Rental Scammer - [email protected]

On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 9:36 AM, Pauline Castillo <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello Michelle,

Thanks for the email, I am getting pleased with your plight, We have been searching for the right person to occupy the home in our absent which I believe God will answer my prayer very soon towards my property.the utilities are included in the rent /Washer/Dryer/heat/electricity/hot water.We plan to stay here for 4years or more,and I might also decide to move back to my new renovated home in MI upon my arrival.

Filling out of the Questionnaire will determined if you are the right person to occupy my house,we will send another email to let you know our final decision.

Rental Information......

Full Name?
Full Address?
Cell Phone Number?
Home phone Number?
Work Phone Number?
Date of Birth?
Are you married?
How many people will be living in the house?
picture of you and your family?

Do you have a pet?
Do you have a car?
Occupation?
What is your monthly income?
Reference Contact Name and Address if Any?
Why are you moving?

When do you intend to pay the deposit?
When do you intend Moving in? as soon as possible
Any Police problem? no

Thanks and remain blessed..

Pauline Castillo & family,

From: Pauline Castillo <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Subject: Rental Application Form Approved/Payment Information............
To: Michelle Banks


Hello Michelle

Thanks to filled out the Rental Questionnaire, I reviewed and pray over to it now, and see how sincere you are which really gave me a mind rest of seeing the right person which we have always been praying for. I and my family are extremely happy because the content of your letter is clear and frank. So we have decided to accept you as our new tenant,why i made my house so inexpensive because i believe everybody deserves a home both the rich and the poor We just want our property to be incurred under a proper monitoring and make sure you conform to your promises.We are giving you this opportunity base on trust so please do not disappoint us.

We ask for the refundable security deposit of $700 to move in, after you have move in as soon as you are ready then you can pay for your rent,

Kindly Reconfirm your Address for the shipping of the keys/document across to you ASAP:

Here are the contents of the documents of the house which would be shipped to you with the keys via FedEx courier service upon payment confirmation, and you will receive the package in just 24hours after payment.

1) Entrance and the rooms Key.
2)Paper/Permanent house form(Containing your reference details).
3)The house documentary file.
4)Payment Receipt.
5)driving direction/Full description of the house.
6)Hard copy of lease Agreement
7)Authority Letter.

Below is the instruction on how to send the payment,the money should be wired Via Western Union Money Transfer,

HERE IS THE PAYMENT INFORMATION
RECEIVER'S NAME:Pauline Castillo
RECEIVER'S ADDRESS: CHURCH BUILDING,132/140 KEFFI MARTINS.
CITY: VICTORIA ISLAND.
STATE: LAGOS .
COUNTRY : NIGERIA
ZIP CODE: 23401
TEXT QUESTION: WHO CREATED US
ANSWER: GOD

Get back to me with the following details as soon as the payment is made so that the shipment could commence ASAP.

SENDER'S NAME:
SENDER'S ADDRESS:
AMOUNT SENT:
MTCN#:

I will be waiting to hear back from you.
Thanks and God bless you....

Pauline Castillo & family,

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.

You are AWESOME!! Thank you for posting this!! I was in negotiations to rent a house and got that same email VERBATIM!! I was feeling uneasy about the whole thing and did some Googling to verify information and stumbled across this page.

I sent no money and when the scammer emailed me to ask if I had sent it yet, I sent back a burning email that said: No and I'm not going to, you scammer!! I found out about your little scheme. You're pathetic preying on people that are looking for a home to rent.

Thanks again so much, Michelle!!

The email address they used was [email protected]

The email I sent sent bounced back with a 554 error:

Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.

<[email protected]>:
Remote host said: 554 Message not allowed - [299] [BODY]

I was looking for a house to rent on craigslist and found what I thought was an amazing deal. I even visited the house that the scammer was advertising.
I am wiser now thanks to you!

Hello taipan187 - Welcome to Scamwarners.

I'm pleased to learn the this site has been of some us to you.

If you are still using listing sites to look for property, and If you receive any replies asking you to send money in advance of viewing - (This includes making a Western Union payment to yourself or a family friend, and paying for keys and documents to be couriered to you from abroad.) - would you please post the e-mail and address if they are not already here. This may help others if they are searching for the e-mail address of the 'Landlord'.