Friend fell for a $3000 scam! What can she do?

I know it was stupid. I could tell that the email was from a scamster in less than a minute. I felt sad that she fell for the trick!

The basic scam was the regular wire transfer scam. She was told that some movers will be coming to his place and that she needs to pay them $3000. The scamster sent him a check which cleared at first (that's the bank told her!). She transferred the money after which the bank sent him an email saying that the check bounced. So its almost as if he threw $3000 into an ocean using Western Union.

I feel extremely sorry for her considering that she is still a student who was trying to sublet her apartment I have been reading about scams but don't really know what advice to give to a victim. Can someone please advice?

Hello johnadams986,

Sorry to hear your freind was scammed. Unfortunately there is nothing she can do about the $3000 she sent. It is gone in the scammers pocket. She sent it via Western Union which is completely untraceable. This is very common scam and sadly tricks a lot of people.

What can be done is having the scammers details posted here by you her. It will help others who are suspicious avoid the scammer.

Justin

Thank you for your reply. I was afraid of that. I told her to go and lodge a complaint with the local authorities and the Internet Crime Branch but I am not very confident of anything good coming out of this.

Following is the series of mails (though I removed my friend's name and her emails). The scamster goes by the name "Claire Mathew".

Hello,
Thanks very much for e-mailing me back ,i really appreciate it, am also sorry for getting back to you late.. I am Claire Mathew by name and live in Seattle, WA. I would have been kind of happy if we can meet before making any plans, but am very busy and i have a lot of things to do right now.. I will really appreciate it if you can tell me more about the place and tell me little about you because my uncle is presently very sick, and i have to travel to Finland to see him but i want to secure the place down before going. He was involved in a car crash with his new car some weeks back and now ill seriously, I need to check on him and take good care of him.
I am staying in CHRMC Children's Hospital Seattle staff Quarters now The address is below:
4800 Sandpoint Way NE Seattle, WA 98105
I am moving cause of my job, am a medical Humanitarian nurse for united Nations. I work for CHRMC Children's Hospital in Seattle but will be working in a local clinic over there, More about me, am a neat type of person, honest, humble and responsible. I like honest, responsible and hardworking people while i hate the lazy, messy and uncaring people....well am a quiet and gentle going person to live with....I am 27 yrs old female, 5.4 in height ,i like tourism and i don't keep late at nights neither i will have overnight guest around but am ok if you do..
I was born and brought up in Finland, i studied there i had my university education right there while staying with my uncle.. I lived all my life in Finland before coming down to Seattle, WA have been living with my uncle from age 13 ...Then i was member of the Red Cross Association it really sounds interesting for me...
Am sure You 'll really like the person that i am ,because i will also do the dishing if you like I work when i am to and relax when i am to, I also like sharing my thoughts also....paying rent on time will not be a problem as i will also be making the rent fee before the month ends....
I do not have any pet, i really like dog and cat but have none of it now, so there is no problem about that.
I must confess am comfortable with the price and I will want to secure the place down before my arrival so i will want you to tell me all about the place as i can't see it before my arrival but the pictures...I also will want you to know that i have my car that i will be coming over with little of my furniture.
please let me know if there will be room for them. With all that I've said above I have told you more about me and more picture of mine will be attach in the next email Let me also know how i can go about securing the place down before my arrival as i will also be busy from next week and let me know if you can take off the ad off the site as i am going to secure the place with a deposit
Feel free to ask me any question and as I've said i am looking to move in by the availability of the place but want to secured it now
Thanks..

After discovering that my friend has fallen for the trick, this is what was sent to her (along with her pictures):

Hi again ,
Thanks once again for the quick reply I would have loved to call You but am leaving now to see my sick uncle in Finland ,i can only communicate through email but I will, whenever i get there but before that i will want to secure the place, I am very happy meeting a person like you It 's nice reading from you again and i will never ever want to loose the room even without seeing the place ,I will want You to know that i am okay with the cost ,if none is included again.....
I got to believe that the person that one wants to live with matters most i believe that you'll be a nice person I just have my dressers, computer table, kitchen utensils and a queen size bed,2 big luggage's and my car to be shipped....
I got a message that my uncle is sick in Finland, i hope have already mention that before and i have to go see him but i am making plans to secure place so that when i come back i'll just move in into the place we are talking about. and with the way we ve communicated, I am okay with you and i want you to know that i don't want to make any travel plans without securing a place down now, I will be signing a year lease for the start if you are okay with that so I’ve let my uncle understand more about you and the place, He is really comfortable and he told me that it is a nice area he had lived in the states before and he said that i should not afford to loose your place also he said that i should try and make sure that i hold down the place,so i thought of it and i will be making payment to hold down the place and the mode of payment will be by United State Certified Money Order or cashier check so pls let me know if this mode of payment is ok by you. And if YES pls provide me with the following information to get the payment to you. Your full name as it will appear on the payment, your work place address to ensure delivery in your hands through regular mails or a courier service your phone number on the package to avoid package missing in transit. I will prefer to send to your work address because you will always be available at work from morning till evening but if home address it will be sitting in your mail and no one will be at home to receive the package And if you don't receive package at your office address then I guess your home address will be good for the delivery right ? But to avoid any delay of you receiving at home then I guess any address will be fine as long as you will be able to receive it. I will be moving to your place by weeks on Nov,Kindly get back to me with this requested address contact information so that we can proceed asap i would also want to know if the ad has been taking off the site?am attaching some couple of pictures of my self along with this mail for you to have an idea of what i look like.
Feel free to ask me any question(s) you have okay
Thanks...

And finally, this was the finishing email where the scamster executed the final move:

Hello,
How are you? I hope all is going on fine over there.
I just got the information from the movers.... Here is the information below:::


Receiver's Name: Tyler Felty
Address: 3900 Danu Ct,
City: Orlando
State : FL
Zip code: 32822


I will want you to send the $2,000 to the information above via western union,and kindly get back to me with the following below information ::


Senders name:
Senders address:
Mtcn # :
Amount sent :


I will really like you to help me send out the money to the movers asap cos they are really mad at me.
The western union charges to send the $2,000 is $161 as the sending fee in minutes
I'll be waiting for the information as soon as you have it sent
Hope to read from you soon
Thank

In any case, that's the story in short I know she is devastated but have no idea on how to console her!

Thank you for posting the information! Can you also please post the scammers email address? We never know what a potential victim will search.

There is nothing wrong with reporting to local authorities or IC3 here http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx it will help create awareness but will not get her money back unfortunately.

Wow! I too placed an ad on CL for a tenant and received the exact same email from this scumbag! I thought before I replied I would Google "Claire Mathew in Orange, California" and hit on this Website. THANK YOU so much for posting this! Is there anyway this person can be apprehended??? Do you know what state he/she is located in or is there any way to find out?

This is a great Website and I will definitely be checking it on a regular basis. I am so sorry your friend lost her money in this scam and thank you to everyone that reported it to this Website. Taking the time to do so will help many others.

kfwatkins

Hello kfwatkins!

Glad the info on the site helped you avoid the scammer! More than likely the scammer is not in the US but in West Africa. All the details the scammer gives are fake or recycled from another victim so finding the real person is pretty much impossible.

Justin

Well, I just received another response to my ad and even though the facts changed and the name changed, there are enough similarities that I believe the same person is sending the email. This one came from a Monica Scott. Here is the email...

Thanks for getting back to me, My name Monica Scott (f),I am 26yrs
old,I am fun loving, personal, friendly,clean, caring,and respectful
of others. a non-smoker, don't do drugs, i drink occasionally,and
drama free. I graduated last 2 year in spain,i do bible study, and
sometimes we do karaoke night with my roommate! i go to church every
Sunday . I am coming for my Masters degree. My Nationality is USA,
specifically Hawaii, I was born in Honolulu in Hawaii,my dad is from
there too but my mum is from UK...I went to Chaminade University at
Honolulu in Hawaii. I speak English fluently ,am presently on research
work at Hawaii , and almost done with that bcos its part of my
prerequisite for my masters in Biochemistry . 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 room from you or to be your roomier and i do really love pets
but i don't have any at the moment. 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 the house,if you have garage or parking space
because I will have my own car come over, pls let me know the total
payment of the place.
More over, I will send your email to my dad for him to email you later
bcos he is the one who will be responsible for paying the bills but
nevertheless, I will like you to send me your

Full Name to be on check
Full address to mail the check
Your Phone number as well

So my Dad will issue out the payment for the place as soon as
possible.You can hold place for me till i arrive there . I will be
looking to read from you

quickly.

Thanks and have a nice day[/b]

Thanks for posting, kfwatkins.
Email addresses are important as they help others to find the site should they do a little research.
Please post them as we don't want others to lose out.
Thanks.

Thank you, Conwarner!

This was the email address provided to reply to "Monica Scott"

monica scott <[email protected]>

My younger sister just got scammed out of $2000 in very much the same way. Had I known what was going on as it was occurring it would not have happened. Two people tried to scam me when I placed an ad on Craig's List for a room in my house. I asked them to leave their phone number in the reply and they avoided it. They sent me an e-mail about how they were moving here for grad school and this and that...and that they were doing research in another country so they could do their master's in biology here. Funny thing is...and something I didn't mention in my ad...I'm a biology grad student myself and actively do research in the department. This raised a flag to me. I told them to just tell me who their sponsoring professor was and that would be my way to verify it. Again they sent an email just avoiding it. My last email I told them they could tell me who their sponsoring professor was...or I would have detectives on them faster than they could even blink and that I would never consider such a person to live in my house. No responses or spam since.

The person who got my sister went by the name Monica Scott. Phone number: 567-343-2544. E-mail: [email protected].

The people who tried to get me: Jennifer Watts E-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] & [email protected]

Pierson Wayne Email: [email protected]

hi i would like to help the people to be aware at this people how does scam. I was very lucky to understand was scammer contact me.. thanks to the people how spoke about it in internet.
so i post a ad for my apt.. 3 people contact me.. 3 scammer using the same story was funny, all of them have the father and mother in different country, and they will tell u that the father will cover all the rent sending a check, and they ask u to take care of a shipment of the car, or something else. the check come.. looks real even the bank will believe. so u think to have the money.. then she call u ask u to send her some money.. the extra the father send it. so be aware! i make a list now of 3 people.

1- SCAMMER: Monica Scott ([email protected] / [email protected]) (IM [email protected]) number(567) 343-2544

Thanks for getting back to me ... My name is Monica Scott (F),I am
25yrs old,I am fun loving, personal, friendly,clean, caring,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 .I am
coming for my Masters degree. i am from Spain,specifically Malaga, I
was born in Ormond Beach in Florida,my dad is from there too but my
mum is from Spain...I went to University of Navarra in Spain. I speak
both English and Spanish fluently ,am presently on research work at
Hawaii , am almost done.with that bcos its part of my 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 do really love pets
but i don't have any at the moment. 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 parking space cos I will
have my own car come over, pls 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 bcos he is the one that will be paying the bills but
nevertheless,I will like you to send me your Full Name and the Mailing
Address, your Phone number as well,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. here is my number(567) 343-2544 you can text me only
also you can add me on my IM [email protected]
so we can get to know Each other Better... Thanks

2. SCAMMER: Alicia Madrigal ( [email protected] ) number +447035907855

Hi,
Thanks for your response to my previous email.I will like to tell you a lil about me..I was born and brought up in UK...mom from India and dad from Spain.I am quiet and easy going person to live with. I'm 32 years old of age, I am extremely clean,quiet and respectful, I am a sensitive, intelligent, patient and caring person,have a good sense of humor and am easy to get along with.I don't drink nor smoke,no pets,I'm a very busy woman also.I admit I am not perfect but I try to leave things in a condition so that others are not inconvenienced.

I need to secure this room for myself before i arrive to the state as I'll be moving in with my luggage.I must confess to you that you will enjoy my stay in your home.Well my name is Alicia Madrigal,I am a chemist by profession and i am currently working with Southern General Hospital 1345 Govan Road,Glasgow G51 4TF.I am married with a kid.Although they will not be coming with me to the state.I will travel to Glasgow Scotland to visit them once in a while.

I will be in the states before the end of June for the next one year and during my stay i will be working with the United State Environmental Protection Agency on a private research work....It will be a great pleasure seeing you soon.I think you should let me know a lil about you too.You can reach me on +447035907855 anytime.I would have called you earlier but my phone cannot make international calls.

Sincerely,

Alicia

3. SCAMMER: Jennifer Webber ([email protected])

Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Jennifer Webber (Female),I
am 26yrs old,I am fun loving,personal,friendly,clean, caring,friendly
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 . I 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 Germany, 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 its hard
to go through from here and i don't want to waste much time .
I am really interested in renting from you and i don't have pets
but
i don't care if there is any in the house. I would have loved to
take
a look at the place before renting 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 parking space cos I will have my own car come
over, pls 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 bcos he is
the one that will be paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you
to send me your full Name and the Physical address, your phone number
as well,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.

Jennifer

How are you doing today,the payment has been issue out to you and will
get to you by Tuesday, pls be patient i will email you with the
tracking number so that you can monitor the status of the payment.

As regards my car,i am planning on having it delivered to the house
before my arrival so that i can settle in comfortably,you can
understand that transiting cross Atlantic is not easy so i am making
arrangement with the car dealer to deliver the car before my arrival
after the rent and security deposit has been paid to you by my Dad. I
will ask you for a favor here,can i rely on you to take delivery of
the car for me when its delivered.I will instruct the car dealer to
contact you to schedule a delivery time that will be convenient for
you to receive the car for me .As you will be handling the delivery of
the car with the rent and deposit to be sent to you so that you can
help me handle the delivery payment for the car...the delivery payment
has been included with the Check coming to you.I will really
appreciate if you can do this for me and promise to compensate you
adequately for your time and efforts on my arrival in your place.

Thanks.

thank you for the post...I have a rental and just received an email from [email protected]
The email reads: Hey how are you doing today,i just want to know if your Room still available for rent? Thanks Courtney

From my HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network
(I guess he or she has been making enough money scam to buy a nice smart phone and her new name is Courtney)

I just received the same email that schioka got from Jennifer Webber (J Webber [email protected])! I posted an ad on Craigslist and got a response from Jennifer asking if the room was still available. I replied that it was and then she sent the email that is EXACTLY the same as the one schioka posted!

"Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Jennifer Webber (Female),I
am 26yrs old,I am fun loving,personal,friendly,clean, caring,friendly
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 . I 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 Germany, 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 its hard
to go through from here and i don't want to waste much time .
I am really interested in renting from you and i don't have pets but
i don't care if there is any in the house. I would have loved to take
a look at the place before renting 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 parking space cos I will have my own car come
over, pls 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 bcos he is
the one that will be paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you
to send me your full Name and the Physical address, your phone number
as well,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.

Jennifer"

I thought the email was a little weird, especially the part where she requested my full name and physical address. However, I still continued to do what I usually do when I get a response from a Craigslist ad. You can never be too careful. So, I looked up her name on Facebook. Nothing came up. Next, I looked up her email. THANKFULLY this website popped up! I definitely am aware that it is a scammer, but I'm not sure what to do now. Should I report it to Craigslist or the authorities?


Thanks for starting this thread! & Thanks schioka for posting the email address so it came up in my search!

I just received the exact same message from Jennifer Webber who was replying a craiglist posting that I have a room for rent.

Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Jennifer Webber (Female),I
am 26yrs old,I am fun loving,personal,friendly,clean, caring,friendly
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 . I 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 Germany, 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 its hard
to go through from here and i don't want to waste much time .
I am really interested in renting from you and i don't have pets but
i don't care if there is any in the house. I would have loved to take
a look at the place before renting 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 parking space cos I will have my own car come
over, pls 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 bcos he is
the one that will be paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you
to send me your full Name and the Physical address, your phone number
as well,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.

Jennifer

I just posted an ad on Craiglist last night, September 25, 2012, to lease out a room in my house.
To which a certain Rachel Valdez responded, the email address being [email protected].
I Googled that email address and found that she/he is a scam artist.

This is the email that I received from her. Almost identical to the one the previous person received.

On Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Rachel Valdez <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Rachel Valdez (Female),I am
26yrs old,I am fun loving,personal,friendly, clean, caring,friendly and respectful of others. a non-smoker, don't
do drugs, i drink occasionally,and drama free. I graduated this year in Guam, 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 . I 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 Guam in the village of Mangilao, I speak both French and English, am presently on research work at Guam, 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 its hard to go through from here and i don't want to waste much time. I am really interested in renting from you and i don't have pets but I don't care if there is any in the house. I would have loved to take a look at the place before renting 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 parking space cos I will have my own car come over, pls let me know the total payment of the place I will send your email to my dad for him to email you later bcos he is the one that will be paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you
to send me your full Name and the Physical address, your phone number as well,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.