False rental ads- seeking for revenge!

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Aug 2009 Posts: 2

Hi all
I just wanted to share my experience with scammers and how I became aware of that phenomenon...
In a month I will be moving to Copenhagen as an exchange student for 6 months... I have been searching for a flat for some time now.
For two weeks I have been in touch with a girl claiming to be 24 years old living in London, while renting out her parents' flat. (First red light- she is 24 and her parents are too old to be living alone? They had her when they were 60??)
I was very naive and ignored all the red light as she gave me her phone number (which didn't work but doesn't matter..), sent me some pictures (very nice... but being very naive and new in the business I thought those were normal prices, and this is how flats look like in Copenhagen... Europe u know...) and sent me a contract...
So she kept trying to convince me to send her money in advance through western union so she can be sure before she flies over to meet me on the day of my arrival, and suggesting that I transfer it under a false name and then change it... So OK when she kept repeating herself like a robot and trying reverse psychology on me- "OK if you can't do it like I am asking you, I am afraid I will find another tenant"... I gave up trying to negotiate and left her...
While searching more about her I found her email address on a scammail list on this site http://chicaneryconsscams.blogspot.com/ and started reading more and more stories about people almost/ getting scammed by those scums.
The emails are always the same, the methods are the same, and even the pictures are the same! It's a very well known method of scamming apparently!
Now that I think of it I feel like such a fool, that it all was so obvious, but when you don't know the place you are going to and don't read the other stories, you just think "well I guess this is how it's done there..." (I did at least..)
So anyway I was just shocked of the big bad world that is out there, and that people can be so inhuman not caring for a poor student being left with no money at all... sniff sniff...
So while emailing to a few more "home owners" I received 9 (!) more of those responses with the same format- "I am out of the country... bullshit story... will come meet you... western union.... some pictures from a real estate catalog..."blabla) – After checking the IP addresses I see they are all situated in Nigeria!
So anyway that's when I came across this website and got addicted to reading the hilarious baiting stories!! Makes me feel much better while all I do is lecture the scammer "I KNOW THIS IS A SCAM... MAY GOD PUNISH YOU... HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT??" But I don't think they really care... apart from one "Pastor Davies" that wished me and my family the same while adding an "AMEN"... So please why don't you bait some of those those scumbags to help me and fellow REAL victims feel better... I can't think of anything creative...

By the way- on these sites I don't think I found a single real ad: http://www.expatriates.com/
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 7101 Location: Yes

Welcome Miria -- sorry to hear about your experience which, unfortunately, is all too common.

Please visit our sister site, http://www.scamwarners.com and feel free to post your story there as well so that others might benefit and be forewarned. The good news is that you didn't lose any money!

I'm sure we'll get a couple of eager-to-please baiters on the case in no time.

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:46 pm

Hi and welcome to Eater.
Don't feel you are a fool, because you aren't. You hadn't come across this scam before, and you avoided losing money by your own efforts. Well done!
A lot of people do fall for this scam, and we don't regard them as fools either.

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:12 pm

miriamichal, welcome to eater and you did good. Wink

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