I think I may have found a new twist on the Nigerian scam. I am helping a friend look for an apartment in DC, and I saw a posting on Craigslist that looked too good to be true – $600/mo for a 3-bedroom apartment in DC proper! So I sent the following e-mail to the address on the listing:
Hi, I am a little puzzled by your Craiglist posting. You are offering a 3br house for rent for $600/mo? Can you clarify on this? Where is the house located? I am helping a friend look for an inexpensive place in DC, he lives in NYC now so I am helping out because I know what is a safe neighborhood better than he does, etc.
Eight hours later, I received the following reply:
from: stevens.hook@yahoo.com
Hello Dear,Thanks for the email. I own the apartment and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer to West Africa, Nigeria that makes me and my wife to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own. So for now, We are here in West Africa and will be staying here for the next 4 years in our new house and also with the keys of the apartment for rent, we try to look for an agent that we can give this documents and the keys before we left but could not find, and we as well do not want our house to be used any how in our absence that is why we took it along with us. I and my wife came over to Africa for a missionary work, so i hope you will promise us that you will take very good care of the house. So get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in renting home. Hope you are okay with the price of $600 per month with hydro,heat laundry facilities, air condition and so on.This is the address of the Apartment (1311 28th Street Southeast, Washington DC 20020 )
SO IF YOU ARE REALY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE
RENT APPLICATIONS FORM BELOW
RENT APPLICATION FORM
Pls let me get this answer.
1)Your Full Name
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number
3)How old are you?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
9)What is your religion?
Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt for you and
contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you,please we are giving you all this base on trust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that we do not see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.
Thanks and you are welcome
Regards.
There are so many red flags in this, it looks like Gay Days at Disneyland.
- Obviously this person is not a native English speaker, but that’s not unusual; this city has a lot of different nationalities.
- Hmm, they got transferred to West Africa? Do you get transferred when it’s missionary work, or do you get sent? I would have thought the latter, but I could be wrong.
- Nigeria…I’m sure “scam” is the first word people associate with that country these days. Yes, , but still – “Nigeria” just screams scam.
- They took all the keys with them, well, that was prudent, but it also makes it impossible to inspect the house. Wouldn’t it have been better to leave them with a trustworthy neighbor?
- The address – nobody ever writes “Southeast” like that. It’s SE, that’s how you write it.
- Four years? You’re going to be gone four years?
- You’re charging $600/month for a 3-bedroom in an area where are $1300. Riiiiiight.
- The last paragraph is so awful. “We are giving you all this based on trust” and “await your urgent reply” are straight out of the usual scams where some relative has died or whatever.
- It’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion regarding housing. Craigslist doesn’t say anything about it – some other listing sites do – but if you say “you’re the wrong religion, you can’t rent from me” you will get your ass .
- And if you haven’t figured it out by now, here’s the kicker. They expect you to send them $600 a month. Hello?!
So, yeah. This looks like a new – to me – twist on the usual Nigerian scam. I think I’ll take it over to and see if anybody’s heard of it before. And if I’m wrong, I’ll eat my hat. The one I’m going to sew out of baby spinach leaves, of course.
Added: I can’t find the posting anywhere on Craigslist now. Gee hmmmm.
More: Aha!
Added 10/20/09: Almost two years after I made this post, on the matter.
Wow! I can’t believe how many scams that are out there! What’s scary is I know people who I have to explain WHY things like this are obviously scams. They don’t see anything wrong with wiring money to some random person online! It’s crazy.
I am so glad I found this forum. I am trying to move to LA and almost fell for an apartment scam from some Nigerian filth. Some alarm bells went off with their emails and demands and finally I did some research and figured it out before it was too late.
I’m so angry at myself for believing that I’d found a great apartment, but I guess I should have learned by know that if something is too good to be true, it’s most probably bull$*#@!!
These frehttp://journal.amanita.net/wp-content/themes/gossipcity/images/ButtonTransparent.pngaking Nigerians are ALWAYS emailing my store, I literally get 10-15 emails from these guys today. I can’t believe anyone would ever fall for one of these emails. Does it REALLY HAPPEN!
What an awesome site.I’m from Edmonton,an I put an ad on kijiji about my video camera and I got a reply from a guy wanting to buy his adopted son who is in Nigeria at a missionary school my video camera for his birthday.but first thing that seemed fishy was the fact it was 400obo and he offered me 850 hahahahaha obo doesn’t usually mean over double amount asked. LOL so I started checking it out and reading all of these scams and a few things always the same:
Always ends in god bless or regards
They use the missionary thing lots
And almost all of them have email address that is the persons “first&last name” followed by a couple numbers
Maybe it’s not as suspicious as it seems but it was to me specially the Lagos Nigeria thing LOL
Either way this person continues emailing me asking about my paypal account so I figures I’d pretend to be a nice guy and tell him I’m not worried about the money just to give me his address and I’ll see it to his son for free and he hasn’t got back to me now LOL thanks for all the info on these scams tho hope this will help bring more scammers out of shadows and protect more innocent ppl
This ones name is “smith Evans”
thanks for sharing this. Whenever I see these things I think about the few people who fall for this and it makes me really sad for them
Same one happening in Vancouver BC again on kijiji. I reported them to kijiji and to hotmail since they were using a @live.com address.
Obviously this person is not a native English speaker, but that’s not unusual; this city has a lot of different nationalities.
This online scam is also referred as Nigerian 419 Letter, where the 419 stands for the section of Nigeria’s penal code that this online scam violates.
I couldn’t agree more with you. Nice thread.
Similar person tried this in RI – I knew it was too good to be true!
its a scam for sure similar one in alberta nigeria also same story as poster said
OMGosh! I just got two replies in the same day for two different listings in Menlo Park, Ca. Same exact email as above, two different phone numbers. Sounded way too good to be true, drove by the properties and both for lease! I stupidly called one and he said no, no don’t deal with that agent. We are never working with him again. So scarry!
We wish we seen this earlier. They played on our love for GOD and took $1500 from us. Everything that we read was exactly what we have been dealing with for the past 3 weeks.
it is sad that their are people who will use family, trust, and GOD in the same sentence as money to lie and con people.
is there a way for us to recoup our money? We want to know
OMG!! my family about to do that. all of the info in the email are all similar but different name and phone numbers.
we thought that this guy is rich and he had fully paid for the house already and now since he had to work in Africa and needed someone to take care of the house for him. luckily i found this site before we go any further.
and yep he called us.
All victims of this scam that sent the money via Western Union
contact them at at 1-800-325-6000.
Forward any suspicious emails to spoof@westernunion.com
Other Contacts Colorado Customers:
Entities other than FDIC insured financial institutions that conduct money transmission activities in Colorado, including the sale of money orders, transfer of funds, and other instruments for the payment of money or credit are required to be licensed by the Colorado Division of Banking pursuant to the Money Transmitters Act, Title 12, Article 52, Colorado Revised Statutes. If there are questions or concerns regarding a transaction with a licensee, please contact the Colorado Division of Banking at 303-894-7575 or by mail at:
Colorado Division of Banking
1560 Broadway, Suite 975
Denver, Colorado 80202
Consumer complaints should be in writing, providing as much detail as possible. Please include the following information:
The name of the institution and the name of any person(s) at the institution with whom the complainant has had contact. Include telephone number(s) and addresses.
A complete description of the complaint and any efforts that have been made to resolve the complaint directly with the institution.
Copies of any available documentation supporting the complaint and efforts toward resolution.
Any suggestions regarding a preferred resolution of the complaint.
Maryland Customers:
The Commissioner of Financial Regulation for the State of Maryland will accept all questions or complaints from Maryland residents regarding Western Union Financial Services, Inc. at Commissioner of Financial Regulation, Attention Complaint Unit, 500 North Calvert Street, Suite 402, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, phone 1-888-784-0136.
Texas Customers:
After first contacting Western Union Financial Services, Inc., if you still have an unresolved complaint regarding the company’s money transmission or currency exchange activity, please direct your complaint to the Texas Department of Banking:
In Person or U.S. Mail: Texas Department of Banking, 2601 North Lamar Boulevard, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78705-4294
Telephone Number: 1-877-276-5554 (toll free)
Fax Number: 512-475-1313
E-mail Address: consumer.complaints@banking.state.tx.us
Website Address:
Same thing in Madison, WI. Craigslist has many many scams relating to renting apartments. This is getting so ridiculous!!!
I just recieved the same exact email in asheville, nc. $700 for a home in a mulitmillion dollar neighborhood. Don’t trust them!!!!
This scam has been going on for a while. It is amazing that Craig’s list lets it continue. Besides the obvious clues that you mention there is also a fair housing violation in the persons questionaire. Asking for a persons religion is a very big no no!
I think my comment got flagged as spam. Let’s try again!
This scam was seen on Bedford, TX (DFW/HEB area) Craig’s List. Here’s the reply I got when I e-mailed the scammer:
Hi,
Thank you for your intrest in our rental property.
It is at the moment still available for occupancy.
Here is a copy of our rental application, Print it out.
BUT DO NOT FILL ANYTHING OUT UNITIL YOU SEE THE PROPERTY FIRST!!!
(link deleted) In PDF format
(link deleted) In Word format
We dont do a check on your rental history or a background check but we do require a credit check. In order to rent any of our properties you must have a credit score of 450 or higher. I do make exceptions but you must bring a copy of your report and an explanation.
You can get a copy of your score free below
(link deleted)
Do not email anything to me just bring it with you.
We do not require a security deposit or pet deposit on this property.
Unlike most properties you wont be charged an application fee or credit check fee because you will bring your own.
Renting this property is of my highest concern so if you dont act quickly it may get rented before you.
Hopefully I can walk you through the property either tomorrow or within the next few days appointments will be handled in the manner they were recieved.
Regards,
I am relocating to hilton head sc. I found a house that was a little too good to be true. I got the whole mission in west africa speech, he took the keys ect…… ahandreahang34@gmail.com is the guys email. Andrea Hang is the guys name. everyone on here should blow it up!! send random emails, maybe a virus or 2.
Hmm, sounds pretty fishy, like this is the same person who sends those emails about needing to deposit a million dollars and will let you keep a portion if you agree. It’s like offering a luxury condo in Manhattan for $600 a month. Good catch.
Same thing how lame…. made me so excited just to let me down
OH WELL jerks will get it one day..I hope. Thanks for the post!!!!
Yeah I almost fell for one in Phoenix az. Beautiful place. 3 bedroom 2 bath , they had photos and everything. To good to be true. I am kinda disapointed! Good thing I checked in to it before I sent anything.
Good job pal! Me and my wife live in chicago and came across this add on craigslist for a house! For 600/month. Too good to be true. She replied and they sent the exact same email that they have sent to you. My wife even argued that it may be true because they have gone to a mission. They will use all sourcess neccessarry to convince you… I checked google for this type of add and came across your blog. Good job!
Good job pal! Me and my wife live in chicago and came across this add on craigslist for a house! For 600/month. Too good to be true. She replied and they sent the exact same email that they have sent to you. My wife even argued that it may be true because they have gone to a mission. They will use all sourcess neccessarry to convince you… I checked google for this type of add and came across your blog. Good job!
I just emailed two seperate people on two seperate houses for rent in Maryland. I have received very similar emails from both. I find it all to coinsidental that both properties in completely differnet towns are owned by missionaries in Nigeria, West Africa. I am glad I decided to Google the “mission” because this is how I found this blog. Thanks everyone.
Good Job! A 3 bdrm house in Bartlett, IL for $700, which go for about $1900 average. The info was just about the same…the mission project in West Africa, Nigeria! Jerks!
Thank God for Google! I just received this E-mail response to something I thought was a legitimate Craigslist rental ad…
“Hello
Thanks for your response regarding your interest in having my house for rent.The house is much available for now and it a 4 bedroom home..I want you to know that i am the owner of this building situated at 6209 Wynfield Court Orlando, FL 32819.But i am now presently in West Africa for my Hospitals Project prayer crusade with my wife and we have the keys right here with us.I will like to inform you that it was due to my transfer that makes us to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own..So for now,We are here in West Africa,NIGERIA our new house and also with the keys of the house,we are trying to look for an agent that we can give this document before we left but could not see and we are as well as don’t want our house to be used any how in our absent that is why we took it along with us here.We are only willing to give the house out to a lovely and caring family only, so if you know you cannot give the house the neatness it deserves please don’t contact me.But if you promise to always take good care of the house,get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in renting a home.Hope you are okay with the monthly price of $800 with hydro,heat laundry facilities,air-condition Etc.I am looking forward to hear from you ASAP,Our house number is +234-802-859-3562 OR 011-234-802-859-3562, below is the application form for you to fill and discuss on how to get the house for rent..
Kindly confirm your interest by filling the form below:
TENANT RENT APPLICATION
FIRST NAME: __________________
MIDDLE NAME: __________________
LAST NAME: __________________
PROFESSION: ________________
PHONE (____) __________ (CELL)
PHONE (____) __________ (WORK)
PHONE (____) __________ (HOME)
MARITAL STATUS: _________
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
Home ADDRESS: ___________________________
CITY: _______________
STATE: ______________
ZIP CODE: ____________
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING? _______________________________________________________________________
CURRENT RENT: _______
IF THIS House IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________
Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you,please we are giving you all this base on t r ust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that,we do not see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.
Regards”
I can’t believe people still fall for this sort of scams. A fool is born every minute. Regards.
Man what are the odds? I was just getting really excited about this place I saw on Craiglist. The person sent me the same exact email… about Africa. and I unfortunately sent them all of my info! I feel like an idiot. I decided to google the project prayer crusade thing mentioned in their email and THIS page came up. Im just glad I found out before I sent any money.
Scammers are not only found in Nigeria, but all over the world. While some have concluded that Nigeria is synonymous to scam, I am not ashame to say I’m proudly Nigerian.
I do receive a lot of scam emails and proposals that seek to defraud me.
If you take time to verify information, you will not fall victim of scams. But if you’re greedy enough to want to reap where you did not sow or get abnormal returns on an investment without sweating, then be rest assured that either a Nigerian, Ghananian, Asian or Indian scammer will soon make you a prey.
Posts such as this have helped educate the simple minded folks and save some from, parting with hard earned money. Thanks for sharing the information.
FOUND THIS SCAM TODAY…. MILWAUKEE, WI
I also did send out my information. The reason I second thought this was because I kept gettting the same email that was orginally sent to me over and over again. Thank god that I was smart enough to look this up and research. Today was the first day and the last.
it’s quite the story, looks like a lot of people are getting scammed this way, isn’t something craiglist can do about it?
Thanks for publishing this, it’s yet another example of how online classifieds can be wrongfully used. I see by the comments that a lot of people saw the scam, but just imagine how many didn’t. It’s a shame and we can’t do much about it.
Found the same thing almost on the dot in Hilliard OHio on Craigslist.
Found the same thing for a guy named “Alan Johnson” living in new york for a missionary trip who I couldn’t get through to and when he called me he blocked the phone number. Also a melanie johnson email address was used for a guy who is on a “Hospitals Project prayer crusade” in Nigeria. I hope whoever this guy is hasn’t taken my identity
I got the same thing here in FL!!!
$500/month waterfront property with boat dock and all utilities included!!!! WAY too good to be true!!!! Same exact per word that everyone above posted!!!!
I got two similar emails but from two different people exactly like this in Tulsa. Of course, I was stupid on the first one and gave my number and address in KS due to i didn’t know what houses were going for but by the second I knew something was wrong.
I was reading further into these scams and found something posted by the FBI and it encouraged people to file a complaint and contact them so I did.
Ugh, I just got an email about an apartment I found for my best friend who is moving from Chicago to Santa Barbara. Apartments are crazy expensive and I found a furnished one for $700 with pictures and all. I should have known better when the email said that the author (a Scottish woman) had fallen in love with an African and his music producer job transferred him to “Victoria Garden city, Lagos Nigeria”. I stupidly gave out my cell phone number — are they smart enough to do anything with that?
The sad things is, they are probably the same people who tried to scam me out of an LCD projector I had for sale on ebay last year!
I have a place for rent and I have placed it on Craigs List, Kijiji and another free ad site and I have been contacted by someone by the name of Christiana Lynch and another person by the name of Cynthia Coswell, a citizen of Sevilla, Spain. Something struck me as not quite right and with a little research I soon learned that they were both scams. I have gone back to the sites where I posted my ad and posted a BEWARE OF SCAMS< with info. Hopefully the other people that post on these sites will read my warning! I suggest to anyone using free ad sites or Ebay etc. Does the same thing and warns other sellers!
OMG almost word for word on a home I wanted in Highland, The man has a different name, but I was dumb enought to wire money. And I found listing on craigs list. I was to lease 4 bedroom home, i even looked up property tax info and it belongs to man . But I think hes using a mans name. Im so sick now.
We almost got scammed too, but thanks to your blog, we didn’t! Thank you! Our listing was in Port Orchard, Wa.
Same thing in Greenville, SC. Too bad, looked like a nice place and I was going to go drive by it today – but it sounded fishy and this blog was #1 when I typed in “hospitals project prayer crusade” in Google. Oh well.
I am so glad that you did not go ahead with this rental, being a real estate agent in Chicago, I have seen similiar ads and had told my clients to be careful of giving out any information or payment. Everything has a market price, we should be careful when something is too good to be ture, plus there are so many agents why they could not find one?
Its great topic .I is new here but will be visiting more often as you have done a good job. Your blog is very interesting for me.
Thanks