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Rent scam happening currently in Rio de Janeiro
http://scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6920
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Author:  Eryx [ Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:31 am ]
Post subject:  Rent scam happening currently in Rio de Janeiro

Hello.

I am making this topic because after I almost got caught by this guy, I checked the website where I saw the apartment announcement and they have other places for rent that are a scam.

This is a guy from London who called himself Thomas Hirsch (his English was flawed, I am not even sure if this is actually someone who primarily speaks English) and wanted to complete the transaction through MoneyBookers.

He told me he was already living in London, trying to rent a place he had back in Rio because he had to move with his firm to London. He said he was looking forward to closing the deal quickly since he didn't live here anymore and it was costing him to keep the apartment.

We exchanged e-mails up to the point where I sent him my shipping address, and in return he sent me a fraudulent e-mail, claiming to be from MoneyBookers and asking of me to make the trasnfer via WesternUnion to a man named Mark Wilter.

I found it a little fishy that through the whole deal he refused to tell me a phone number where I could reach him, even though I made myself available for international calls and assured him I was able to speak English and hear him perfectly.

At the moment I received the alleged MoneyBookers e-mail, I noticed some things were off, such as formatting and the currency informed in R$ (BRL, brazilian reais, which are not used by the MoneyBookers website), and I called them. The attendant asked me for some details of the e-mail and was very helpful and nice, and then told me that it was indeed a scam and that I should stay away from the e-mail or the charges. He asked me to forward the e-mail so they can try to prevent this and I did. But from what it looks like, this is still going on and the same website that hosts the rent deals isn't even aware of what is happening.

So I made this thread in case people in other countries end up in the same situation with similar details in other countries or even Brazil. I'd like to know from an administrator if I can post this text also in Portuguese for any Brazilian who ends up in the same situation I almost got myself into.

I attached a .doc if you'd like to see the body of the e-mail and be made aware, in case you try to make any online purchases and it looks similar. I don't feel like going through the process of proving this is a trustworthy file, if you want to check the file's integrity just go to virustotal.com or any other online virus prevention website.

If you'd like any more information on how this went down in case you end up in a similar situation and want to clear things out, you can try to reach me on Facebook through messaging (facebook.com/dehast) and I'll be sure to answer quickly, or e-mail me (I'm not sure you can through the forum but you can try and I'll be sure to reply in the same day).

Hope this helps someone out there.

Attachments:
moneybookers.doc [63 KiB]
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