Rental Scammer - [email protected]

From: [email protected]
To: Michelle Banks
Subject: RE: Rent
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:06:50 +0100

Good Day!

Thank you for your response regarding to my AD posted on craigslist. The house is still available.However i was on a research trip to west africa as a Consulting Engineers for international Projects. I'm renting out the house because I'll be staying in Nigeria for a very long time and I need a responsible person/family that can take a very good care of the house due to the distance because I won't be able to come over anytime soon. Don't be surprise if you find this house at another website with different price, I plan to rent it through Real estate before but they are not serious because they have a lot of house to lease out and they added some money to rent it and the commission is not flexible, I withdrew my keys and the house documents from them due to the inability of the people to rent my house regarding the price and that was the reason why i had to reduced the price to a lowest and affordable range. I roamed my number for easy communication. You can send me a text message on this number (205)578-2381, because right now, i can only receive or send message due to the job or you can leave a voice message and i will get back to you asap..Please bear with me so that we can understand each other regarding to the rental..

Below are the description and the address of the house..

Number of Bedrooms: 1
Number of baths: 2.0
Square footage: 1,200
Pets are allowed!!!
Utilities: Already taking care of in the Rent
Rent Fund: $900
Refundable security Deposit: $950
House Address: 2734 N Marshfield Avenue Chicago, IL 60614
Available :AVAILABLE FOR MOVE IN IF YOU HAVE YOUR PAYMENT NOW!!

Note that you can only drive by to see the EXTERIOR PART of the house because i traveled with the keys and i will be shipping the keys and the house documents to you via FedEx If you are still interested my house.

If you are interested in renting my house, kindly fill the Rental Application Form below and mail it back to me for further discussion, alright!!

RENTAL APPLICATION FORM

Full Name__________________________________________________

Home Phone ( ) _______________________

Date of Birth_________________________________

Other Phone ( ) ___________________

Current Address_______________________________Apt#________

City__________________ State______ Zip________

Reasons for Leaving____________________________Rent $__________

Are you married____________________________

How many people will be living in the house____________________________

Do you have a pet___________________________

Do you have a car____________________________

Occupation____________________________

How long do you want to rent this home_____________________

Move In Date___________________________

Do you have the payment with you_____________________

How soon can you pay the deposit_____________________

Reference Contact Name and Address if Any_____________________

0ne attached of your photograph if any!!!

Thanks and God bless you and your family,
Kathleen Odonnell & Family.
Text Me: (205)578-2381

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 a Money Transfer Service 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 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 ! These 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 or other Money Transfer Services 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.

I came across this same listing on Craigslist, but it was for Jackson, MS. And the person texted me with the same information. A reverse phone search led me to this page where my suspicions were confirmed that this was a scam.

I came across this scam just recently, still going on in 2016 and in Jacksonville, FL.
The name used was Aaron Thorpe with the same exact phone number & line about a church missionary in Africa.
A lot of the same text was mentioned above including the "property details" list but with a different house. My only difference was they said I had to follow their rules & regulations like I had to work a stove & take care of the outside of the house & don't disturb the neighbor. Whoever it is they are upping their scam game!

Welcome to Scamwarners,

Was the email address the same?

Please post the email/text sent to you since they are not exactly the same.

He tried to scam me as well. I am in Jacksonville, FL and the home is in Middleburg, FL. The email they used was <[email protected]>. The name was Vanessa Gamez. We actually went by the home yesterday and someone was there. The scammers told us no tenants were in the home. We went up to the door and they said they are renting but arent moving out for a few months. When i presented this to the scammers today, they said "The person name is Cristobal and they are also trying to rent the house from me and they just want to be smart because me that they will pay me upfront" which obviously makes no sense. He also gave me the same story about how he is in Nigeria on a mission trip. People beware of this rental scam!!!!