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 Post subject: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2009 7:13 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 6:21 pm
Posts: 1
Hello from Sydney, Australia!

I was searching for an apartment to rent on domain.com.au (legit site by the way) when I came across this absolutely gorgeous place in the city at an unbelievably low price! I mean wow! I had a feeling that the ad was too good to be true, but emailed the agent anyway. I received a response from the 'owner' of the apartment within a day. The apartment owner stated that she would be in Milan for 3 years for work, and that she would have to find some way to deliver the keys to me for inspection. At that point alarm bells started to ring in my head! However, being the mischievous soul that I am, I decided to have a little fun. Here is the exchange:

Quote:
FROM: Elizabeth Thomas
--------------------------------------------
Hello,
Thank you for your interest. The apartment is available, but now I'm in Milano, Italy with my job . I will stay here for 3 years, so this is the reason why i offer the apartment for rent . I'm the owner of the apartment and it looks exactly like in the pictures. The rent for 1 month is AUD $1000 including all utilities (water, electricity, internet,cable, parking). You can move in the apartment in the same day you receive the keys. I must inform you that the keys from the apartment are with me and I hope that we will find a way to make this happen.
Thanks.

Quote:
FROM: Me
--------------------------------------------
Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for your reply. I am very interested in the place. Can you tell me a bit more about it, ie. which building it is in, etc? Unfortunately I can't seem to find the listing on domain.com.au anymore. Can you please forward me the link? Thank you.

Andrew

Quote:
FROM: Elizabeth Thomas
--------------------------------------------
Obviously we need a way to complete this deal that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are after. I have found a way for us to complete the deal safe and fast, and in this way you will receive the Keys in less than 2 days, if you move fast as well. The solution is provided by a company called TNT which is similar to Fedex, DHL or UPS, which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys.
I have found a procedure that will allow us to make a fast and safe deal and through this way you will see it and decide if you will stay in the apt or not before I receive my payment. Please click on the link bellow to the TNT website to see how we can complete the deal safely and fast directly from the website of the company where the procedure is explained:
http://www.tnt.com/express/en_gb/site/h ... vices.html
Let me know if you are interested please because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of the next week.
Regards,

Elizabeth Thomas
Executive Personal Recruitment:
Gianfranco Ferre


Note how in the last email 'she' uses her position as Executive Personal Recruitment Officer at Gianfranco Ferre as her signature! Gianfranco Ferre is a fashion company, and I highly doubt that they have an Executive Personal Recruitment division! I have to admit, I was taken in by the opportunity to get this wonderful apartment, at least until I read that third email. She even included pictures in her third email to entice me to continue with the exchange. However, by then I was 100% certain that this was a scam. Warning signs: Urgency (Act Fast!), 100% email exchange, person overseas, oh my!


Quote:
FROM: Me
--------------------------------------------
Hi Elizabeth,

I would be happy to follow whatever procedure you like. If the keys are sent to me via TNT, would I then remit payment to you via bank transfer to an Australian account? Also, would you also send a rental agreement etc. along with the keys?

If you need it, I can provide a rental reference from Meriton, where I currently stay.

Please email me your phone number and a time which will suit you for me to call (Italy time), and we can discuss this on the phone. Thanks.

Andrew


Quote:
FROM: Elizabeth Thomas
--------------------------------------------
Like I said, I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the Keys and the contract signed by me right away.I will explain to you step by step how this will work .
1) First you will have to send me your full name and address. I will need them for the shipping.
2) I go to the TNT store and leave the Keys and the contract onto your name as the intended receiver.
3) TNT will check the envelope to see if everything is OK with it and also the legal papers that will come along with the Keys.
4) TNT will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the Keys and the papers in their custody.
5) At this point you will have to go to a Western Union Agent
Location and make a money deposit on the TNT payment agent name for the amount we agreed (first month + 1000 bond deposit) .
6) After you make the deposit you will have to send the info about the money deposit to TNT (MTCN, sender's name and address)
7) TNT will verify the payment informations and if everything is in order they will deliver the Keys and the contract to you .
8) After you receive the package , You will go and check the apt and in 2 days you must contact them and tell them if you keep the apt or not, if all is in order you will instruct TNT to send me the information about the money deposit and I will be able to receive the funds . If you don`t like the apt they will send your money back to you and you will send them the keys and the contract to them.
I will pay TNT for the shipping and you will pay Western Union for the Money Transfer fee .
Let me know if we can do this.
Thank you,


Elizabeth Thomas
Executive Personal Recruitment:
Gianfranco Ferre

Quote:

FROM: Me
--------------------------------------------
Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for those details. Please forward the envelope to my fiance's office. This is easiest for me as my work keeps me on the road, and I can't receive packages / calls easily. My fiance will then be able to organize the $2000 Western Union payment to the TNT agent.

Donna Adney
Level 3
SPC
151-241 Goulburn St
Darlinghurst
2010
NSW
Australia

Telephone: 02 9265 4144

I am very excited to see the apartment. The pictures look beautiful, and I can't wait to move in!

Thanks

Andrew


The game is afoot! She has been kind enough to provide me with a step-by-step rundown of the payment / key delivery procedure. I have provided her with the delivery and telephone details of my "fiance" Donna Adney. Aye - here is the rub. Donna Adney is actually the Commanding Superintendent at the Surry Hills Police Station in Sydney. The telephone number is for the police station lol. Of course, I didn't expect 'Elizabeth' to make use of these details, but it was satisfying all the same sending them, knowing that 'Elizabeth' still thinks that I am still a fish on her hook!

Quote:
FROM: Elizabeth Thomas
--------------------------------------------
hello, i have delivered the keys to the company you should receive confirmation from them soon. Please complete the steps from their notification so we can conclude the deal. Please check your BULK/JUNK email folder maybe the confirmation arrives there as it arrived to me. Try to complete the payment Thursday or Friday so you can receive the package in weekend. Thanks and i look forward for your email

Elizabeth Thomas
Executive Personal Recruitment:
Gianfranco Ferre


The following email is from 'TNT' and includes details re: the delivery, how to remit payment, who to remit payment to etc. Spelling errors abound. Email formatting is terrible. The least these scammers can do is polish their act! Here are a few selected tid-bits:

Quote:
FROM: tnt-customer-support@deliveryman.com
--------------------------------------------



Service: TNT Global Air Express
Delivered By: 2 days
Shipment ID: B3390455G45
Description of goods: Apartment Keys and rental contract verified and signed by the Sender. Owner of the apartment in: 57 Liverpool st. , NSW, Syndey, 2000. All the papers are double checked.
Declared Value: AU $2000.00
Shipping Costs: $0.00

Ship To
___________________________________
First name Donna
Last name Adney
Address Level 3, SPC, 151-241 Goulburn St
City/State Darlinghurst NSW
PostalCode 2010
Country Australia


Agent's verified payment address
___________________________________
First name: Paulo
Last name: Vitelli
Address: Via Lazzaro Palazzi 18
City/State: Milano
PostalCode: 20144
Country: Italy


And the BEST part?
Quote:


Please send us the payment information at this email address :

tnt-customer-suppport@deliveryman.com


suppport? ROFL.

I proceeded to Western Union and sent the payment lol. Nah. I searched for a fake MCTN number online and sent the details to this scammer. At the very least I want to make him get up off his butt, physically go to a Western Union office and make a fool of himself.

Quote:
FROM: Me (To TNT)
--------------------------------------------
My fiance has sent $2000 AUD payment for a set of keys provided by Elizabeth Thomas in Milano. Our shipping notification number is B3390455G45.

Here are the details of the Western Union payment. Once the transfer has been completed, please release the package. Thanks.

MCTN: 7325948423

SENDER DETAILS:
First name: Donna
Last name: Adney
Address: Level 3, SPC, 151-241 Goulburn St, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010
Country: Australia

RECEIVER DETAILS:
First name: Paulo
Last name: Vitelli
Address: Via Lazzaro Palazzi 18
City/State: Milano
PostalCode: 20144
Country: Italy

Amount: $2000 AUD


Quote:

FROM: Me (To Elizabeth)
--------------------------------------------

Hi Elizabeth,

I have sent the payment to the agent. Can't wait to get the keys! Thanks!

Andrew

Quote:
FROM: TNT
--------------------------------------------
Dear Customer,
The payment has bee successfully received and validated so as a result, the shipment is ready to start in about 2 hours. We will keep you updated with further details. The shipping time will be 24-36 hours maximum.

Thank you for choosing our services !



I also performed a TRACEROUTE on the originating IP - 71.235.123.112 - and I suspect that this person is actually in Bolton, Connecticut.

There is more to come! Stay tuned for the next instalment of this saga. Preview: email from Superintendent Donna Adney to Elizabeth highlighting cooperation between Bolton police and Australian police! Suggestions that video camera footage exists of scammer trying to obtain their funds! & much more! If this person really is in bolton he will pee his pants lol!


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2009 8:06 pm 
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:39 pm
Posts: 414
Location: Third Rock from the Sun
Quote:
I proceeded to Western Union and sent the payment lol. Nah. I searched for a fake MCTN number online and sent the details to this scammer. At the very least I want to make him get up off his butt, physically go to a Western Union office and make a fool of himself.


I want to thank you for taking your time to waste this scammers time and money. You would make an excellent "baiter".

Quote:
Suggestions that video camera footage exists of scammer trying to obtain their funds! & much more! If this person really is in bolton he will pee his pants lol!
Hello from Sydney, Australia!


If this person is really in the states and knows this is a scam there is a good chance he could be charged. It seems these scammers are using people in the states to act as a go between. The only thing that worries me in all of this is the person collecting the money may think they are doing so as a work at home job. There is no telling what this scammer has told the person who is picking up the money what the money is for. Dateline did a show recently on work at home scams.

I want to thank you again for taking the time to waste this scammer's time and money.

_________________
NEVER send money

Media Reporter for ScamVictimsUnited.com

Google is your best online friend. Google everything.
http://www.google.com/

For Romance Love scams
http://romancelovescams.mysubdn.com/forum/index.php


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Sat May 09, 2009 4:23 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat May 09, 2009 4:19 pm
Posts: 2
Thank yoy for the information,
But I'm already a victim!

The email I got is exactly like yours but after I transfer the money,
I received another email from "Elizebath" and "TNT"
03:52
Dear Customer,
We have the pleasure to announce you that the package has arrived, however there is a problem. Due to the regulations applied to real estates the tenant must pay in advance 3 months + bond deposit. This action was taken to protect landlords against possible issues with tenants. The good thing is that the security deposit is fully refunded in the same day the keys arrived, this payment is needed just as a proof that the tenant has the funds. Also the transfer fees from WesternUnion will be refunded too. Notice that we cannot make the delivery until this second payment is done, the amount send must be equal to the first payment and completed to the same TNT agent name and address.
Thank you for choosing our services !


03:54
Hello,
The package has arrived in Australia but the australian laws need the proof applied to real estates, that the payment must be equal with 3 months + bond deposit. The good part is that TNT will refund this second payment that you must do in the same day including WesternUnion fees. For this hassle i am willing to offer you 2 months for free because i wasn't aware of this situation.

Let me know


Elizabeth Thomas
Executive Personal Recruitment:
Gianfranco Ferre

What should I do about my $2000?
Will I be able to get it back?


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Sat May 09, 2009 5:10 pm 
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:39 pm
Posts: 414
Location: Third Rock from the Sun
Quote:
What should I do about my $2000? Will I be able to get it back?


Sorry to hear you were scammed. Am also sorry to tell you your money is gone and you will not be able to get it back. The next thing is you might hear from someone telling you you will be able to get your money back for a small fee. This is a recovery scam, don't fall for it.

Who and where did you send the money? If you sent it to someone in the United States there is a small chance that this person will be caught. You will need to file a complaint. Below is the link Shawn (the admin of this site) posted to report scams.

Quote:
Here is the link to report scams to the FBI. Just click on your state on the map to find out the contact information for your local FBI office.

http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm


Also, the Internet Crime Complaint Center is partnership between the FBI, NW3C and the BJA.

http://www.ic3.gov/

At the bottom of the page it says "File a Complaint"




Good luck to you.

_________________
NEVER send money

Media Reporter for ScamVictimsUnited.com

Google is your best online friend. Google everything.
http://www.google.com/

For Romance Love scams
http://romancelovescams.mysubdn.com/forum/index.php


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Sat May 09, 2009 10:40 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat May 09, 2009 4:19 pm
Posts: 2
This is where I send the money to...

Agent's verified payment address:

First name - George
Last name- Zimmer
Address- Via Lazzaro Palazzi 18
City/State - Milano
PostalCode - 20144
Country - Italy



Sigh,
I fall for it because I'm really in a urgency to move...


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Sun May 10, 2009 12:31 pm 
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Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
Go to this page . . . it has a listing with lots of good info for you

http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/resour ... _check.htm

_________________
Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of http://ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Share your story with the media and educate others about scams! Details here http://scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6319
Sign our petition http://www.change.org/actions/view/crea ... s_programs
Follow our blog http://scamvictimsunited.wordpress.com/
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_______________________________________________
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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:20 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 10:13 pm
Posts: 1
I did and received almost the exact emails as all of you did.
Until when i received her fourth email that I was getting very suspicious and googled her name etc and it brought me to this forum.
i found it extremely odd that it sounded so easy and cheap, she was in such a rush, the domain website has been taken down, she never provided me with her information or even want to know my details (phone number esp.) and the address of the apartment is very vague.

And to the addition of this, me and my partner actually went into the city to look at the location of the apartment. and we asked her for the actual address and she had given me 170 Williams St, Melbourne 3000. (Still, no apartment or unit number).
What did we found when we were there? Number 170 Williams St. is a non existent apartment number.
The numbers jumped from 180 to 172 (which is a Quest Service apartment) and then AN ALLEY WAY then the number jumped down to 168.
We spoke to the receptionist at Quest and she told us that there might be some private owners that rent out their apartment privately, which is why i emailed her back telling her that I could not found the apartment.

ME:
Hi Elizabeth,

I'm right on the address you have given me: 170 williams st, 3000 and it is non existent. The numbers jumped from 180 then 172 but there was no number 170. The closest one was 172 which was the quest service apartment. Is that what you mean?

Regards,
Ivana
Sent from my BlackBerry® from Optus

Her reply was on the same night was:

ELIZABETH:
After the change of the addresses yes, 172 is the street number.Thanks

Elizabeth Thomas
Executive Personal Recruitment:
Gianfranco Ferre

Then she went on sending me the "steps" in getting the key which brought me to do lots of research on TNT (Whether they provide such service) and ended up at this forum!

SO THANK YOU.
And I'm sorry to hear that some of you have actually been scammed.


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:34 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 11:23 pm
Posts: 1
Hiya...

My name's Patrick Gray and I'm a journalist specialising in reporting on online security and fraud.

I'm working up a piece on these real estate scammers and would really appreciate it if anyone affected by this particular scam would contact me.

You can reach me on my mobile: 0411 696 384

Happy to quote anonymously if required.

Best,

Patrick


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 5:19 pm 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 5:11 pm
Posts: 1
Hey Guys

I've had the exact same emails as you ...

As soon as I said I want to look into the "safe and fast" payment method of TNT 'holding' my payment until we view and accept the apartment, and wanting to use my own banking system to forward payment to TNT (instead of Western Union), someone else had "already accepted and sent payment" for the apartment. This lead me to Google the "owner" (Elizabeth Thomas - Gianfranco Ferre)

Glad to see others out there taking precautions and doing the research on something that doesn't seem right

Sorry to hear about you others who have already fell victim to this scam (or others)

Nice work, and great site Admin !!


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 7:51 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 7:17 pm
Posts: 1
Hiya from Sydney Australia

Oh my God I cant beleive this has happened to so many of us! (well- almost happenned).
The saying "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" never rang clearer than this morning.
I saw the apartment on Domain (which immediately disappeared as soon as i responded to Elizabeth). I thought the idea of the third party TNT Global express seemed so safe!
It was only that I picked up a typo in the TNT email address, and the person was writing on behalf of a TNT dropbox from a gmail account.
DODGY!!
Thank goodness for this website- I became suspicious and googled Elizabeth Thomas and TNT, and well- here we are! Hope you all found out before paying!!

Jane


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2009 2:47 am 
Offline

Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 2:26 am
Posts: 1
Good job guys @ da top n sorry 4 those who has been a victim.
but there is a good news for you guys. i have been communicating with so called "Elizabeth" since last week and was wondering why she is giving away her flat for such a cheap price. i knew it was a scam from the begining when she deleted her addvertisement from domain & suddenly i got curious bout it and was researching about her that brought me here. thanx guys for sharing the story and now after sending couple of emails --who's the bait now??lol. the funny thing is she has been sending me exactly the same email as she sent it to you guyz. word to word!!! what a loser!!!! i m just lovin it right now to kick her/his romanian a$$. i tracked down the ip address and country and took adequate precautions also now it is in the knowledge of adequate authority. i am still acting very naive and inncoent and atm she is thinking she got another victim. kiss my ***. it's not very long they are gonna get caught.
stay safe and act smart.


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2009 4:48 am 
Offline

Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 4:42 am
Posts: 1
Hello,
Been there, done that too. But he is not a romanian. I tracked over 10 emails from him her.... he is using some kind of chain proxies. He wrote like from 5-6 countries: USA, Germany, Kazakstan, Italy, Romania... and so on... so i don't know if he is romainian or american or any other nation as you previously said. I contacted the authorities, the e-crime and guess what... they cannot track the country yet, but they have some information he is from Nigeria.


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 4:46 am 
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Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 4:21 am
Posts: 4
A big Thank You to all on this site. Nearly fell for this but smelt a rat when the payment details had to be e-mailed to @deliveryman.com instead of FedEx.com. Details were the same except for the name to send to. I'm going to enjoy them waiting in anticipation for the payment, makes up for the time wasted.


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 3:25 am 
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Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 3:19 am
Posts: 2
Thanks for telling all these...i was nearly fall for it too...is there anyway to do so that these ppl may get caught?

The person that do the emailing is Rebecca Gutterson...Anyone else got it also?


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 Post subject: Re: The Old I am Overseas, Send Me Cash via Western Union Scam
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 7:27 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 3:19 am
Posts: 2
I received exactly the same emails and realized the spelling error 'feedex' customer service instead of fedex. So I replied to her asking if this procedure is reliable.

This is what she/he replied:

Hello,
I have used them before with success, regarding the email address, i do not know what is the problem. However please complete the payment as soon as possible so we can avoid delays and extra charges.
Regards

On the other hand, I sent an email to 'feedex' customer service asking if I could have a look at the documents and keys before payment and this is what they replied:

Dear Customer,
You can look at the documents of course but the payment must be validated first. FeeDex-customer-support@deliveryman.com is the email address of our Milano branch. They are in charge for this transaction and for the delivery of the package.
Thank you for choosing our services !


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