Bernard El-Khoury <[email protected]>

My boyfriend and I are actually dealing with an [email protected] who replied to our post about needing an apartment in Boston. The add was posted in www.roomster.com (http://www.roomster.com/Listing/Profile/1891161)
First he sent us an email with attached images of the appartment and ask us for more info. After our reply he
asked for our NAME IN FULL, YOUR EXACT ARRIVAL DATE, YOUR DEPARTURE DATE, YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS, INCLUDING A SCAN PAGE OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT as a reference.
Here are the emails:

Thanks for the response about my AD....My name is Bernard Gaby El-Khoury and am 24yrs old, originally from Missouri..I am currently finishing my undergraduate degree and I also do a part-time job..I am dependable, honest, clean, responsible, trustworthy and am a non smoker..I tend to have someone who can take pretty good care of the place and generally keep it reasonably clean..

More about me:
I enjoy meeting people from different cultures, I love to travel, I like going out to bars, I like to exercise, I like to do pretty much anything social, but I also love to stay home and cuddle up with a good book or dvd..and again i really like sports and cooking..Love Deep muses, Surrealism, Philosophy, esp. Eastern, Anthropology (was Major), adore nature, kids & animals, exploring city, absurd & sublime, sundry & divine..

These apartment belongs to my late father and my mother have been managing and maintaining the apartment before she re-married and moved to Ohio...So you will be sharing the apartment with me alone..

The exact address is : 83 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114 and it's not far from the Subway: Charles/MGH Station..Taxis can be hailed anywhere at any time day or night..

Rent is $700 /month /room including the utilities just as listed in my AD..$700 for the security deposit which will obviously be returned whenever you decide to move out..The room is available now,dates and duration are flexible and we usually just go with the standard first month rent and security deposit upfront plus reference and you will need to sign a tenancy agreement..

Therefore, i will like to know where you are originally from and when exactly you will be coming to the apartment and am confidently assuring you that you will be more than satisfied when you come to the apartment while you will have your private bathroom...You can see the attached pictures of the room above..

Thanks for your interest and i hope to read from you soon..
Best Regards.

Bernard.

Here is the 2nd One:
Hello Sonya,

Thanks for the reply and also for the introduction of yourself, you really sound great...never-mind, the room can be secured for you till your arrival date since there is a perfect procedure we both have to undergo if you really have interest in renting..

However, if you really have interest in renting the room, let me have your NAME IN FULL, YOUR EXACT ARRIVAL DATE, YOUR DEPARTURE DATE, YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS, INCLUDING A SCAN PAGE OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT as a reference..So it will be forward to our lawyer to prepare the tenant lease agreement form for you to see the terms and conditions of the contract and if you are okay with it, you will have to deposit the first month rent and the security deposit to my mom cos there are other people that also have interest in renting but my mom prefer the most serious person who pay her first..

The agreement form will be sent to you first through attached e-mail which you have to read and understand and after which you have read and agree with the terms and conditions,you will have to sign and scan back for me to sign then make the payment available..so the original copy will now be sent to your current address which you provide through a registered courier service for confirmation and for you to bring along with you on your move-in date..

Attached to this e-mail are some of my pictures just for you to see how your future roommate looks like..Kindly get back to me with the requested information and i hope to read from you soon..

Best regards.

Also he attached images of himself.

The photos of the "apartment" will be stolen from ads on rental or realtor sites.
The photos of "himself" are pictures he took from the internet, or even of a previous victim who sent photos at his request, not knowing it was a scam.

Like many African scammers, he also doesn't understand a key terminology difference between British and American English, and that one wrong term gives him away, even if nothing else did.