ScamVictimsUnited.com

There is strength in numbers.

Scams in Today's News:


Bookmark and Share
It is currently Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:00 pm



All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 29 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:35 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:28 am
Posts: 1
I posted an ad for a roomate Saturday and within minutes I received two replys. One from Australia and one from Spain, allegedly. I new this was a scam simply by the spelling. The girl from Australia writes as if she's Russian. Same for the girl from Spain.

It's fun to play along.

[color=#BF0000]Dear Roomie,


How are you doing? fine and hope you are having a wonderful day,Anyway i must tell you that am really happy about the information provided,and i will want you to know that i'm really interested in renting the place from you and i won't take any chance in losing it.All i will want you to do for me is to please remove the advert from the sites as i will not want to lose it to another person.I' ve contacted my organization personnel manager that will be responsible for the payment and he said he is okay by it and he promised to make the payment out to you via a money order.

I will also want to inform you that i will be shipping over little of my bedroom furnitures and my car that my organization gave when i was promoted as Humanitarian officer and my boss as promised to include the money for the shipment with the money for the rent fees,so as son as the shippers came to deliver my things,you will help me to give them the remaining money at the point of there delivery after you may have deducted the money for the rent fees.

Hope you can really understand this?i will really appreciate if you can do this for me,please do get back to me with your decision so that my boss can get the payment send to you as soon as possible.

Hope to read from you soon and will get intouch with you as soon as the payment as been sent.

Your's truly,

Vicki..[/color]

Hi,

Thanks for the iintroductory mail,

How are you doing today?I guess fine...I'll be so glad if you can reserve the room for me as i'll love to rent the room and ready to leave with any prefference.Moreso i will like you to know some little information about me.I was born and raised spain quiet and easy going person to live with. I'm 29 years of age,and work with the Federal Agency of Works and Natural Resources in Spain,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 on with. I am a faithful and committed person,who is very considerate of other people's feelings.I don't drug,I don't smoke and i don't drink..I enjoy going out with my friends to movies, plays, parks, hikes,anything to do with the ocean and horses but i'm cool living with people.I live with my mum and my uncle here in Spain...I'm planning to come by the 10th August.2008 and i will be staying for theminimum of 6-12months,So you'll get the payment ahead of my arriving date. since i'll be coming down from Spain..I studied Human Relations here in
Carlos III University of
madrid 28903 - Getafe (Madrid) Spain,
Tel: 34 91 624 95 00,FAX: 34 91 624
9757 http://www.uc3m.es.
I have worked with European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions...
Wyattville Road
Loughlinstown
Dublin 18
Ireland
Telephone: + 353 1 2043100
Fax: + 353 1 2826456, + 353 1 2824209
Am very much interested in you and the room cos you sound like a nice someone and i promise never to disappoint you in anyway..I must confess i'm comfortable with the cost of the room and its quite reasonable and affordable.likewise to make the payment for the first month ahead of my arrival, and then i will make subsequent payment thereafter as i plan to stay for more than 6months,I,'ve told my boss about this and he promised to make sure that he meet up with the payment so that I can depart from here as scheduled. So i hope you can keep the room for me till my arrival.Moreso my boss said the mode of payment will be the Most acceptable,easier,safer and reliable means of payment which is United State Certified money order or bank certified check..So pls let me know if this mode of payment is ok by you.Feel free to ask me any question(s) you have okay...

I would be glad to seeyour quick response.

Cheers,

Amy...


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:06 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:00 pm
Posts: 1
Hi! I just recieved a very similar ad and was skeptical. I posted for a roomate on August 3 and recieved this reply the following day. Here is what it read:

"Hi,

I'm,female, i am from spain, specifically malaga.I speak both English and Spanish fluently, and i am 29years of age. I am currently working with the Federal Agency of Works and Natural Resources in Spain.I am currently on a reseach programme,and i am desperately looking for a place to stay.I read your profile about the room and i would really want to secure the room before my arrival,and more so to know if it would be possible for me to pay for the room before my arrival,So i will like to know the total amount of the room per month and the utility included.All these information are very important so that i can submit my proposal to my Organization.My Organization will be responsible for all the fees and the payment will be by United State money order. I will need the following information to get the payment to you
(1) Full name as it will appear on the payment.
(2) Address
(3) phone number
I would be glad to seeyour quick response.

Thanks

Leah.."

It was cc'd to someone at California State University at Montery Bay. It seemed a little odd. I have not replied.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:35 am 
Offline
Gold Member

Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:50 am
Posts: 291
Location: WI
The school email address is strange. Are you sure it wasn't a spoof address to make you feel more comfortable? The easiest way to tell is if the email didn't end in .edu


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:28 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:21 pm
Posts: 2
i got the samething today Dec 6, 2008 2 of them mater of fact!!!

Hi,
I'm ,female, and i am from spain, specifically malaga.
I speak both English and Spanish fluently, and i am 27years of age.
I am currently working with the Federal Agency of Works and Natural Resources in Spain.I am currently on a reseach programme,and i am desperately looking for a place to stay.
I read your profile about the room and i would really want to secure the room before my arrival,and more so to know if it would be possible for me to pay for the room before my arrival,So i will like to know the total amount of the room per month and the utility included.All these information are very important so that i can submit my proposal to my Organization.My Organization will be responsible for all the fees and the payment will be by United State money order. I will need the following information to get the payment to you.
(1) Full name as it will appear on the payment.
(2) Address
(3) phone number

I would be glad to see your quick response.

Thanks,

Brittany..




My name is smith joy but my friends called me ''angel'' I am 28years of
age and i am from the United States of America in Las Vegas (Nevada) but
presently I am in Ireland (Dublin).
Furthermore, I am really interested in the room you offer for rent and i
will be very happy if you can respond to my e-mail as fast as you can
because i really need to move in as soon as possible. I will be paying you
with check or Money Order because the company i worked for (ADIDAS Company)will be responsible for my rent fee but i really don't know how
much will besent to you but it might be an Over-payment and i hopethatwill
not be a problem but anyway we will chat more about that later on so
please kindly e-mail me back to my email address which is
joy3784love002@gmail.com , so that we can both commence the transaction.
I will be waiting to hearing from you.
Thanks




AINT THAT CRAZY!!!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:21 pm 
Offline

Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:37 pm
Posts: 1
I found this site by accident and my daughter and I are blown away at all the posts that are almost exactly like the ones she received.

She posted on craigslist for a roommate. First two responses were obviously scams or creepy. they were almost the same verbatim. both email addresses were @geekzonemail.com which was obvious. But then she received a third email which was an aol email address. This person did not repeat all the same things in her first email as in the other two responses. She was almost believable. But then when my daughter emailed her back, and the second response is when she noticed the similarities to the first two responders. All three were from either france, italy or germany. All "neat type" 5'7" and straight, and either 26 or 27. All were already living in the states. One was in Atlanta, two were in South Dakota and all were doing some sort of job related to nursing (my daughter mentioned in her ad she was a nurse) All used the exact same wording about loving to live with clean, caring neat type people. All were fluent in English so "we have no barriers".

Well when the first two came in she ignored them, But the third had enough differnces that she at first was interested. The third one had an uncle who raised her and was going to help her financially. After comparing all three of them was when we noticed all the similarities although with a twist to her story. That's when I went phishing for info and found this site. It is scary. Not sure what the answer is in finding a trustworthy person as a roommate.

Has anyone had any success with finding a roommate online and if so, where did you post? We have been thinking we should ask for a background check. But even with that there is no guaranty she wont get someone who seems normal but is not. Any suggestions?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:08 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 1
oh jeese i didnt realize that this was such a big scam. but now that i look at it it all makes sense. i just posted my roommate add on craigslist yesterday and just got a reply today. the one i got said she was from spain. i almost replied to it but decided to do a little looking around first cuz it seemed a little fishy to me


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:37 pm 
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:39 pm
Posts: 414
Location: Third Rock from the Sun
IMHO, the first thing everyone should do before replying to someone via email that you don't know is check the IP address. It is really simple. One of the web sites I use for looking up IP addys is http://whatismyipaddress.com/. Just copy the last received from IP address into the bar above lookup IP address and then click on the bar. It will tell you where the peson who sent the email is really located. It will even let you know if a proxy was used.

It is nice to know there are people out there who care enough about others to share their stories so others can be warned about this awful crime.

_________________
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


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:35 am 
Offline

Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:25 am
Posts: 1
This is incredible! I posted a room mate ad on craigs.list last week and got replys almost immediately from Spain, Australia, and Utah! They are all similar to the responses listed here. All young females anxious for a room, company or step-dad to pay rent. No problems,sending US money order. One even said she would ship her company car and personal belongings and the company would issue one big check to me and I could help her get her things from the delivery company. Yeah, sure, and I'll throw in some extra spending cash for you too!! What do they get from you?? A sob story so you give them cash??? Doesn't craigslist watch this??


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:20 pm 
Offline
Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
First, could you post all of the email addresses that the different scammers were using? Often people will google this information and then they will find your post and know it is a scam.

Quote:
What do they get from you??

They get thousands of dollars . . . your dollars. They send a check, and it is either for more than the amount agreed on and they ask you to wire back the overage, or it is for the right amount and after you have deposited the check they suddenly have some reason that they have to back out of the deal . . . you cannot just mail the check back to them . . . you already deposited it into you account . . . so they ask you to take the money out of your account and wire it back to them. In about a week or so the bank will contact you to let you know that the check is counterfeit and they want YOU to pay back the money.

Quote:
Doesn't craigslist watch this??

They post warnings that say "only deal with people locally", but if YOU posted the ad and someone responds to that ad, there is no way that Craigslist would know what they said in their email to you so they cannot really stop that.

_________________
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/
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch
_______________________________________________
Has this site helped you?
Buy us a coffee to say thanks ~ http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/donations.htm


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:30 pm 
Offline
Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
I was able to find out that the emails involved were

linda_harry@live.com
Janetcole_555@yahoo.com
Annacollins700@yahoo.com

_________________
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/
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch
_______________________________________________
Has this site helped you?
Buy us a coffee to say thanks ~ http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/donations.htm


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:04 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:21 pm
Posts: 2
these are some emails address i got today:

:arrow: brittrobbaby@yahoo.com
:arrow: joy3784love002@gmail.com
:arrow: brandy_my_love7@yahoo.com
:arrow: faith_romeo2001@yahoo.com
:arrow: linda.simmon9@gmail.com
:arrow: cuddlersm@yahoo.com

Look :shock: for them :!:


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:57 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:46 am
Posts: 1
I posted an add offering a room also and got immediate response in what seemed like the same kind of pattern email:

They were all apparently:

-Females
-From another country
-Working for an organization
-On a "program"
-Going to send money order because wanted to reserve room (and the money order was for a bigger amount with some excuse)
-Wanted my name/address/phone number

Here are the emails I've received so far and foward to the FTC. :

carladiego2@yahoo.com
judyscott_05@yahoo.com
ann.patterson001@live.co.uk
linda.couch777@hotmail.com
joy3784love002@gmail.com

please be aware of these annoying trash 'people'.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:59 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:37 pm
Posts: 1
Here is a new edition of the roomie scam that I am pretty sure is a scam. Yea, I stopped short of depositing the money which was way more than the deposit and 1st month's rent as I have asked on my craigslist ad. I never got an answer for details to do a simple background check. It started with the typical (from this website) that they almost immediately responded to my ad, they are female, from Canada, working for a health organization, having my boss send money, etc... Thanks for all the posts so that I don't deposit the possibly counterfeit check (wasn't a money order check) and then pay thousands. Email was from juliesxx01@hotmail.com


Hello,


Good to read from you..i was so happy and glad to hear that you've goten the payment in your mailbox..Truely the payment are of excess ,the excess money will be for the shipment of my things as i have told you earlier in my previous emails that i will be including the shipping fee with the rent fee,i will want you to deduct your first month rent.. I really appreciate your care,concern and patient so far,you are indeed a good roommate...I have just gotten an information from my shipping agent,and they made me to understand that they will be shipping over my things and it w ill get to Us on Friday,but they will not take it to my future home if only i can get there service charge to them via western union money transfer when they have arrived in the Usa on fridayalso i have contacted my travel agent and he said my flight will by next week monday..Am really so happy that i will be meeting you soon and that my things will be shipped from my presence here ....

Right now i will want you to please get the check deposited at your bank,and when you get there you will ask for a part-payment of $2,850 out of the money,so that the shipping fee can be wired to my mover and the shippment can take effect as soon as they get there service charges....

Please i will be so glad if you can do this for me today, kindly get back to me so that i will get back to you with the information you will be sending the money to via western union money transfer i.e(Name and there address in the US)...
I will be so happy to read from you soonest...


My flight information will be forward to you in my next email....

Kindest regards
julies


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:45 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:38 pm
Posts: 1
I just posted for a room for rent last night about 10 p.m, 17 hours later, here's a list of e-mail addresses I've recieved - all matching the same profiles as everything I've been reading about the scams.

tcamp18@ymail.com,
quincy_leeds@yahoo.com
betsy81cameron@googlemail.com
delethelaw@yahoo.com
m_mike500@yahoo.com
judyscott_09@yahoo.com
terrydav01@yahoo.com
Pammorrison8@aol.com
wchristianah13@hotmail.com
belen.martinez21@hotmail.com
diane_smith001@hotmail.com

Is there any way to report and subsequently catch any of these people?
Hope this list helps someonelse not fall for it.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Roommate scam in the making
PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:01 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:56 pm
Posts: 1
I received emails from:
annacollins12345@gmail.com
annacollins700@yahoo.com

I was wondering how they could get money out of me just by sending them my name and address. Thanks for the information!

What can we do now? I think we should cram up their systems by leading them on and asking many questions.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 29 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next



All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Untitled document

 cron

Disclaimers, Message Board Guidelines and Privacy Policy   

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group