I'm a 29 year-old professional lady , tenant at her_street_address . Gatineau Quebec Canada Tel: her_phone_number. I am looking to move in arround the beginning of July . I will obviously want a bedroom to myself or might share if necessary . I am down with living with whoever, but prefer a drama-free environment . I am primarily looking into apartments, but a house might be a consideration as well. I am coming down to the state for an assignment with my new security company some_company_name ... The assignment will be for 12months .I am scheduled to arrive on the 15th of July 2011 .
I am ok with one or two more animals, but if you have a dog it MUST be housebroken , and if you have a cat , it MUST not have any problems with using the restroom in places other than the box . I am all about saving money where possible (ie: turning off lights, opening windows instead of using AC when it's feasible, etc) .
Please send your reply about this request for accommodation asap so i can make a vivid introduction of myself in my next email.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to receiving your reply . my email address...........her_email_address@juno.com and you can as well search alicia her_last_name on facebook for more info about me.
All my best, Alicia
So this seems legitimate-ish, albeit kinda weird. I mean I don't know maybe I'm jaded. So I check out her facebook, which says she's in Dallas (not canada, weird) and it says she's 31 -- not 29. If she saw my roommates.com profile to get my email she would know I'm gay so I'm not sure why she would lie. Still nothing really weird. Though it did say she was born in the netherlands and schooled in britain (relevant below). So I reply with a brief thing and then get this back:
Goodeverning Steve , Thanks for the mail , i am very happy to hear from you . A little about myself...I am 29yrs , single without kids, from Rathmines in Galway .Ireland . schooled in Quebec , Canada . I live by the principle of,"do unto others what you want others to do to you".And because i love it when people are good to me,i always do all in my power to be good,just to get a reciprocate(smiles). I am quite a laid back person,i am the interesting type . I dont drink neither do i smoke and i love pets but i don't have any .I am the neat type .I love visiting new places . Does the house belong to you ? Just asking.Whats the proximity of the higher institution,groceries and stores to the house ? I will be coming down in about 10 days time to work for my branch company at downtown on an assignment that will be taking me 12 to 18 months and you can search for alicia her_last_name or with my email ( her_email_address@juno.com ) on facebook for more info about me and also pictures for you to put a face to my name .. However, please i'll like to know the total move in cost , breakdown details and the utilities of the house as well as the picture of the house as i'll not be able to check out the place until my arrival, so that i can make arrangement for payment prior to my arrival as soon as i'm able to reach an accord with you .If there is any application that i will need to fill plz have it sent to me via email so i could print and bring it over with me when coming over . I'll also like to know abit about yourself. It would be better you contact me via email for now okay and don't hesitate to let me know if you are willing to help...
Still nothing super weird, but her schooling and history now doesn't match her facebook profile-- maybe not really weird. The broken english though is a bit strange to me because she's Irish -- not indian or chinese. Though it is a little odd that she's so keen on me searching her facebook. Theres barely anything there and she only has like 40 friends all across the world who also have almost empty profiles. So I reply back in detail with pictures of the room, a lot about myself, etc. And get this:
Hello Roommie , Thanks so much for the mail. I really do appreciate the breakdown details of your place and also the details about yourself . I ;ll be so glad if you can reserve the room for me and remove the advert from all advertised sites as i;ll love to rent the place , okay . I will definately be moving down with my car ( Toyota corolla 2009 model ) , my queen size bed and my dresser , ok . I will be contacting my shipper as soon as i get your full name and address so all of these things can leave to my new house in Canada and immediately send all receiving papers/documents to you so you can get them as soon as they arrive for delivery prior to my arrival as my agent had made me understood they would be there in 2 weeks just about the time i would be arriving so i can start to make use of them as soon as i move in , ok ... I will be sending to you soon my Int' passport once i go get it from my travel agent in there i have got a 5 years work permit ( to work and reside in the USA ) , ok .
Here are my references as you had requested :
Stephanie some_last_name,
Head of Operations : info@some_company.net
Tel : some_phone_number
Kristine some_last_name ,
Head of Administration : admin@some_company.net
A little more about me :
Name: Alicia some_last_name
Address :some_street . Gatineau Quebec Canada .J9A 2Z8
Phone number : +1 some_number
Hair: brown
Eyes: brown
Age: 29yrs plus
Height: 5' 6" (167cm)
Weight: 122 pounds (55.0 kg)
Body Style: Athletic/Fit
Activity Level: Active
Smoking: N
Drinking: Socially
Marital Status: Single
Children: I have no kids
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Languages I speak: English
Ethnicity: Caucasian/White
Religion: Not Religious
Grew up in: Britain
Education: MCSA/MCSE
Occupation:Consultant
My favorites are;
My favorite cuisines: Barbecue, Chinese/Dim Sum, Deli, Eastern-European, Fast Food/Pizza, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese/Sushi, Mexican, Seafood, Soul Food, Thai, Vietnamese .
My favorite music: Dance/Electronica, Disco, Easy Listening, Pop/Top 40, Rap/Hip Hop, Soul/R&B and Soundtracks.3
My favorite physical activities: Basketball, Working Out, Dancing, Swiming and Hiking/Walking .
However, based on your mail i will be making a down payment of $500 to move in. I will instruct my company to forward to you money orders in the exact amount of $500 for the payment of my room and also the payment for my shipper and my travel agent since my company is responsible for my transfer expenses . Please i will need your full name , address and your phone number so as to have the orders prepared in your name . Also i will like to know the nearest airport to my house . I look forward to hearing from you real soon .
Thanks and have a good time ... Alicia
Please note: message attached
Now this is getting kind of weird, right? Firstly, I didn't ask for references. Second the email address for the references she gave me are weird for a real company (info@company_name.net) *and* the domain name for the email addresses isn't registered! I can't find anything about this company. There are some companies with similar names, but aren't "security" companies nor are they anywhere near memphis. What companies can afford relocation services from Canada and will handle payment but won't put her in an apartment or condo? AND don't have websites? Plus her "english" is weird right? I mean nothing like what you would expect of a native speaker. Also, I didnt ask for any more information. She seems so eager to give me information.
Besides the company, there aren't really any massive problems I guess, but I feel like this is all a bit odd. And I don't really need to risk anything. I can happily wait for someone with a more understandable story to contact me. As she's not a citizen, I don't really know what I could even do? I can't get a credit report (what I would normally do) and if she just leaves and screws me, then what legal recourse would I have?
So I replied back with this:
I'm just going to be honest -- there are some things that make me uncomfortable about this, and as this was just an e-mail out of the blue I am trying to be pragmatic and protect myself. I'm sorry -- I certainly don't mean to offend. I can't seem to find any information on the_company_name.net. It's registered as a proxy domain, which is typically a sign that its a domain for spammers or some scam-like business that doesn't want to be contacted or found. I am a little suspect of a company like that, and am just concerned about being able to pay rent, etc. The only real thing I can do to verify is a credit check, but as you're not a US citizen, I can't get one for you. Also, you're facebook information, the information below, the information in your first email, and the language of your emails seem somewhat inconsistent. I really apologize for seeming cautious, and I'm not entirely sure what to do. You sound like a very interesting person, and if everything is legit -- sound like a great roommate. But I'm just being pragmatic as this is a different circumstance from what I'm used to, and I'm not entirely sure about things.
Is this a new company? Or can you explain a little more maybe?
I don't want to be rude, but this is kind of a big deal. This person will be in my home. So I just wanted to be honest. I replied 30 hours ago and haven't received a response yet, which itself is odd as all of her previous responses were within hours of my replies.
Any thoughts? I'm a bit puzzled. If it was a scam-- I'm not entirely sure what the scam was? I certainly wasn't going to pay anything to her at any point. And she wouldn't have my social or anything to steal my identity (although I suppose that's possible once she moved in). I don't know-- very odd. I'm curious to see if she ever responds. If not, then I'll take that as a positive sign that something was not legit.
Steve
8 comments:
I know precisely what it is. You should make up an address, and straight up lie. What will happen is that you'll be offered to accept a money order or western union. It'll probably show up, and then you'll be asked to return some portion of it to her due to some unforseen issue. You'll do this, and in the window, the original MO will turn out to be a fraud or scam.
The other option is that this person is using your information to scam others. I was recently apartment-shopping, and I ran into quite a few Craigslist listings that were just "off"; turns out the people didn't really own the place, they were just using information they'd pulled from elsewhere (via scams like this, often) to "fake" an ad and lure people in (usually to get SSN/credit information).
I expect you won't hear anything more from "her", but by all means you can simply tell her you're not comfortable with the way this is progressing.
Hi there, Steve
I don't know what's going on this, but it definitely sounds dubious - the story seems to be a bit different each time, and the written English is more and more odd for a supposed native speaker.
Assuming this person responds again, I think you'd be well within your rights to ask for real details of her employer (name, address and phone number) so that you can verify at least some part of the story.
Good luck!
Mark
Scammy Scammy Scam Scam Scam!
Gauss said what I was going to say: you cash bogus money orders, and end up responsible for reimbursing your bank (or whereever) for them.
This is a pretty common Craigslist scam for large ticket items. My husband listed a car for sale and immediately got a response from a guy who wanted to send a certified check for us to cash. From that, we were to pay the movers to transport the car (he was out of state and claimed to be disabled), keep a portion for the car, and return the rest to another party.
I had a feeling it was a scam from the get-go, but I let it get as far as him sending the check. It arrived via FedEx from California, but was from a bank located in Delaware. I checked 411.com and there was not a single person in the USA with a phone registered to the name on the check. In addition, the shipping payment was to be sent to a person in the UK, not a shipping company in the USA. The balance of the check was more than twice the cost of the car, and he wanted us to wire the leftover $$ to another party via Western Union. I contacted the bank to check if the check was valid, and never got a response.
We sold the car to a local person for cash.
BTW, the English of your scammer sounds like it was written by someone whose native language is German, based on sentance structure, word choice, etc. Definitely not an Irish or Canadian individual.
Drop it like a hot potato!!
Seriously something major wrong there. The lanaguage alone should be a clue - sounds like the text from one of those Nigerian lottery scams.
Definitely sounds very suss to me. She seems very eager to 'pay' you. And when i was reading i was thinking the same as Seth. :P
Hi there, Steve
I'm curious: did anything more happen with this?
I hope life is good for you otherwise.
Take care
Mark
nope i never heard another word. So definitely a scam! The good news is I found a roommate! He's a chemistry teacher at a local private school, a nice guy, very drama free, and he pays on time! He's been in here for a few weeks now and all is good! So the story ended well.
Steve
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