BEWARE FAKE APT SCAMMERS: galoc crude oil..

Got a recent scam from email: jasmine gee <[email protected]> in San Francisco, CA.

"Hello,
Thank you so much for the interest in my Apartment,Well am Jasmine Gee,27 years old,a Christian,single not married,no kids as well,am a cool calm and collected kind of person,i am always at home most times when am around,Am an engineer working for SHELL PETROLEUM COMPANY(CONTRACT STAFF),i actually travel most times on researches but Presently am in Manila, Philippine to make a research on the galoc crude oil and i will be needing a roommate who will take care of the apartment while am away and when i need to come in i can also have a place to stay, i am looking for a responsible and clean roommate that will take good care of my apartment.

Below is the address of the apartment so that you can go and check out the exterior, get back to me as soon as you check out the place and let me know if you wish to proceed in renting my room so that i can send you the interior pictures.

Location ::904 Eddy Street, San Francisco, California, United States..
Hope to read from you soon.
Have a wonderful day.
Best regards.
GOD BLESS YOU."

after interest:

"Hello? How are you doing ? Nice to read from you ..The rent is available for long or short term rent and you can move in asap okay.The rent is $600 per month including the utilities fees while the deposit is $600 which is refundable at the end of the rent .Internet and cable is there,laundry is available as well.Its a two bedroom apartment but am letting out just a room which i would be staying in the other room and we would live together when am back. The apartment is just walking distance to the metro,I actually tried to look for an agent that I could give the document & the keys before I left but could not find any as a matter of urgency and I don't want home misused in my absence that was why I took the keys and documents along with me. So I hope you will promise me to take very good care of the apartment always and understand the usage of the utilities like electricity, gas-stove and so on to avoid fire out-break since you know presently I am not around.If you notice, for you will discover that the price am offering is far below the standard price, this is enough for you to know that am not after the rental fee but the absolute care the apartment.I know there is no way I can be sure that you are the right person to live in the house because i won't be able to see you physically before sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space But I just had a feeling that anyone who knows what it takes to put the kind of structure down should know that maintaining my apartment is mandatory, so if you belief you can take good care of the house and handle it like yours then I will be more than happy to let you rent the house.

Attached are the interior pictures for you to have an idea how beautiful and spacious the inside looks, I will like you to get back to me with your final
decision after viewing the interior pictures and let me know if you are interested in proceeding with the rental so that I can forward the RENTAL APPLICATION FORM to you.

I look forward to hearing from you ASAP.
Regards.
GOD BLESS YOU.
"

then responding still not aware at this point"

"Am glad your are willing to proceed with the rental,Oh their are two bathrooms in the apartment as well..I have the keys and the apartment documents here with me and I will be shipping it to you through courier service after processing your application form..Attached is the application form. I will like you to fill the form and email it back to me asap for processing..Once i received the filled copy of the rental application form, I will make an arrangement on how to get the apartment keys and documents shipped to you through courier service (Next Day Delivery) without any further delay
I look forward to hearing from you ASAP.
Regards.
GOD BLESS YOU..
"

Application didn't work, the address she gave me was to a liquor store.. fail. research the persons name on social media sites, didn't find any matches. Another clear sign is her avoiding my answers.

watch out guys.

Sup Dude!
Im an 18 year old dude and will attend SFSU this fall, and I'm still currently looking for housing in SF. Sending dozens of emails to ad's on craigslist i came across an ad which was attractive and seemed legitimate. After one day of talking with "Deborah," she told me that she was out of town in the Philippines as an engineer , and that i only needed to fill out the application and make the payments. Then she'll send the keys to my address , as i put more thought into the deal , i decided to do some research and i came across your post! Sadly it was the exact sane ad just that name and address was changed her name was Deborah Hutkins. This all happened about an hour ago, I'm still in shock as i caught this in time. I have been texting her , and I still don't know what to do if i should contact the authorities or take her down myself ! I'm just 18 man, I'm going to college i didn't know shit like this would happen. I'm still looking for rent and this did bring my confidence down as well as my trust. Well i felt i needed to share this with you and if you have the time we can communicate and hope these types of scam don't occur again. Thanks for your time !
God Bless

here's the ad !!!!!


http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/roo/4558254992.html

Welcome ujcruz96,

I'm glad you caught on before you were scammed.

i should contact the authorities or take her down myself

Not gonna happen. "She" is most likely not even a "she," let alone one named "Deborah." The real scammer is a young African man, most likely located in Nigeria, Ghana, or Malaysia. The phone will be an untraceable cell or even an online texting service. Local police do not have jurisdiction; federal agencies will not get involved until there are extremely large monetary losses--we are talking 6 figures plus.


If you are apartment hunting on Craigslist, keep in mind that the scammer population there is HUGE, and that you are likely to get more scams than real offers. Also keep these things in mind and it will help to to spot many of them.

-Real people with apartments to rent do not leave the country with keys, then mail them to random strangers they met online. Real people want to know who is renting or sharing their space. If they can't get back home, they ALWAYS work through legitimate agents or have friends/relatives/neighbors to help.
-NEVER send money via Western Union, Moneygram, or bank transfer for an apartment you have not visited and seen both outside AND inside (really never use WU or MG period.)
-Never email a copy of your passport or drivers license.
-Don't allow yourself to be pressured by bogus timelines into acting without thinking.
-Never pay deposits via prepaid cards (e.g., moneypack, etc.)
-If they claim to be American but can barely string a sentence together in English, walk away.
-Never sign up for a credit report service because you are told you need to get your score for you landlord. Those who check credit will pull it themselves, and they certainly aren't going to take your word for it.
If anyone tries to convince you to do any of the things above, run, don't walk away.

The best place to receive reliable advice and guidance is here

http://www.sfsu.edu/~housing/offcampus/shortterm.html

Hahah!
I knew she's fake!
I saw her post, e-mailed her, EXACT similar reply got from her how I read it in here, about Petrolium, and keys, and stuff. The price was higher, though. $700! lol.
So we got to the point where she sent us her pictures, the small fake green christmas tree was kinda off topic.
I told my husband, that this is some kind of scam, I'm telling you. $700, all utilities included, cats and dogs are ok, and so on so on. That really seemed really "scamishy", so I just Google the address she gave me and saw your post.
She got new name abviously. Now she is Susan Lee and located in Luhansk, Ukraine. Yeah yeah yeah!
I know all about Ukraine and especially Luhansk. And know what not an easy sutuation they have now and that the city under the russians.
In general, all these seemed very and very strange.

So guys, be aware of these kind of persons!

Good Luck!