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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

First off, this site rules. Forgive me if this is kind of confusing, but I'm new to the 419eating scene.

Anyway, I work for a real estate agency in Brooklyn. The other day, my coworker showed me an email she received from someone named "Tiffany Bentley" who was "a lady of 26 yrs old and a British" and who was going to be "coming to U.S.A (United State of America) for another program (HIV/AIDS seminal) which will last for 1 or 2 months."
I was pretty suspicious considering that:
1. Her from address "[email protected]" was different than the reply-to "[email protected]"
2. She was from Nigeria.
3. She included a LOT of personal information. Like, her hobbies and religion. I have been doing real estate for a while and have never received such superfluous information for an apartment rental. It was already kind of fishy.

My coworker replied with a standard response explaining that if Tiffany wanted to see the apartment, Tiffany should call to make an appointment. This is where it gets weird. My coworker got a phone call (a private number) from a British woman who said that she represented Tiffany and would like to see the apartment. My coworker met with this woman and showed her the apartment. They parted ways and then my coworker received an email from Tiffany. She wanted the apartment. She wrote that she would send a check for the deposit, utliities, fee, etc. and that "as you receive the check you will deduct your rent fee and the utilities from it and then get back the rest to my flight manager so that my ticket can be booked... , am sure you will understane all this, waiting to hear from you, so i will want all this informations for quick payment as soon as posible.."

I was pretty sure at this point that this was a scam so I googled some of the info provided in the message and got a hit for the address she listed for her employer "7294 KENWOOD AVENUE MANCHESTER CITY,LONDON, ENGLAND, UK". It was an address given to <a href="http://paulm.com/inchoate/2004/06/419_rent_scam.html"> this guy</a> when someone tried to scam him.

So, the big question: what should I do now? Because there was an American contact, does that give the police jurisdiction to arrest someone? Who should I contact about that? Has anyone else had a similar experience wherein they actually meet someone who is in cahoots with the scammer? I can include the entire email exchange if that would help. Thanks in advance!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 6

Welcome to the site! I will leave it to those infinitely more experienced than me to comment in greater detail, but here are my observations.

This sounds like it could be some kind of money laundering scam, given that she is asking for you to send the balance of her payment back to her home country. If this is the case, she could well afford to lose your fee in order to 'clean' the money.

Secondly, the address is false. Addresses are not arranged in the North American block format in the UK (e.g. '7294') and Manchester is a city in the north of England and is not in London as the address suggests.

Hope this helps for now. I'm sure that there will be many more helpful responses soon.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:49 pm

This is a common scam. You are given a dud check and pay somebody real cash as 'change', then you are left to take the consequences.

Manchester City is not a city, it is a soccer team.
I don't think there are any addresses in England that go into the 7000s.

Do nothing. Don't deposit any checks. Give them to the police if you want to but they are unlikely to do anything about it as it's virtually impossible to trace.

If the scammers have any real information about you or your friend, cease all contact immediately. Just don't reply. If you get a phone call, say the apartment has been withdrawn from the market by the owner. Ignore them and they will move on. Rattle them and you could be in danger.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Quote:

She wrote that she would send a check for the deposit, utliities, fee, etc. and that "as you receive the check you will deduct your rent fee and the utilities from it and then get back the rest to my flight manager so that my ticket can be booked...

It's a standard fake cheque overpayment scam, for example, the rent, deposit, utilities etc might come to $3000, so the scammer will send a fake cheque for $8000, saying to send the $5000 difference to her flight manager (they usually use "shipper" instead of "flight manager" in fake cheque scams when purchasing cars/goods for sale for example).

You deposit her cheque and send her the diffeence via Western Union, a little while later, your bank informs you the cheque was fake or stolen, you are left to pay back the full amount of the cheque to your bank.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:55 pm

Yes - that UK address is totally fake.

It's a cheque scam. She will send you a fake cheque for an amount larger than you need and ask you to return the 'overpayment'. If you deposit the cheque and send the scammer the money the bank will come after you for the fake cheque amount PLUS you've lost the money you sent so it's a double whammy for you. I suppose it goes without saying that you have to send the scammers money via Western Union?

In these situations where the scammer has personal or business information about you then the advice is to cease ALL contact immediately. By all means post the scammer's original email in our Surplus Letters sub-forum (or in this thread) and let another baiter go after them.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:05 pm

^^^^^^^
Same as the above multi-posts
I type too slowly Very Happy

Quote:

My coworker got a phone call (a private number) from a British woman who said that she represented Tiffany and would like to see the apartment. My coworker met with this woman and showed her the apartment. They parted ways and then my coworker received an email from Tiffany. She wanted the apartment. She wrote that she would send a check for the deposit, utliities, fee, etc. and that "as you receive the check you will deduct your rent fee and the utilities from it and then get back the rest to my flight manager so that my ticket can be booked.

This bit spooks me a little as I have never heard of a scammers 'accomplice' sticking her head above the radar by actually meeting a potential victim.
My suspicion here is that your coworker will never see this 'representative' again (if she gave a name it'll be fake) and when you receive the cheque there'll be a problem and you'll be asked to go the usual route of cashing it and sending the balance back via Western Union

As everyone else has rightly said it's a scam; walk away from it, don't cash the cheque and forget 'Tiffany'

Cheers

Oh... and welcome to the site Very Happy

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

Thanks so much for your advice on the matter and llamedos, it's good to be here!

I looked up some more information on this type of scamming and this seems to match the over-paying-then-sending-the-surplus-money-back scam. I think that we'll cease our contact with the person and if anyone else wants to deal with them, here is a reproduction of the email thread with my coworker's name and email deleted, but the scammer's original email intact.

ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM SCAMMER:
>From: "tiffany bentley"< [email protected]>
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: i am interested in the apartment
>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:38:30 -0500 (EST)
> >
> >hello,
> >how are u doing? hope fine? if so, i appreciate it so
>much. I saw your Advert that u have a room/apt. to be
>sub-leased. am interested in renting the room/apt. It
>suits the type of place i need for my comfort and
>work. Am a lady of 26 yrs old and a British. I was
>born and brought up in London. I lived all my life
>there.
> >Am a medical practisional, a doctor to be precised
>but presently in West Africa (Nigeria) for a program
>which will be ending soon. i and the rest of my
>collegues will be coming to U.S.A (United State of
>America) for another program (HIV/AIDS seminal) which
>will last for 1 or 2 months. we'll be there to educate
>and give the people some medical diagnosis on
>HIV/AIDS.
> >I will like to lease the room/apt for the period
>which i will be there for the program cos it prefer
>staying there than staying in a motel.below is the
>question you might require of me
> >
> >Name:-tiffany bentley
> >Age:-26
> >Sex :-Female
> >Citizenship:- UK
> >Place of Birth:-Wood Green
> >Educational Qualification:-MD(HIV/AIDS DOCTOR)
> >Institution:-National University
> >Religion:- Catholic
> >Marital Status:-Single
> >Cleanliness:- Very clean
> >Hobbies:-Dancing,Movies,Concerts,Soccer,Traveling
> >Nature:-Great sense of humor,easy going and very out
>going
> >Drinking/Drugs/Smoking:-Social Drinker don't do drugs
>nor smoke
> >Contact Information of BOSS:
> >
> >NAME OF BOSS:- FLETCHER MAC JAMES
> >ADDRESS OF BOSS IN UK:-
> >7294 KENWOOD AVENUE
> >MANCHESTER CITY,LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
> >
> >pls response by mailing me and tell me if the
>room/apt is still available. and i will need to know
>about the room.
> >
> >1. the amount you charge per month?
> >2. location of the place?
> >3. deposit amount?
> >4 total amount for 2 months
> >
> >tell me more about the place. I cant wait to read
>from u soon.
> >thanking u in anticipation.please i will need the
>room if available , and dont hesitate to reply to my
>mail.
> >Tiffany bentley

Here is the Reply from my coworker:

>--- MY COWORKER <XXXXXXXXXXXXXX> wrote:
>
>
>---------------------------------
>
>Hello, Tffany
>
>
>
>I am a real estate agent i work in brooklyn and i
>don't have any rooms to rent. I have apartments if you
>are interested in the place you can give me a call.
>The price of this apartment is $1250 a month if you
>only want to stay for 2 months that a little difficult
>but i think i can help I have a few places that we
>rent out furnished rooms i just have to call the
>landlord . The place is in lefferts gardens the
>charge is usually first month and last month and
>brokers fee but that is usually for a year lease. I
>can try to find you a room if that best suits you.
>What Landlord usually looks for is a person with good
>credit and a job that can cover the cost of living.
>Please feel free to contact me anytime if you are
>interested.
>
>
> MY COWORKER
> Space Real Estate
> Sixth Ave,Brooklyn
> XXX-XXX-XXXX

FINAL EMAIL FROM SCAMMER

From: tiffany bentley <[email protected]>
To: MY COWORKER < jXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>

Subject: RE: i am interested in the apartment
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 04:19:35 -0800 (PST)
>Hello
> Thanks so much for your prompt response.I will
>be so glad if you could list the available apts to
>give you my budget or help me to secure a betterapts.I
>am very happy for your reply that shows the kind of
>person i am thinking of renting from how kind he
>his...For the payment that is not a problem at
>all...Because my boss will be highly responsible for
>all the espanses of the payment all i have to do is to
>confirm the amount of the room including the utilities
>and then get it sent to him including the informations
>in which the payment will be issued to. I will like
>to make 2 months upfront payment for you to hold the
>place for me. So all i require of you is for you to
>send me your full name and address including your
>phone number so that i can forward it to my boss
>because my boss will be paying you in advance bacause
>of my flight and some other things so all you have to
>do is that as soon as you receive the check you will
>deduct your rent fee and the utilities from it and
>then get back the rest to my flight manager so that my
>ticket can be booked... , am sure you will understane
>all this, waiting to hear from you, so i will want all
>this informations for quick payment as soon as
>posible.. Thanks and have a good time.
>Warmest Regards
> RENTAL APPLICATION
>ApplicantName: tiffany bentley
>Present Address: 12 pelewura Crescent,
> Victoria Island,
> Lagos, Nigeria 23401
>Telephone/e-mail: [email protected]
> hotel Phone #: 234-8053220315
> (Suite012) Hilton Plans
>Hotels
>DOB january 24, 1980
>
>Social Security#
>Driver's license Need to Apply for a new D/L
>
>
>Applicant's employer: FLETCHER MAC JAMES
>ADDRESS OF BOSS IN UK:-
>7294 KENWOOD AVENUE
>MANCHESTER CITY,LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
>I will try to attach my national identity or passport
>and email it to you later today
>so i will want you to get back to me with the name and
>the addresss for the payment to be addressed to as
>soon as possible for the payment to be made out as
>soon as possible
>tiffany

I think after this that my coworker sent another email that includes a very straight forward explanation of our application process (just as we would with any client. this process includes a credit check, so I think the scammer might not reply back). I'll update if we get any replies.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Posts: 4

I joined this site just for the purpose of I found this forum by a yahoo search for "12 PELEWURA CRESCENT" with the quotes, I'm currently talking to a girl by the name of Vera Michaels and her yahoo is [email protected]

her "cousin's" name is Rose Michaels and "vera" wants me to pretend to be her husband and send her a few $100s to inherit her father's wealth... suffice it to say I was skeptical from day one but I'm playing her game and got it reduced to only $100 but I confronted her with this bulleten and she claimed that yes there are a lot of scammers in Nigeria and thats y she needs this money to pay her lawyer so she can get the money and move here... with me no less, so she promises...

$100 is nothing these days but this is obviously a scam... the address she gave me to send the money to her is to

ROSE MICHAELS
12 PELEWURA CRESCENT, V/ISLAND, LAGOS STATE 23401

any suggestions on how to proceed? anyone get this person asking the same maybe claiming shes from the UK?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:44 am

This thread is almost a year old, please don't necro ancient stuff. Yes, it's a scam, no, don't send any money as it will be lost. If I understood you correctly you started out half-believing their BS so I assume you've furnished them with your real life details. In this case the only advice is to drop every communication with the scammers.

Feel free to start a new thread if you have more questions.

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