Question
Is this a scam?? I just don't feel right about this...?
I am subletting a school apt via craiglist. atlanta ... I am glad someone wants to rent it the next day, but everything seems to going too perfertly, it worries me a little, expecially she wants me to cash her check first. Maybe I am over concerned, but just in case, following are the emails she sent me. Her: Hey,Hope things are cool with you there?am interested in your place that was advertised on craigslist,please write me back to know if is still available take care. Me: Yes, it is still available, you can contact me at 678-XXXXXXX(she never contact me via phone) Her: Hello there, How are you doing?Thanks so much for your prompt response .....This is a little about me,am into Humanitarian Services and i am also a freelance in fashion design,single and love my work.I want to subletting the place from you...I am very happy to know that the place is still available and am really glad to have details about the place its what am looking for....For the payment that is not a problem at all because my boss will be highly responsible for all the expenses of the payment all i have to do is to confirm the amount of the space including the utilities and then get it sent to him including the information's in which the payment will be issued to..,So all i require of you is for you to send me your.. FULL NAME---------- FULL ADDRESS----------- PHONE----------------------- So that i can forward it to my boss because my boss will be paying you in advance because of my flight ,So you get back to my travel agent who is in United state with the rest of the money via western union...in order to get my ticket booked so that i can be in state asap...I am an easy going lady and surely u will enjoy my stay in the u.s.a...i really want to promise u that we ll surely have the best of time because i will take good care of your place.....Here is just more about me... Name: (Her name) Eyes: Brown Age: 27yrs old Height: 5' 6" (167cm) Weight: 122 pounds (55.0 kg) Body: Average Activity Level: Active Smoking: No Drinking: Socially Marital Status: Single Children: I have no kids Zodiac Sign: Pisses Languages I speak: English Religion: Christian Grew up in: Britain Education: MCSA/MCSE Occupation:Humanitarian service. 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 Best Regards (I don't know why she gave me all these info) Me: Wow, thank you for your detailed response, here are the informations that you requested: Full name: X Full address:X Phone: X For how long are you going to sublet the place? (I gave her the above info) Her: Hello There, Thank you so much for the reply and i want to rent this place from you.....the check will get to you this week via fedex or ups and all you need to do is to have the check cash,remove your money for first month and the deposit prior to my moving in and you will have the balance send to my travel agent at Western Union location so that he can have my flight ticket booked for me to come to the state and i will want you to have everything taking care of so that my travel agent can make things set for me before my arrival day to the state..... i will get back to you later with my flight details as soon as everything is been taking care of by my travel agent so that you will know my movement.... Thank you for the reply and i will keep you updated ,have a wonderful time. Regards Is something wrong??? Should I at least ask her for a copy of her ID?
6 months ago - 6 answers
Best Answer
Chosen by Asker
This is a fake cheque scam - a typical short con that is unfortunately very common on Craigslist The idea behind it that you are 'prepped' by the scammer (who is more than likely a man btw which is probably why you haven't been called) into expecting a cheque for a greater value than your rental agreement. You will than be asked to bank the cheque and send the overpayment to 'her' travel agent via Western Union in order to arrange the flight. Western Union is used by scammers as being electronic it is fast and paperless and once the transfer is collected, the scammer can disappear. Western Union transfers can be collected anywhere in the world once the money control transfer number (MCTN) and recipient are known. Scammers can also have 'Westy names' i.e.specific ID's for collecting transfers. (The name of the 'travel agent' will be this particular scammers 'westy ID'). In the meantime the cheque bounces and you may well end up with a bad credit rating and having to placate an annoyed bank manager.You may even get a visit from those friendly chaps in the FBI. All that info was sent as most of a scammers response is through pre-scripted emails - they simply copy and send. Someone somewhere thought that all that information was relevant so composed an email full of it. Believe me, I've seen worse :) You have given the scammer your home address, so you *may* get a fake cheque turn up. If you do and are nervous about it, take it and all the relevant emails to the FBI and have them deal with it. They've seen this sort of thing before, but there's little they can do as most scams are carried out beyond the FBI jurisdiction. If you are not nervous, do what I have done with all mine and stick in it a picture frame - it'll make for a conversation piece :) If your scammer does start to pester you by phone, place it by a radio and walk away, he'll soon stop. Occasionally, with these cheque scams, scammers will send the odd threatening email e.g. You've got my money, send me the air fare or I'll get the FBI on you. You can ignore any such email threats - they are the criminal here not you. Besides, he is probably working out of an Internet cafe in Nigeria so is hardly in a position to call in the FBI. Hope this helps Luck with renting your room
Source(s)
Scambaiter www.419eater.com Scamwarner www.scamwarners.com
by Alan M
6 months ago
Asker's Rating: 
Other Answers
no its a scam i am renting a room in california and i got the same email she sent to much info about herself its a scam dont do it ( why would you need what she looks like to rent her something )
by Misty G- 6 months ago
Those Western Union wires attached to too good to be true offers are always a scam..I work at a bank and we see these all the time...PS- if you deposit her check, it will eventually bounce...and you will have already sent the money via western union (the basics of the scam)
by jaleonard23- 6 months ago
keep looking... that sounds weird. you only need confirmation of financial stuff and a few references not a full bio. it would raise red flags for me
by surferchick- 6 months ago
YES it's a scam. Any time someone sends you a check for more than they owe you, and asks you to wire the rest to someone, it's a very common scam. The check will end up not being good, and you'll be out whatever you wired to the person. Don't even think about it!!!!
by Judy- 6 months ago
You'll find this scam for every subject you can think of. So many people loss their money every day because they fall for these and it amazes me that someone can actually be taken in by these people. More people these days actually do fall for these scams because of the economy. With things being the way they are, people see $$$ and think they've hit a gold mine. Instead they lose everything they've got and some are even concidered participating in a criminal act. You get scammed and then do jail time? These people are heartless vultures. Report her to craigslist and forward it through your email account to there fruad department as a spammer. If enough of us actually report all the scams and spam, maybe we'd have to deal with less of it. REPORT and RUN!
by piziestas- 6 months ago