Ongoing SCAM

Dear Forum Members and Moderators,

Thanks to your site, I have identified a rental offer on airbnb.com as scam. Just for fun I continued the conversation with the scammer, and he is now requesting me the western union money transfer to his lawyer

Now a question:

Is there any chance to get support from the authorities to continue the transaction and catch the scammer when he tries to withdraw the money ?

It would be good if this person could be arrested and the other forum members could get their money back. In fact it is the one using Daniel Kaat, Catherine Kurd etc. as email references. If I am not wrong, a coule of persons got scammed by this guy.


Thanks in advance

Alexander
montfinal
Registered Member

Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:07 am

Is there any chance to get support from the authorities to continue the transaction and catch the scammer when he tries to withdraw the money ?

Unfortunately, no.
The scammer is using fake names and fake information. He is not even located in the same country. The money already lost has been passed on, and most likely spent already.

-If the WU name is a real name, it wil lmost likely belong to another victim. That person will think he/she has a legitimate job or is helping out a legitimate person. He/she will be a mule, forwarding the money to another person in another country. The mule will have been given bogus information, and will not know the real name of the scammer receiving the transfer.
-If the mule is an accomplice, he/she will most likely be using a fake name and fake or stolen ID.
-Sometimes the scammer has an accomplice within WU who will change the transfer information so the scammer can pick it up elsewhere.

Because all these scenarios exist, the police certainly cannot assume or prove that the person who shows up to pick up the money is a criminal. Without being able to establish that, they won't necessarily have grounds for a warrant. But even if they could get a warrant--there are thousands of WU locations out there, and no requirement that the money be picked up in a specific location (WU isn't supposed to allow anyone to pick up from the wrong country, but even that happens.) The police would need assistance from other departments, which means a pretty large scale investigation. The cost of such an investigation, when compared to the amount of these transfers, is prohibitive. In other words, the loss doesn't justify the investigation cost.

Hi Dotti,

this makes a lot of sense. So I will tell the guy to just f*** off.

By curiosity, I just tried two of the references he gave and one of them, Lilian James, [email protected], actually responded. How do they do that ?

However the reply was full of errors and inconsistencies that I don't list explicitely to give these guy no clue.

Hi Alexandra,

I almost lost your email , just got it now in my spam folder. This residence is absolutely beautiful, WIFI and the exact picture on the site . I can't imagine finding a better place in NYC. . The two bedroom is spacious and very comfortable, We are family of 4 during our stay, you have the convenience of hotel ammenities while staying in this apartment. The residence was spotless when we arrived and the property's owner Owen could not have been more accomodating. We arrived early and departed late due to our flight times and were very pleased because he was able to accomodate our schedule. Owen was available throughout our stay for questions and recommendations. We would definitely stay here again. Any place else would likely be a disappointment by comparison. All thanks to Adam for a wonderful stay. The apartment is walking distant to many attractions . It was a wonderful experience because everything went well and we get the receipt and reservation confirmation almost immidiately the money got to the bank account. I already recommend his apartment to all my friends going to NY on business or Vacation.

Justin Walench.

Thanks again for your site that made this just afunny experience and avoided me loosing money.

Cheers

Montfinal