HELP! Student Housing Rental Scam (Eunji Kim, active)

I am graduating and subleasing my apartment. Then a few scammer contacted me. I know they appear frequently on the subleasing platform because some of my friends also received similar emails by same scammers. I would like to see what I can do other then spreading the words out.

The platform is http://www.wildcatpad.com/rental.php?type=2 This is a popular platform for students exchanging housing information. And there are certainly someone trying to warn people that scammers are actively searching victims here by posting scammer's information. http://www.wildcatpad.com/details.php?id=6110

So one of them is called Eunji Kim, who has a photocopy of a stolen Koren passport to convince you that she's a real person. She sends out email like this saying that her grannie is sick, but would like to pay the rent and deposit first through her grannie's financier. Then she sends in a fake check with extra amount of money ($3000-4000 ish) to you, then telling you that the extra money is her "registration fee" so please help her to send the money by CASH to a "conference organizer's account."

Here's her information....you can also find the info in the screen shots of the email
Eunji Kim <[email protected]>
571-384-8251


"....I was able to get in touch with the director of research via email, she emailed back that she was in Memphis, TN attending a meeting with the seminar committee on registration matters as she is to use the extra money of $3370 to pay and register for the seminar registration fee and seminar materials/kits for me immediately, She stated clearly in her email notes that the extra money of $3370 should be sent by CASH DEPOSIT into the account of the bursar in charges of registration materials/kits. She also stated that she will want you to send the copy of the receipt for the cash deposit because of high numbers of seminar participant for proper upkeep of records.

Please find below the instruction on how to send the payment for the seminar.

Bank Name: Bank Of America
Account Name: Dike Edward
Account Number : 383012645659

NB:
Please, kindly make sure you filled the information correctly when making the CASH DEPOSIT and please after the transaction, kindly send the copy of the receipt and all relevant information back to my email and cell number. The Director also stated in her email that because of high numbers of participant for the seminar and for proper documentation of records, the payment for registration fee and seminar materials/kits should be paid by CASH DEPOSIT......"


And then the check was of course a fake one. Several days later Chase figured it out and extract the money deposited back from my account. Plus $12 for punishment for depositing a fake check.

SLAP IN MY FACE.
I send in the cash. I went to the local police officer to report this. The officer was nicer than imagined. But I was like, is there some more thing I can do than spread the word out? I'd really like to piss the scammer off...please help.



Here are more information and email exchanges from her.,,,
http://imgur.com/a/ytS9g (her phone number is here)

Welcome to Scamwarners,

Please copy and paste the emails. Screenshot are not picked up by internet bots. Therefore the content of the emails are not searchable.

Thanks for posting this money mule scam . Someone will look into it .

I received a similar scam. The same girl named Eunji Kim was looking for a room to stay near our campus area. She told us she is from South Korea. As I was vacating my room, I agreed to sublet my apartment to this "Eunji Kim". Eunji told me that her granny was in ICU and very ill. So she arranged to pay us the rent through her granny's "financier". The amount she was suppose send us was $850 via check. Then she sent a long mail saying her granny's financier messed up the payment. Instead of sending $850, the financier sent $2870 by mistake. The extra $2020 had to be paid to her "Director of Research". She asked us to deposit the check we received and then the transfer the extra amount to this "Director of Research" from or personal bank account. Ofcourse, by then we had realized this was a scam and declined any further transaction with her. This girl contacted us with a fake passport and photograph.

Just received a similar message from Zijuan Yang <[email protected]>:

I got your email and I am so glad to read back from you. I am pleased to know that the place is still available for rent. The total move in cost .i.e. rent, application fee and administration fee is okay and the picture of the place​​ is amazing, i like the place. Please I wa​​nt you to understand that I'll not be able to check out the place not until my arrival, I'd like to take a decision now 'cos my grandmother is sick; she was diagnosed day before yesterday, she has colorectal cancer, I’m presently with her at the Private ward of the Virginia Medical Center attending to her until her financier assigns a stay in nursing ​​for her, she will be due for surgery soon.
​​
I'll like to share a little bit about myself; I'm originally from ​China,​ I’m a busy lady that love to work. I will be doing an​​ internship program in NU. I'm single and searching. I am a very studious person; I do like to hang out with friends and I like meeting people, i like hardworking, hon​​est, clean and responsible people; I dislike lazy, untidy and uncaring people. I love pets but I do not have one due to the nature of my b​​usy schedule. I like the outdoors and I'm a good swimmer and sometimes i play tennis. I'm financially secure, time conscious and see myself as a miss independent who pays her bills on time. I'm quiet and easy with myself and willing to share the house chores. I am a great cook and baker (love to do both) during my down time; I like to hangout, watch films/movie, read, enjoy the outdoors and/or go for a run/workout at the gym. Fitness and wellness are essential to me; and I always trying to create healthier habits; I believe this truly summarise what you need to know about me.


I'm currently in North Arlington Virginia to attend to a family emergency and will be there in college soon. Furthermore, I will like to know more about you and the neighbourhood. I would love to rent the place for the time​​ it is available for. I will like you to get back to me as soon as you can so that I can make preparations for the rental fee to be sent out to you before my arrival in your place; in order to secure the place before I come.

As regards the lease agreement, if there is any, I want you to send it to me for my review, i will eventually have it filled and signed on my arrival in your place and i will abide by it. I will appreciate a quick response from you so that we can move ahead as regards sending payment for rent to you.
Regards​.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Just received a similar message from Zijuan Yang <[email protected]>:

I got your email and I am so glad to read back from you. I am pleased to know that the place is still available for rent. The total move in cost .i.e. rent, application fee and administration fee is okay and the picture of the place​​ is amazing, i like the place. Please I wa​​nt you to understand that I'll not be able to check out the place not until my arrival, I'd like to take a decision now 'cos my grandmother is sick; she was diagnosed day before yesterday, she has colorectal cancer, I’m presently with her at the Private ward of the Virginia Medical Center attending to her until her financier assigns a stay in nursing ​​for her, she will be due for surgery soon.
​​
I'll like to share a little bit about myself; I'm originally from ​China,​ I’m a busy lady that love to work. I will be doing an​​ internship program in NU. I'm single and searching. I am a very studious person; I do like to hang out with friends and I like meeting people, i like hardworking, hon​​est, clean and responsible people; I dislike lazy, untidy and uncaring people. I love pets but I do not have one due to the nature of my b​​usy schedule. I like the outdoors and I'm a good swimmer and sometimes i play tennis. I'm financially secure, time conscious and see myself as a miss independent who pays her bills on time. I'm quiet and easy with myself and willing to share the house chores. I am a great cook and baker (love to do both) during my down time; I like to hangout, watch films/movie, read, enjoy the outdoors and/or go for a run/workout at the gym. Fitness and wellness are essential to me; and I always trying to create healthier habits; I believe this truly summarise what you need to know about me.


I'm currently in North Arlington Virginia to attend to a family emergency and will be there in college soon. Furthermore, I will like to know more about you and the neighbourhood. I would love to rent the place for the time​​ it is available for. I will like you to get back to me as soon as you can so that I can make preparations for the rental fee to be sent out to you before my arrival in your place; in order to secure the place before I come.

As regards the lease agreement, if there is any, I want you to send it to me for my review, i will eventually have it filled and signed on my arrival in your place and i will abide by it. I will appreciate a quick response from you so that we can move ahead as regards sending payment for rent to you.
Regards​.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Received this response later with the following attachment:
I got your email and I’m so glad that you are giving me the opportunity to rent your place, I promise to abide by the lease agreement and to pay my rent as at when due, i can look at the lease when I arrive as I am of the opinion that such issues are best handled physically. I want to secure the place before my arrival, i will like to go ahead and make payment for the rent and deposit required to be paid before I move in September 4th.

I would really like to connect thru Skype or phone call but this is not the best time cos of grannies situation. i need to be with her 24 hours cos her condition over two days till now is so critical, moreover the hospital management policy does not allow receiving and making call at the surgical ward 'cos it disrupts and affect the functionality of the equipment in here at the ward , you can send me an email here or send me text message/voice mail to (925) 471 6291 with your name, I will respond back at my early convenience.
And as i have mentioned in my previous email, my grannies financier will be sending you the rental check to cover the rent/deposit, for them to do this, I'll need you to provide me with your full name in which the check will be issued and your physical contact address to which it should be sent to, on my receipt of this information, i will send it to my grannies financier with an instruction to them to issue and send you the payment immediately via a courier company, this way when you receive the payment, I will know that the place will be put on reserve for me.

Due to the limited time that we've on our hands, I’ll appreciate it if you can provide me with the information required for payment so that we can move ahead with this. As soon as we 're able to get my grannies a stay in nurse i 'll booking my flight to your place and will let you know the exact date and time of my arrival when i get a confirmation of my seat on an airline.

Find attached my .I.D. to put a face to our several email exchange, and i will appreciate if you send your.I.D. too.
I'm looking forward to meeting you very soon.
Sincere regards.​

Just got this too:

I am pleased to know that the place is still available for rent. The total move in cost .i.e. rent and deposit is okay, could you send the pictures of the place to my email, i will like to see the place. Please I want you to understand that I'll not be able to check out the place not until my arrival, I'd like to take a decision now 'cos my grandmother is sick; she was diagnosed day before yesterday, she has colorectal cancer, I’m presently with her at the Private ward of the Virginia Medical Center attending to her until her financier assigns a stay in nursing for her, she will be due for surgery soon.

I'll like to share a little bit about myself; I'm originally from Korea, I’m a busy lady that love to work. I will be doing an internship program and i will also be relocating cos my grannies will be living in an assisted living home for personal reasons best known to her after her surgery. I'm single and searching. I am a very studious person; I do like to hang out with friends and I like meeting people, i like hardworking, honest, clean and responsible people; I dislike lazy, untidy and uncaring people. I love pets but I do not have one due to the nature of my busy schedule. I like the outdoors and I'm a good swimmer and sometimes i play tennis. I'm financially secure, time conscious and see myself as a miss independent who pays her bills on time. I'm quiet and easy with myself and willing to share the house chores. I am a great cook and baker (love to do both) during my down time; I like to hangout, watch films/movie, read, enjoy the outdoors and/or go for a run/workout at the gym. Fitness and wellness are essential to me; and I always trying to create healthier habits; I believe this truly summarise what you need to know about me.

I'm currently in North Arlington Virginia to attend to a family emergency. Furthermore, I will like to know more about you and the neighbourhood. I would love to rent the place for the time it is available for. I will like you to get back to me as soon as you can so that I can make preparations for the rental fee to be sent out to you before my arrival in your place; in order to secure the place before I come.

As regards the lease agreement, if there is any, I want you to send it to me for my review, i will eventually have it filled and signed on my arrival in your place and i will abide by it. I will appreciate a quick response from you so that we can move ahead as regards sending payment for rent to you.
Regards.

To the person who started this post. Just wanted to let you know that your post prevented me from getting scammed by someone named Zijuan Yang. The emails that were sent to me were identical to the ones above. I also received a cheque via FedEx. Luckily I did a little digging and saw this post before I went to the bank.

I hope this post gets more attention since it looks like this has been going on for years. Thanks Again!