I think I found an attempted scammer!

I'm trying got find a place to lease, and uploaded my profile on Roomster. I then got an email from this person...and we've been going back and forth. I suspected this person was a scammer immediately, so I decided to show interest in the place and see how this would play out. Things that tipped me off:

1) Her profile on Roomster don't match with her emails (age is different, hometown on Roomster is "Madeville", which I don't think a real place, but then in an email she says she's from California.)

2) The first email she sent me has 4 pictures attached of rooms...but a Tineye search shows that one is a from a hotel in Milan, another is (as quoted from the website) "Voice-of-a-generation Allen Ginsberg's former one bedroom E. 12th St. apartment", and another is titled "modern-living-room-design" from a Flickr account. SNEAKY.

3) Her emails have awkward language, and a lot of the same wording, showing that there is some copying/pasting.

EMAIL 1 FROM SANDRA

from Sandra Collins [email protected]
reply-to Sandra Collins <[email protected]>
to "ME
date Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 12:36 PM
subject Room Is Available
hide details Jul 25 (2 days ago)
Hello,

Thanks for contacting me,my apartment is 3 Bed room and i used 2 rooms. I needs honest person to rent the remaining room,so that i won't stay alone and be able to share affairs with some,mean while i will give you 1 room to rent.So it means the apartment to share with the owner, a lady living alone and you will have your toilet and bath room separately.

I'm Sandra,27years old.The house belongs to my late father and my mother have been managing and maintaining the apartment, but she is presently re-married and relocated with her new husband. I work as an event planner and party decorator.

The location is 1610 duels street, new orleans louisiana 70119.The is lease is $700 per month + $800 for Security deposit,which is refundable during your departure. And you are entitles to the utilities, fridge freezer, oven, washing machine,dryer,gas cooker,micro-wave, dishwasher,electricity bill, internet charges,laundry,parking and others.

Where are you coming from? When are you moving in ? I am confidently assuring you that you will be more than satisfied when you come into the flat.You can see the attached pictures of the room above.Let me hear from you asap if you really have

interest in renting the room.

Best Regards,
Sandra

I gave a little information about myself (nothing personal; just name, hometown, and why I wanted to live there). I then asked questions about the rent, and with whom I'd be living. Then this email came from "Sandra":

EMAIL 2 FROM SANDRA

Thanks for your prompt response toward the room.As for the least you can rent it as long as you want.Well you can stay here for 10yrs if you like.Well i can give you the room for $650 per month and the rent include the utilities.You will be staying with me if you are act fast and make the necessary arrangements.The room is furnished

This obviously sound like a good deal...but I wasn't very convinced. So I then asked 4 questions:

MY RESPONSE EMAIL TO SANDRA

1) What are the necessary arrangements I would need to make if I were to stay with you?
2) When I come to NOLA in the 1st or 2nd week of August, can I come have a look at the house and meet you?
3) Do you have an online profile of yours that I could see?
4) Could you please email a copy of the lease to me so I could read over it?

Then she sends me this email in response:

EMAIL 3 FROM SANDRA

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt response toward the room, I'm a Lady living alone in the whole apartment so no other person but only me, just an honest person to be able to share affairs together,the room is 25 sq meter. I'm from California,you really sound great.It's seems you really have interest in renting my apartment comparable to others that also needed the room but they just promised to pay for the lease payment but up till today they are not yet fulfill there promised.

The lease is $700 per month + $800 for Security deposit which is refundable during your departure.And you are entitles to the utilities,fridge-freezer,oven,washing machine,dryer, gas cooker,micro-wave, dishwasher,electricity bill, Internet charges including a desk and others parking garage is also available.

As for now i don't have any tenant in my apartment,never mind i can reserve the room for you till your arrival date,i quite understood that you are in need of the room,but you need to secure this room because there are other interested people,but i can secure it for you since there is a perfect procedure that we both have to undergo before you can proceed with the payment.I was busy at work,you can rent my room one or two months,it's as long as you want.
Get back with your full name,date of arrival,date of departure,current address , your passport page or photo of you so that i can forward it to my family lawyer to prepare contract lease agreement for you shortly,to see the terms and condition of the contract and if you are okay with the terms and condition then you can proceed with the first month rent and security deposit money which is refundable during your departure to my mother in United Kingdom Via western union money transfer or her bank information so that you can secure the room and i will reserve it for you till your arrival date.

I quite understood that you would like to view the apartment, but for now I'm busy with an event job, as you known that I'm an event decorator and i also know that you need to be cautious because is gonna involve money.So the earlier the better.

Best Regards
Sandra

So apparently I can't look at the house before I sign the lease because she's...somewhere? And she wants me to send a money transfer to her mother in the UK? I'm 99.99999% sure that I'm trying to be scammed. If so, what should I do to prevent this from happening to anyone else?

Hahaha, just a few minutes after submitting this post, I get a reply from the Sandra girl. Here's what I sent her after her email #3...

MY RESPONSE TO SANDRA AGAIN

I think I'm ready to go through with the deal!

1) Could I just have some pictures of the house and room so I can get an idea of the place where I'd be living? Or were the pictures you sent in your original email the pictures of the house? It looks nice!
2) Where are you doing your event planning? And when are you coming back to New Orleans?
3) I have almost all of the information you have asked for. I was confused about what photo you need me to send?
4) I also have the money ready to send, but how do you want me to send the money if you're not in New Orleans to get it?
5) What is the address of the place?

I really hope I get to live with you. This all looks like it'll work out great!

I know that she already time me the address, but I wanted to see if she'd give me the same one again or not. Turns out she didn't even mention the address at all:

EMAIL 4 FROM SANDRA

Hello Prasant,
Thanks for your prompt response toward the room.Well i sent you the picture earlier in the first email i sent you.I am busy with an event plans at Texas.And i will be back next weekend.Well i will like you to secure the room because you seems like the kind of person am seeking for.And get me the information,So the lease agreement will be send to you.And you will sign the original copy when am back to New Orleans.And you are the send the money to my mum in United Kingdom.

Best Regards
Sandra

For your information, here are the pictures she said were of the house, and the other websites I found the pictures from:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/43220336@N03/4018894240/


http://www.hotel.info/Booking.aspx?h_tab=3&h_hmid=149504&lng=EN


http://gawker.com/5621988/living-in-allen-ginsbergs-old-apartment-is-sort-of-like-sleeping-with-james-franco-right?comment=28120898#comments


(Couldn't find another one online)

Thanks for posting c_overt
Yahoo says,
Current Status: Online
Name: Sandra Collins
Gender: Female
Location: Mandeville, Louisiana
Member since: 21/07/2011
* There is no Madeville in California

Posting the info in the forums is a good start. Anyone doing a search in future will have forewarning. When I had a look on the map, the building seemed deserted. As there is no real estate agent involved, I would be staying clear of this. The money transfer to the mother sounds suspicious, especially through western union.
Perhaps visit the local council to compile a report, they may be able to help?

This is a bog-standard room for rent scam. The English, not surprisingly, tells me that the person contacting you is African. I see she also can't keep track of the rent!

By posting the information, you have made it available to others who may google her name or the address. In the meantime, since "she" (most likely it is really a male) was writing to you on an email that is probably tied to your real identity, it is best to just cut off all contact now.

Haha, well then my suspicions are confirmed! So now what's the best course of action to take?

1) Cut off all contact. I'll definitely do that...but since I have been emailing "her" through my real email address, what are best things for me to do to further protect myself? Or am I fine with just not talking to "her" anymore?

2) Visit the local council. Sounds like a good idea. I guess just give them all the information I've got so far.

What else would you say I should do? Thanks everyone for your help!

Hello c_overt!

Just stop communicating with the scammer. If you ignore them they will give up and move on. It's not ideal for the scammer to have your real email address but the truth is scammers are just after fast money. There is little they could do with just your email address. The problem comes with the fact most people's email address can be tied to other details about them. Scammers loose victims all the time for various reasons. It does not sound like you did anything to make him mad so he will just assume you wised up to the scam.

Thanks for posting! This will help others who may be suspicious and search.

I believe this is the same "Sandra Collins" using craigslist for rental scams.

The reply goes to : "sandra collins" collinssandra <[email protected]>
Friday, November 30, 2012
From: "sandra collins" <[email protected]>
To: undisclosed-recipients
Hello,
Am contacting you about your room Ad on Craigslist. i will like to know if available and to know the total cost of moving in and how ok the house and the surrounding is,Will love to read from you soon.
Thanks..

Also noticed that "collinssandra" is on a dating website - http://m.eskimi.com/collinssandra. Her country of origin : Nigeria!