Rental Scammer - [email protected]

Hi *******,

Good to read back from you and as I was saying in the text message, my name is Kate Bradly, am 26 year old, 5'7 straight female and very much single! A very simple, easy going and quiet person to live with. I won't be able inspect the room as am presently in South Africa where i live and working as head teacher in a Nursery school called ( Saint Bernadette Elementary Nursery School ) .

Our school will be responsible for all my related expenses regarding my trip including my Air ticket with my subsequent rent during my stay in Australia, I would arrive toward end of March but you can start charging my rent before my arrival i don't mind just let me know date you wish to start.

Here is little about myself, I don't drink, may sip a little wine though if it's white and of the occasion is right, neither do I smoke but do not mind being around people who do. I'm a very fun filled vibrant young lady with an appealing and sometimes annoying sense of humor, and I love to laugh, I take my best feature to be my teeth !.

I love traveling and I have been to United Kingdom, Seychelles, Italy, France and I narrowly missed out on New York. I'm originally from South Africa and most of families still live here in Cape Town.

I have an aunt in New Zealand too but this is my first time in Australia, I will be staying for 6 month and I won't be working at all just coming to spend my holiday . I love sports, a very enthusiastic cricket fan and what's more I enjoy meeting people.

Am o.k with the price of the room and I would make a month payment of ( $600)and pay the bond upon my arrival if its require, my first month rent to be issue out to you by cheque cause our school is paying for all my related expenses throughout my stay in Australia.

I need you to provide me with the details below as the information will be used to issued out a cheque to you and have it posted to your address immediately the payment is approved.


1. Full name to be written on cheque:

2. Your Postal Address:

3. Post code:

4. Country:

5. Your Home & Mobile number for easy communication:


It would be nice if you can tell me more about yourself like your age, sex and your profession and your traveling experience out of Australia. Looking forward to read from you again.

Warmest Regards
Kate.

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Trying to find a housemate here in Australia and this person has contacted me about renting out the spare room. I found this person was fake when i went to check up on their cover story (Saint Bernadette Elementary Nursery School) and didnt find it but found this site with the exact same cover story on it from a post a while ago. Be aware.

Wed, 9 Mar 2011 09:38:09 +0100
Just recieved this exact letter... Thanks for the heads up. We thought it was sussed

The point of this type of scam is that the cheque they send you will be counterfeit and they'll ask you to pay a part of it on to someone else (which is themselves).

The rule is that if you offer to accept payment by cheque, then you make explicitly clear that if they want payments to be made to a third party then they must issue cheques to them. 419 scammers are almost single handedly making it too risky to accept payment by cheque, but if you never pay on part of them to someone else (for which there is never a good reason anyway) then they'll stop.

I was contacted by text last week after posting a room for rent on the easyroommate.com site, asking me to email the cost of the room - I thought it was dodgy as the ad lists the cost. The scammer is now "so excited" and theoretically has posted a cheque. My room is still advertised as I suspected all along I was being conned, but couldn't see what they would get out of it unless they asked for money at some point, so thank you all for confirming my worst suspicions.

Janelou,

Exactly the same way it happened for me. Room on easyroommate and i was contacted by text and the rest as you said.

Rupert

me too!.. so glad I found this thread.....

It's a great shame but all ad sites that are free to post are awash with scams and scammers, and scammers don't just post one fake ad or reply to one honest ad. The only good thing is that the scammers must also be responding to scam ads and driving each other nuts.

Scammers who respond to ads, want you to accept their counterfeit cheques and then pay a portion on to someone else (themselves). There's never any good reason to receive a payment and pay any part of it to someone else, so never do it. Scam ads are there just to make you pay for goods they don't have. Ask for a bank account and if it's possible to view the goods or pick them up in person, even if you know you can't do it. If a seller can't let you see the goods it's unlikely he'll let you have them either.

"Kate" cuts to the chase: "There is a small problem Jane, My company where i work gave me ( Two Thousand Five Hundred Euros ) worth of travelers cheque to spend for my holiday in Australia which would include money for my first month rent and the rest to buy my flight ticket with medical aid and my traveling allowances.

Our company account officer who sent the cheques did a very big mistake, instead of her to send you ( $600 AUD ) for my one month rent but she sent you the whole Two Thousand Five Hundred Euros . We have quarreled bitterly about this issue but we've finally reach a conclusion that i should speak to you about it.

Jane, I should have asked my account officer to cancel the cheques but we need to present the original cheque that was sent to you at bank over here before we can cancel the cheque and if you're asked to return the cheque its going to take sometime before we can receive it over here and reissue another one. Morealso I have waited for a very long time for this holiday to be approved and i wouldn't want it to be cancel.

I believe you are a credible person and i should be able to trust you, So I believe there should not be any problem about the mistake my account officer made. Please once you receive the cheque please notify me via email so i can instruct you on how are going to ex-change the cheque at your bank.

And I would also provide you with the details of where to send the rest of the money to me after you've deducted my first month rent once you receive the cheques cause i will still need the rest of the money on the cheque to buy my flight ticket over here and also do some little shopping before departing for Australia.

Am sorry for any inconvenience this might cost you but i hope you do understand my circumstances and please contact me immediately you receive the cheque in hand.

Thanks for your co-operation".

Just so you know in advance how they intend to get you to pay up! Spread the word, and thank you so much for sharing on this site - good to have my instincts confirmed.

Thank you for posting this additional information. Scammers try to get you emotionally involved in the story they have created. They also rely in the willingness of many people to help another person.

What ever they send will be a forgery and if the victim deposits the check, the banking system will eventually catch on that it is a forgery and the person who deposited the check will face consequences will fall on the depositor. Consequences like, the bank will take all of the money back. They will charge overdraft fees, they will be able to involve the police and the depositor will likely suffer legal consequences, which could include jail time.

Does the scammer care what happens to the victim? No, they just keep looking for more victims. Interfering with this cycle is why we were here.