Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Another Scam!

We saw another "too good to be true" listing on Craigslist, and sure enough, the response to my inquiry email reeks of scamminess.  It's very similar to the other scam-listing, actually.  My favorite parts are in bold.  Yikes.  I was kind of disappointed to see that it had already been flagged.  I totally wanted to flag it.



Hi,
Thanks for the email. My name is Collins Comb the owner of the 1 Bedroom Condo you are making enquiry of, Its still available for immediate possession. The rent includes all utilities such as : - all furnishings - linens- tableware-  cooking utensils- water- heat- internet- basic cable TV etc Options and extras:- off-street  parking / garage (2 cars) - electricity- phone- digital or HD TV.Presently am out of the country to cover some story of African History in West Africa countries like: Sudan, Ghana and Nigeria, and others but presently in Nigeria. I'm a TV News  correspondant. This is a very big task but I have to do it, all the documents to the property and keys are in safe hand here with me. we are looking for a responsible person that can take a very good care of it for us, as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time and the possible tenant will see the Condo as his or her own.
Here is the Condo address:2600 Ashby Ave #1, Berkeley CA 94705 ...Ready for immediate move-in!You can drive down there to take a look at it...i will be willing to rent my Condo out for the maximum of 5 years and below.I personally had wanted to sell the Condo earlier on.But after long time deliberation between me and my wife Elizabeth we finally agreed on renting out the Condo, because it was initially to be sold. But I really want you to take good care of the Condo, as if it were your own Condo.
I will be online through out to get back to you as soon as you are able to get back to me. I would want to know how soon you would want to move in, as I will be taking a 1 or 2-month upfront payment which mean the first and last months you will be staying in the Condo including some utilities (Electricity, Water, Internet, Heat and Garbage). I am asking for $1536 For 2 month upfront payment Or $768 for 1 month upfront payment and I believe we should be able to help ourselves. including utilities because I want you to take a very good care of the Condo while I am away.
Because due to my present location. Is not possible for you to view the interior of the place when i have the keys and the document with me here in africa..I am looking forward to hear from you ASAP so i will like you to go ahead and fill out the rent application form so that will can proceed further and discuss on how to get the  the keys and papers sent to you via Dhl or ups e.t.c, also are you ready to rent it now or when?.So here is the Rent Application Form Below..
                                             =========  RENT APPLICATION FORM ============
                                                                PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Also,Pls answer these questions below:
1)Your Full Name______________________________________
2)Present Address(where you reside now) & Phone Number______________________________
 3)How old are you _____________________________
4)Are you married ______________________________ _____
5)How many people will be living in the Condo___________________________
6)Do you have a pet _________________________________________
7)Do you have a car __________________________________________
8)Occupation _________________________________________________
9)How long are you willing to stay _________________________________________
10)When do you intend to move in _________________________________________
11)1 month Or 2 month deposit needed ______________________________________
12) Pictures of all the Occupant that will stay in my Condo______________________________________
Pet allows.
I will use the information above to prepare the rental agreement , rent receipts and other documents. Make sure the correct information is type.Do reply with your both cell & home number i am going to call you if your application form has been accepted or call me after filling the rental application form. A package containing the housing documents, property address with full description. Inlcuding the direction to the place and keys will be ship to you once you both agreed with the term and condition. Call me once you fill out the application form.Here is my contact number: +2348028713386 or 0112348028713386....i will be expecting your call to know how serious you are in renting my Condo
 Thanks & God Bless

6 comments:

  1. These make me laugh now ONLY BECAUSE I have gotten several of these sent back to me as well. This one goes the extra mile though. I like the detailed description of his job and the "someone's gotta do it" type of exasperation in his "writing".

    I believe we should be able to help ourselves.

    Classic.

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  2. Thanks for posting - the same person just sucked me into responding to an ad on craigslist (for a house in Berkeley). Once I got the reply, it seemed fishy. Your blog post turned up the phone number, which was helpful confirmation. Was almost the same deal as what you posted.

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  3. How funny - I'm glad I could be of a little help! :)

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  4. I got the same email. The bad thing is that I believed and replied to the email.

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  5. Thanks KIm.. he is still doing it. I replied and he said the same thing as you wrote here but different name and  property. Thanks for your help

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