Rental scammer : [email protected]

The reply goes to : [email protected]
Friday, October 5, 2012
From: "cherry" <[email protected]>
To: xxx
Hello,
is your room still available for rent? get back to me asap,
Thank you

The reply goes to : [email protected]
FROM:email <[email protected]>
TO: xxx
Friday, November 2, 2012
Hello
Is your room still available for rent?

From: cherrydelma <[email protected]>
To: xxx
Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Thanks for getting back to me... My name is Cherry Donald (F),I am
27yrs old,I am fun loving, personal, friendly,clean and respectful of
others. A non-smoker, don't do drugs, i drink occasionally,and drama
free. I graduated last year in France. I am single and have no
children... I do bible study, and sometimes we do karaoke night with
my roommate! i go to church every Sunday. Am coming for my masters
degree. I was born in France (Bordeaux), my dad is from USA but my mum
is from Paris...I went to University of Bordeaux in France i speak
both French and English ,am presently on research work at Guam USA),
am almost done with the research. Am doing it because its part of
prerequisite for my masters in Microbiology. I would have loved to
call you but this is a remote area calls is hard to go through from
here and i don't want to waste much time.

Am really interested in renting from you and i don't really love pets
but i don't care if there is any in the house. I would have loved to
see it but am very far,but with pictures,I am glad. I will also like
you to tell me more about you and if you have garage or parkingspace
because I will have my own car come over, please let me know the total
payment of the place and more over I will send your email to my dad
for him to email you later because he is the one that will be paying
the bills but nevertheless,I will like you to send me

Get back to me with the information to facilitate the mailing of the check.
= First Name:
= Last Name:
= Street Address:
= City, State, Zip Code:
= Cell Phone Number:
= Total Amount :

so that my Dad will issue out the payment for the place as soon as
possible,with that you can hold on the place for me till i come. I
will be looking forward to your email soonest. Thanks and have a nice
day.
Cherry.

Scammer trying to use the <fake> check scam.

FROM:Cherry Joe <[email protected]>
TO:
Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Thanks for getting back to me... My name is Cherry Donald (F),I am
27yrs old,I am fun loving, personal, friendly,clean and respectful of
others. A non-smoker, don't do drugs, i drink occasionally,and drama
free. I graduated last year in France. I am single and have no
children... I do bible study, and sometimes we do karaoke night with
my roommate! i go to church every Sunday. Am coming for my masters
degree. I was born in France (Bordeaux), my dad is from USA but my mum
is from Paris...I went to University of Bordeaux in France i speak
both French and English ,am presently on research work at Guam USA),
am almost done with the research. Am doing it because its part of
prerequisite for my masters in Microbiology. I would have loved to
call you but this is a remote area calls is hard to go through from
here and i don't want to waste much time.

Am really interested in renting from you and i don't really love pets
but i don't care if there is any in the house. I would have loved to
see it but am very far,but with pictures,I am glad. I will also like
you to tell me more about you and if you have garage or parkingspace
because I will have my own car come over, please let me know the total
payment of the place and more over I will send your email to my dad
for him to email you later because he is the one that will be paying
the bills but nevertheless,I will like you to send me

Get back to me with the information to facilitate the mailing of the check.
= First Name:
= Last Name:
= Street Address:
= City, State, Zip Code:
= Cell Phone Number:
= Total Amount :

so that my Dad will issue out the payment for the place as soon as
possible,with that you can hold on the place for me till i come. I
will be looking forward to your email soonest. Thanks and have a nice
day.


Cherry.

I get scammers all the time when I rent out a room, and have gotten this one specifically. The text is identical--don't these folks ever revise their scams? (I've received identical emails from different addresses stating they all live at "77 Milford road,Plum-stead,Capetown SA"--an incredible coincidence, eh? ) I knew it was a scammer right away, but I have the time to play along, so I sent the following reply:

Thank you for your response. In order to hold the unit for rental, you would need to send $935 USD ($450 1st month rent, $450 deposit, $35 application fee) via Western Union; since you are not in the US, this is the only form of payment that can be accepted. Of this amount, the $35 application fee and $150 of the deposit is nonrefundable; should a lease be offered and you decide not to execute it, an additional $200 of the deposit is nonrefundable. As a result, should that be the case, you would only receive a refund in the amount of $550. If the information on your application either cannot be verified or you lack sufficient verifiable credit and/or residency history, a lease might still be offered, but would require a cash payment of 3 months rental in advance (in addition to the deposit) and a cosigner, who would also need to complete an application and pay an additional $35 application fee in cash only. In addition to the application, if you are not a US citizen, I would also require a copy of your approved visa, which will be verified via the US Dept. of State. These terms are not negotiable.

If these terms are acceptable to you, please let me know and I will provide you with both the application form and the info regarding the Western Union wire transfer of funds. If you have any questions, I would be happy to address them.

Thank you for your interest.

Usually I never hear back from a scammer after sending this reply (I just copy-and-paste it), but this one decided to keep going, and did a little copy-and-paste him/herself:

From: Cherry Joe <[email protected]>
To: <REDACTED>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 12:28 PM
Subject: Re: <REDACTED> Furn. Room

Get back to me with the information to facilitate the mailing of the check.
= First Name:
= Last Name:
= Street Address:
= City, State, Zip Code:
= Cell Phone Number:
= Total Amount :

so that my Dad will issue out the payment for the place as soon as
possible,with that you can hold on the place for me till i come. I
will be looking forward to your email soonest. Thanks and have a nice
day.


Cherry.

So I sent the following reply and attached a standard rental application:

As outlined in my previous email, please complete and return the attached rental application; I will also need to have a copy of your approved student visa, along w/ a letter of acceptance from the school you are planning to attend. As I noted previously, since you are a student and have no verifiable source of income, you will need a cosigner; please make a copy of the attached rental application and have your cosigner complete and return it to me. As noted in my previous email, depending on the info you submit, you might also be required to pay 3 months rent in advance. Once I have received the required documents, I will provide you with the info to wire the required funds via Western Union.

NO CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT ARE ACCEPTED.

Thank you for your interest. I will await receipt of your documents.

Please note that the requirements I've outlined are completely legal; if you wish to use my responses, feel free to copy-and-paste whatever you need (hey, wouldn't it be funny if everyone just started sending back the exact same response? ). Dunno if I'll get yet another reply, but I guess we'll see.