Re: inquiry: $50 / 1br - Gogeous Top Rated Spacious Perfectly Maintain Apt (Greenwich Village)


Okay.Thanks

After this reply I then wrote her to say we were interested and to ask if the apt. was still available

from sherri gordon <[email protected]>
to XXXXXX
date Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 9:25 PM
subject Re: inquiry: $50 / 1br - Gogeous Top Rated Spacious Perfectly Maintain Apt (Greenwich Village)

yes the apartment is available for the date, so to pay the deposit..you will need to transfer the deposit via Western Union (www.westernunion.com for assistance about there offices close to you) but i will forward you an agreement and booking form to fill the form and return it with payment, you will meet me on your arrival face to face so that i can give you the keys of the apartment and show you around.Once i hear from you i will forward you the agreement and booking form.

Thank you and God bless.

Regards,
sherri

from XXXXXX
to sherri gordon <[email protected]>
date Sun, Sep 26, 2010 at 6:11 AM
subject Re: inquiry: $50 / 1br - Gogeous Top Rated Spacious Perfectly Maintain Apt (Greenwich Village)

Hi Sherri,

If you could please forward me the agreement form that would be great, thanks.

Best regards,
XXXXXX

from sherri gordon <[email protected]>
to XXXXXXX
date Sun, Sep 26, 2010 at 8:52 AM
subject Re: inquiry: $50 / 1br - Gogeous Top Rated Spacious Perfectly Maintain Apt (Greenwich Village)

Hello XXXXX,
Read the form carefully and complete it,i will secure the apartment for you as soon as you send the deposit of $350. please i want you to send the deposit to my accountant in Terre Haute IN, you can view the name and address to send the deposit to in the agreement and booking form. Please do fill the the agreement and booking form and you will also email me the receipt of payment for the Western Union:

Sender's name and address:
Reference#:
Amount sent:
Text question and answer:

Please do forward me the payment confirmation as soon as you send the money also scan the receipt and send it to me for reference purpose, i will be waiting to hear from you with the agreement and booking form along with the payment confirmation so that i can commence with the booking and reservation. You will need to email me a day before your arrival so that i can wait to meet you face to face and give you the keys of the apartment,hope to hear from you asap.

Thanks you for your trust.

Regards
sherri

at this point i finally wised up (to her). Here is my third transaction, with the "Homestead Team" / thepalacereservation

from thepalace reservation <[email protected]>
to XXXXXXX
date Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:21 PM
subject Re: Our Available One Bedroom Apartment In New York

Thank you very much for your inquiry.

For your travel dates we could offer you the following options:

Our HOLIDAY APARTMENT is $420/week.

We are available throughout that time. The cost per night is $60.00 a night,
so for 10 days the total is $600.

This includes all utilities. There is a fully equipped kitchen. We
supply all linens, and there is parking space.
There is high speed wireless internet for your convenience. If you are
interested we take 40% and refundable $200 security deposit to confirm
your booking and the rest of the balance on your arrival.

Or you may pay in full at the time of the booking. The amount of 40%
would be $240 plus $200 security deposit making $440, we will secure
and reserve the apartment if you make this deposit .

We accept money transfer or bank transfer only.

Please let us know if you are interested and we can go from there.

You can view more pictures and information on our website at:
www.therealpalacecity.com

Thank you and have a great day.

from XXXXXX
to thepalace reservation <[email protected]>
date Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:48 AM
subject Re: Our Available One Bedroom Apartment In New York

Hello,

If the apartment is still available I would like to go ahead and proceed with booking it, please.

Thank you,
XXXXX

from thepalace reservation <[email protected]>
to XXXXXXX
date Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 1:12 AM
subject Re: Our Available One Bedroom Apartment In New York

Thanks for your reply,the security deposit will be given back to you
in cash on your checking out day.since you are ready to make your
reservation now before anybody book your date,we are going to send you
a receipt and your booking confirmation slip immediately we confirm
your deposit.There is a receptionist in the apartment that will check
you in immediately you arrive.You are going to use your booking
confirmation number to identify yourself at the reception.So we will
advise you to make your deposit through western union now.Below are
the information that you will use to send the deposit of $440 at the
western union store around you.

Name: Harry Joe
Address: 90 Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 3HP
Head Office Receptionist Phone Number: +44 703 598 2360

Please send us the MTCN and the full name you use to send the deposit
so that we can be able to confirm the deposit and send your booking
confirmation number immediately.Please get back to us asap.Thanks for
your co-operation and we will love to have you in our apartment.

So, I didn't send off any cash to any of them, thanks to this site and some others. Incidentally, I randomly ended up seeing the exact same photos used by "Smith Chamberland" on the Seattle Craigslist site.

Welcome Azdora,

I'm sure it's frustrating to know that the promising apartments all turned out to be scams, but at least you didn't lose any money! It's safe to say that whenever money transfer is mentioned, you should walk away, as you are going to be dealing with a scammer.

There is another fake website in there that our site killers will go after (if they haven't started on it already). In the meantime, if in doubt about any other offers that come your way, please feel free to post here with any questions.

Hi Dotti,

Here is a link on Flickr that leads to so-called apartment photos for "Smith Chamberland's" place. Saw them also used to another alias on CL, "Smith Nicholars."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49063001@N06/

You guys probably already know about this, but thought I'd add it, just in case.

maybe 80% or more of craiglist is a scam. you have to be careful of using as people have been killed also. that site just be taken off the web but the scammers will just go somewhere else.

It can't be repeated enough azdora, and it's surprising how many people who considers themselve smart can be so easily duped, but it's more a case of them not realising how infested these sites are with scammers.

Most honest people who use these sites have no idea of the dangers and risks awaiting them, and if they don't follow sensible guidelines they'll get scammed left right and centre. Worse still, most of the scammers aren't very bright, but they only have to learn a few simple tricks and they can spend their pathetic lives running between the internet cafe, the bar and the Western Union office. For many scammers that what they spend their lives doing, and in spite of their limited intelligence, they learn what's effective as they have no other function in life other than to steal people's money.

Don't pay strangers by Western Union, don't pay money to a company by payment to a private individual and if you're selling goods you never have to pay anyone money. Not many scammers have access to a bank account, and those that do, know that it is the one thing that may identify them and allow you to have them dealt with by law enforcement. You may lose a lot of contacts by asking for a bank account, but they're likely to be mostly scammers and any concerns about disclosing bank details are silly, as every time they issue a cheque they are giving out those same details to strangers.

If someone says they are located in the West then they are lying if they say they don't have a bank account, and if they don't trust you enough to disclose it to you, you're unwise to trust them enough to send money to a stranger by an insecure and untraceable method.

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know there is another functioning site that these scammers have set up:

http://www.makeahomeapartment.com/index.html

I got the exact same correspondence, email, and request to send money through Western Union while trying to book an apartment in Los Angeles.

The email address they used was: [email protected]

I actually *sent* the money, got a weird feeling about it, got home, and then realized it was a scam...rushed back to Western Union and got my money back as they had not retrieved it yet. Thank goodness!

They advertise frequently on Craigslist, which is where I found them.

Just wanted to share the info.

Welcome to ScamWarners trippingdaisy. It is fantastic that you listened to your instincts. This is a good opportunity to remind members and visitors that it is possible to "call back" a wire transfer as long as it has not been picked up on the other end.

Thank you for this updated information. It is also telling when the person who claims to be running a business is using a free email account.

The web site http://www.makeahomeapartment.com/index.html


is in the process of being reported.