Rental Scam - I got scammers name/address, is it useful?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

Hi,

I answered to a rental ad on Craigslist and ended up with a Scammer wanting a deposit before sending me keys.
I talked him into giving the keys without deposits and suggested that I arrange a pickup from his home (in Nigeria) by DHL and having it sent to me (in Singapore) at my cost (I do have a business DHL account that allows such things).
After some discussions back and forth, he actually gave me his name and address as follows:
Curtis Wood Fowler, 234 Keffi Road, Lagos, Nigeria 23401, ph. +2347087867931

Now my questions to you more experienced svambaiters are:
1. Why the hell did he agree to give in without deposit? How and when is he planning to gain later?
2. Is this his real name and address? If not, DHL would not find him there, so what would be the point of giving me the information?
3. Can this information be used in any way (provided it is real)?
4. What can or should I do further?

Of course I'm nit going to send DHL there or do anything else that costs my money.

Greetings,
Frank

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 7:43 am

My first instinct was that it didn't feel scammy. Real names and addresses are the things of our dreams.

And Keffi St, Lagos seems to be real. Judging by the Google hits it must be the main drag.

But a search on his phone number:

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en-GB&q=2347087867931

Turns up 2 hits on scam reporting sites.

Not sure whether/how the info can be used except to provide a basis to warn others. I do electrons not realestate

IMHO if he has your RL contact details there is no way you can bait him safely.

Tell him your plans have changed and that you no longer need the place. Drop contact.

Have a look at scamwarners and let them know the history so people doing a search will come up with a hit on there.

Out of interest, where is the property?

Just a thought and I'm not saying this one is: do you think this site is used by lads with a score to settle, dobbing in their competitors? Or is that just far too subtle?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

Thanks for your quick reply!

Of course, since it looked real (I am wanting to rent a place here in Singapore and the price wasn't "too good to be true") I replied to the ad from my real email address and gave my real name and mobile phone number (he called me twice, but the connection was too bad for any communication).

But after the first message from the other side I knew it's a scam:

- Landlord moved to "West Africa" (Nigeria was only mentioned later) on missionary work
- Awkward language typical of these scammers ("I will want you to ...")
- His attached picture shows a Westerner (foreigners are not allowed to buy such property here)
- He claimed to have no local bank account (required by law to pay property tax)
- He mentioned "Central Heating" - in the tropics!!!

So I gave no further information (though I am not afraid that he could do anything to me), but got his instead by making him believe DHL must find him at the address he gives.

His email address ([email protected]) and his name (Curtis Wood Fowler) are listed on at least two scam websites.

I have of course asked Craigslist to remove the ad, which they did.

Anything else I could or should do?
(Along the lines of "Give the information to the Nigerian police, so they go there and arrest the guy" - I know I'm just dreaming ...)

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:10 am

You could PM any mod, they would have a better idea of what to do with the info Smile

Not quite a Newb Joined: 01 Apr 2008 Posts: 45

ASEM a couple hundred other lads. Maybe some story about how you are afraid to leave your house with the loaded trunk... Keep him entertaining other lads for awhile.

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