Anyone else heard from Miss J. B oswell?

[paolo]

Have you received an enquiry from J ulie Boswell? Like this one:

Hi! My name is Julie, and Im currently living in New York City. I was looking online at holiday rental homes in Luberon and came across Coquiere. I think it looks stunning and I would love to stay there starting mid Septemeber if it's available. I've never been to Luberon and am very excited to explore it, for about 4 weeks. So if you would please get back to me with availability information and the price of staying there for 4 weeks, beginning mid september, I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot and have a wonderful day
Julie Bos well [name broken to make it non-searchable]


my phone number is 561-xxxxxxx if it's easier for you to call.
e-mail is xxxxxxxxxxx

This is borderline, but the first line rankles. The lateness and length of the stay falls into the 'too good to be true' category, and the phone number is a Florida one, not NYC. Have you had an enquiry from her?

[Big Sis..]

Hi Paola,


I havent ,but it would be surprising if I had.As my places are in Spain.

Of course, you know the type of enquiry you normally get ,so you are in the best place to judge.

From the bit that youve highlighted it doesnt seem too dodgy,
do you think that we are all getting a bit twitchy.[me included]

Some genuine people do still want to stay in our houses/villas
on occasions[luckily]

I see no reference to delegates or religious people[which seems to be the norm lately] and she does mention the area specifically.

Your actually in a win-win situation as if you are wrong youll get a lovely 4 week booking

If youre right ,your instincts will get a pat on the back and they will stand you in good stead when making other decisions later

Im sure if it is dodgy you will sniff it out.Cant wait-keep us posted

[Mountain Goat]

No, but interestingly I had a lengthy baiting correspondence with a scammer earlier this summer, using the name Bos well (our senior Woodle, as it happens) as our 'office manager'. Part of it actually appears somewhere in this section I think.

It was also used as a Forum name on a US vacation site.

Goat

[Big Sis..]

Hi Paolo,


Maybe you could use Goats dog[not a phrase I thought Id use ] to sniff it out

The plot thickens

[Mountain Goat]

In fact, looking through Goat Archives, it was Julian Bos well who was delegated to deal with the scam. In addition, the correspondent was a yahoodotcom user, via the usual Israeli ISP which feeds West African satellite services.

The language/vocab used in your enquiry doesn't tie up with a Nigerian-type scam but a N. American wouldn't use 'holiday' in my experience.

That's not much use, but Julia/Julian is a bit of a coincidence.

Goat

[Giddy Goat]

With MG's extra light having been shed on the subject, there is definitely a rat or two out there Paolo! How will you tackle it?

[Mountain Goat]

The other clue was that the writer seemed to have some grip of English grammar - even using Uppercase letters to open a sentence.

Though, to be fair, the lads in the scammers' nest I visited in Accra, explained the non-use of capitals: the shift keys had long expired on their keyboards, and the boss was too mean to fork out for new ones.

Lack of capitals by potential renters = in the bin as far as we are concerned, though it was fashionable on Design Courses c.1980's. Deserves a short, sharp, and well-aimed punch on the snout in my opinion.

Goat

[Big Sis..]

Oh I like this ,its getting interesting.

2 goats,1dog, some rats and now someone getting punched on the snout

This could turn into an epic can I have the film rights....

[Paul Carmel]

I think it's a scam. As you say Paolo, the first line stinks, plus Americans take vacations not holidays and they tend to travel around, not stay in the same place for a month..........just my 2 cents worth

[Giddy Goat]

Oh I like this ,its getting interesting.

2 goats,1dog, some rats and now someone getting punched on the snout

Mouse, where are you, let's have your two pesetas' worth! And while we're at it, are we represented by any other members of the animal kingdom?

[Big Sis..]

Yeah where are you???

Lets be aving you[anybody remotely connected with Norfolk or football will be familiar with this term!!!!] Thats 2 people then.

I thought I was in a wilderness of people who were intelligent and adding only pertinent comments.

I was floundering in the lonely state of silliness....

Will no one rescue me[do I hear a mouse scurrying in the distance......if not ,,,anyanimal will do.....or even a person....]

[A-two]

Getting back to Paolo's question about Julie, I'm going to take the other viewpoint. 561 may not be a new york area code, but 516 is, and people frequently transpose or switch their phone numbers deliberately. Using the word holiday(s) instead of vacation is meaningless since the person knows they are talking to a European and anyway there are lots of Europeans in New York, moi aussi, yo tambien. There are also lots of Americans taking holidays not vacations, it all depends on the time of year. Then finally, it's Labor Day today, which is the last hurrah of summer, which means that most people in the country are in a state of transition and thinking about moving on to somewhere else this week.

So I would definitely give Julie the benefit of the doubt and think the answer is "proceed with caution".

[Guest3]

I would follow up with a phone call...trying both numbers i.e. switching 561 to 516 just incase it is a typo...if you get dud numbers both times, email to request confirm the contact number, if you don't get a reply, then it obviously is a scam.

I know when I was following through a scam to see how far it would go (it stopped short when I asked for cash!), he/she did not want to confirm a telephone number. They kept sending me emails asking me to go ahead with the booking and for bank account details so that a transfer could be made.

[paolo]

I'm with Paul, I think it is 95% scam, simply because of the first line. I do not believe that anybody who has English as a first language begins an email with 'My name is...'. I also think that only someone living very far from NYC, like across the Atlantic and down a bit, would start an enquiry by pointing out they are currently living in NYC.

I find it worrying because it looks like the scammers have finally found someone who can write decent English.

I also think the email she sent is a template, with the destination swapped in. She says 'in Luberon' and 'to Luberon', and this would usually be correct for a place, but it should be 'the Luberon'. Not a hanging offence, but indicative to me of a mass 'sales letter' approach.

Anyway, I will respond just to be sure.

[Mountain Goat]

I agree there’s a good chance it’s a scam – the timing is just right with 10 days or so to go, for the overpayment etc.

But Out of Africa? Unlikely. It’s a large jump from the normal rubbish we get to phrases/words like: ‘stunning’, ‘would love to stay’, ‘have a wonderful day’. That's a bit of a cultural mixture, to say the least.

If it's a template, then there must be a few others on LMH who are going to get the same thing...

Goat