ScamVictimsUnited.com

I have recently been a victim of fraud. Here is a short version of the scam that duped me.
Faith Samuel, a potential roommate contacted me via Roommates.com. Faith was supposedly a computer engineer from Australia trying to move to the US. After several casual and convincing emails I agreed to rent the room to Faith. I received a check from Faith’s “financial advisor” Thomas Cooper, an employee of a company named Global Capital. It was sent to me by Global Capital as a binder to hold my room for Faith. I had to cash the check and wire the money to: Jessica Clark (Faith’s shipper), 20 Governor Rd, Accra Ghana via Western Union. I did so. The check, company, financial advisor, shipper and potential roommate all turned out to be bogus. Now I’m out almost $4000.
Watch out for Roommates.com and always make sure your bank verifies the legitimacy of the check before removing the funds and sending them to anyone. The hoax was very elaborate. The check I received looked unbelievably real. It had a phone number on it, which I called to verify the check. The con artists even had an automated phone system with several prompts leading me to a service rep. I gave the rep the check number and he recited all of the information regarding the parties involved and reassured me it was legit. This is what led me to believe it was real. So I withdrew the money and wired the funds.
Another thing to watch for is sending/wiring money to Western Africa and Canada. The secret service told me that these two places are saturated with groups that plan and execute these types of scams.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to recoup my money let me know. I noticed that some of the other victims of this scam were notified be WU and reimbursed their money. Can anyone give me any details about this? What a bite in the a$$. I also feel like a complete fool. Just too trusting I guess.

I tried to send my info to Caroline Mayer at the Washington Post, as admin suggested in anothersucker's post, but I got a failed delivery notice. I also sent an email to ABCnew.com's comments and suggestions link. I don't really think that one is going to get to the right people.
Does anyone have any other suggestion as to how to get this story out to the public?

You could try sending your story into your local media . . . tv, newspaper and radio.

I did get a reply from ABC news. They told me to send in a letter. I contact roommates.com and they still haven't replied. I don't think they care.

I had nearly the same thing happen. This is the email that I've sent to roomates.com.

Hi there -

I was nearly the victim of a scam through your website and wanted to give you the information. Fortunately, I am very well versed in the world of the Internet and found some more information regarding the scam. You may want to think about posting the Scam Alert on the very front page. I was not gullible and believed everything the man said, and therefore did much research in the background of the information. Others generally aren't as thorough. What also is interesting is that the original roomates.com "about me" section had a man who sounded quite British, (and I've been to england twice for 3 weeks each time) but the emails did not at all sound like the same person.

Please put your scam alert on a page where EVERYONE can see. I am a high school science and technology teacher moving to another state. I am not a stupid, illiterate person who believes everything they hear or see. I am just really glad that I have the ability to do research online. Many people do not know how to find much of anything online and if you make them much more aware, you will have a better business and continue to provide a service for people. I have used your company before, but I would not be willing to again if I could not trust it as much.

Oh, by the way, I did not respond to his ad on roomates.com, he emailed me.

Here's the emails that he's sent me.

1st Letter:
Hello again,
Thanks for responding to my roommates ad.I don't know if you really understand all this read my profile on roommates to better understand although it does not really entail much.My house will be vacant soon and i'm willing to give it out free of charge if you are willing to help me a little with my business in the states it involves my sales there
which i had to leave behind to attend to a family call back home. I will be coming in periodically to access my accounts.You might also be required to help deliver goods to client.I might even have to place you on a salary.All this will happen with time.I'll want us to start on a lighter note for now if you are interested.I have already given the current occupants until the 1st of August to vacate my residence.But before then i
will like to get to know more about you.Also i will like to know your full name, phone number and address(where you reside now)
Pls reply to this before we go ahead.I will be sending you an agreement for which you will fill out if interested.
Hope to hear from you soon
Regards
Peter Lynch

I did not give him the information until I had emailed him a bit more.

2nd Letter:
Below is the agreement to be assesed,filled out and signed.I'll also like to see a recent picture of you.
PL


Tenant Information

Tenant full name:
(First, Middle Initial, Last)
Current or most recent address:

Current or most recent phone number: \par

I.D. number:
(Either passport and visa numbers or drivers license number)
Emergency Contact: name, address and phone number of person to contact in case of emergency.

Reference: name, address and phone number of any person you know who you wish to use as a reference.

Landlord Information


Rental Agreement

Peter Lynch (landlords) is giving out his home rent free to you .(tenant) under the conditions that you will help with his business in the state. You will be his agent in the states and at the same time look after his home. There will be no monthly payment for the house as long as the agreement is still binding, this agree includes all utilities and use of laundry. Kitchen and bathroom. Meals are not included unless a separate arrangement is made. No security deposit is required. One month\quote s notice is required by either the landlords or the tenant to end the rental agreement for any reason.


...........................\par
Signed (Tenant) Signed(Landlord)\par

Note: I did not sign this, I did not send this information to him in anyway, shape or form. Mostly because I hadn't heard from him when I said I wanted to meet or talk to him over the phone and see the house while I was in the city.

3rd Letter:
Hello,
How are you today,i'm really very sorry for the
late response.I've been quite busy.About your
questions.Your role in this like i said initially
does not really entail much.I just need a little
help here.My works will be coming in once a week
which will contain about 3 artworks a week at
least.You're free to open the package to verify the
contents.What you'll be doing will be to send them
to the clients they're addressed to.You might also
be required to recieve payments on my behalf.Thats
just about it.I'm sure this can all be done in a day
innit?.Anyway get back to me if you think you're
still interested.
Regards
PL


This time, I had not heard from him in nearly two weeks and then I get this email while I was away on vacation:
Hello,
Hope you got my last messege to you.From all indication the payment from my client has been recieved by you.It was delivered by UPS(A5573284466).
Pls update me as soon as possible.
Regards
PL


I emailed him back and asked him what it was, where it was sent, etc. I get this:
Hello
Whats going on here? My client has since sent you money meant for me and i informed you through prior emails yet i've heard nothing from you.Should i be worried?
Pls get back as soon as possible.
Regards
PL


I replied that I hadn't heard anything from him since July 17th and that I didn't know what in the world he was talking about. I also told him that most likely my roomates signed for it while I was away. It was most likely in my mail area just sitting there.

This is what I got next:
Hello,
Sorry this is coming late.I did ask you to scan the form,fill it out and send it as an attachment into my email box,it so easy that way since i'm not back home yet.I thought i was trying to do you some lil favour by having my client send you the money meant for me so you can have some of it for a temporary accomodation pending the time i'm able to finnally evict my tenant.I don't know why my messeges don't get delivered to you but i've sent you series of them this past few weeks but got no reply from you.I was wondering what was going on myself..
Anyway about the money my client sent.It was sent to your address in michigan and i'm sure your friend has it already and i have no doubt that he'll keep it safe.Pls update me as soon as you get home so i can tell you what to do with the money.
Regards
PL


When I got home from my trip, I sent him and email that said I had the package. I hadn't opened it, because I felt that something was really wrong and I didn't even want the package. This is the response:
Hello,
Glad to hear that you have it.This are the steps i want you to take,deduct $400 to secure a temporary accomodation for yourself and help send some of it to a couple of artist i helped sell their works in gold coast.You can send it via Western Union international money transfer.The details to send the money to and amount are below:
NAME..............Grace Gordon ($2000)
ADDRESS........20 governor road
Accra Ghana


NAME............. Jessica clark ($2000)
ADDRESS.......10 nyaniba estate
Accra Ghana

Pls update with the details of the transfer as soon as you have the money sent.
Regards
Peter Lynch

Because I got a huge red flag for the fact that they were large amounts of money, as well as going to freakin' Ghana, I decided to look up the names on the internet. To do this you just do a "Jessica Clark" and Ghana as the subject line in Google, and up came http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2 ... 0fbcddf635

Because I saw that this person had the same name, I did more research and decided I did not want any part of a possible fraud and its legality. I took the package, unopened to the UPS hub by me. I told them my story. They scanned the package and said that no one had signed for it, it had been left in the door. I could then refuse it and not have any of the check(s) in my possession.

I've blocked him on messenger and sent him an email saying that I will not tolerate any more emails and if they do, I will contact the authorities. I also stated that I was aware of the scam and people were onto him.

Again, please put your scam alert on a page where EVERYONE can see as soon as they sign in.

Thank you, and I hope that you can rectify some of the problems that these scammers are making on your business and your clients.