Posted on 12/08/2009 3:48:25 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Perpetuating his country's unfortunate association with internet scams, a Nigerian man has turned to a new source for ill-gotten money: home renters.
No tall tales of fake Nigerian royalty or bogus inheritances this time; the latest scam simply solicits deposit and rent money from unsuspecting renters. The catch? The "landlord" doesn't own the home.
Memphis, Tenn., resident Howard French found that out that hard way when he wired $1,200 to a man in Nigeria who had advertised a house for rent on Craigslist. The "owner" claimed to be in Africa on humanitarian work, and an unsuspecting French took him at his word when the too-good-to-be-true rental deal came along.
It's not a one-man show, either. Several bogus ads have been spotted on Craigslist, where scammers repurpose legitimate ads with their own contact information.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at trentonian.com ...
“Beware of Nigerian anything” seems to be a good rule of thumb.
Of course, the check bounces. That one also often comes out of Asia.
On the other hand I know a lawyer who had a client who insisted an email out of South Africa running the Nigeria scam was real and he couldn't talk him out of it. He sent an email to the government agency the scammer claimed to be an official in and actually got a response from the South African government saying they'd never heard of the guy. That finally convinced him. Greed can override common sense.
Screen name of the gate crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi couple!! No visible means of support, so that only leaves Nigerian man.
I figured a good scam would be to rent an apartment, then offer to re-rent it at really good terms. Show it, take credit apps, do all the things a landlords do. Then tell everyone that looked at it that they could have it. I would collect 1st, last, and a deposit on Wed. and tell them they could move in Sat. once the check cleared. I could do this to 20 or 30 people at $3000 a pop. On Sat. I'm long gone.
Those Nigerians are crafty.
My son ran into this when he inquired about a house for rent on craigslist. He immediately became suspicious when the email explained the owner was out of the country.
Well that is lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut. Most grifters at least have a kind of ethics: they only steal from folks whose greed leaves them open to ‘something for nothing’ scams. Stealing from people who just want to rent a house or apartment is beneath contempt.
Craigslist has cars that don’t exist also. Caught about 3 of them when looking for a car for my daughter. They take interior shots of previous posted cars and make believe they have it for sale at a low price because they are in the military shipping out. When they post a Florida car with snow on the ground or leafless trees, you know something is up. The best one was the alleged US soldier in England who was going to ship the car on an USAF cargo plane to the nearest base by me. Riiiight! I asked him which manifest form was he going to use, and he never responded back. Duhhh.
Craig’s List has a page warning folks of scams and tips for spotting them.
I’ve been contacted several times by people who I thought were suspicious. One guy wanted to send me money to hold an item. Then he wanted my bank account number to send me the money.
Yeah ;-)
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