Scam from the Ivory Coast? (en francais)

[vrooje]

Just had this one a couple of days ago:

Bonjour,
Je suis Mr Alain Perrin , pour nos vacances j'aimerais louer votre etablissement.
Période du 10 Octobre jusqu' au 30 Decembre 2007,
Nous sommes au nombres de 4 personnes.
Ma femme et mes deux enfants , l'un de 12 ans et l'autre de 7 ans.
Ceci dit je désire savoir si vous acceptez les règlements par virement bancaire.
Veuillez nous repondre dès que possible s'il vous plait.

Cordialement.

Mr Alain Perrin
11 BP 2332 ABIDJAN 11
MARCORY ZONE 4C
RUE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE

I was suspicious (it was from a Yahoo address, "I am Mr...", it went right to bank transfer request, etc.), but gave it the benefit of the doubt.

Next e-mail asked for my bank details without ever asking the price for a 2.5-month rental.

I also couldn't find the address on Google Maps.

[elena]

We got exactly the same type of request last week from a Mr Koddy Gerome ( Abijan, Ivory Coast ).My husband replied , in spite of my doubts, quoting maximum price, extra heating costs etc. He accepted straight away asking for bank details. We ignored it after doubts confirmed by others on LMH forum.
Today we got an email from a-gites.com saying there's a scam from the ivory coast ( Mr Jean-Marc Lopez this time!) doing the rounds - once you get to booking stage it says " a control body" requires that both the customer and the owner pay an equal amount into a fund at the Western Union bank.
Hmmmmm.
My Husband can be a bit over trusting but I say that anything which doesn't initially fit the norm should be well avoided!

Elena
www.lescrouquets.net

[Mountain Goat]

Has anyone, ever, in the history of holiday rentals, had a genuine successful booking from West Africa?

In our (limited) experience, and the Nigerians we have come into contact with, they're too posh to self-cater, and normally have a small army of gofers/maids/drivers tending to their needs in glamorous lakeside properties.

MG