New Scam, I'm thinking...

How to communicate with your potential renters - how to turn site visitors into enquiries, and enquiries into bookings.
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

New Scam, I'm thinking...

Post by vrooje »

I received this inquiry today from a free site I rent on:
Hi,i'm XXXXX XXXXXXX i'm based here in the Australia.I am a widow with kids.I recently lost my husband to death in tsunami disaster a couple of months ago and i have been in shock since the incident,I am pregnant and following (charity organisation) obstetricians advice that it would be most helpful that i change my immediate enviroment because of my pregnancy as this would go a long way to speed up my recovery from my grief...the organisation ask me to choose country of my choice, so i have decided to relocate to FRANCE while surfing the net,.I am very interested in your apartment and as a matter of urgency I would love to move in as soon as possible and i would acquire my own apartment later.It would be most welcome if you'd reply me stating your accepted conditions of ayment,so that i would forward the conditions to the organisation.
Anticipating towards your letter.
XXXXX XXXXXXX
Haven't replied yet. Wasn't planning to... it seems to have all the makings of a scam. Heartwrenching story, sense of urgency, third party payment, bad grammar and punctuation.

Interestingly, the admin of the listing site e-mailed me with a warning about this inquiry, stating that this person had already e-mailed 4 other people and that it could be a scam.

Just wanted to post this as a heads-up!
Brooke
Paul Carmel
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Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 12:25 pm
Location: Palma Mallorca & Greece
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Post by Paul Carmel »

Brooke,

Can have the e-mail adress via a pm pleeese? its just the kind of fun I like.......... heh heh!

Have a look at the following and you will see what I mean:-

http://www.419eater.com/forum/index.php

Have a look at "PUBLISH YOUR WORK HERE!" and you will see the hours of fun that can be had .........Paolo, sorry, don't think this a bad neighbour, but if you feel it is then zap away.
Cheers
PC
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paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
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Post by paolo »

Yes, 100% scam, all the usual signs, plus the ludicrous idea that an agency would pay to relocate people to anywhere in the world so they can get over their trauma.

Another thing I have noticed about these scams is they always say they want to rent your 'apartment', not your house.

Paul, I've lost a few hours of my life to that site - very amusing, but very time-consuming...
Paolo
Lay My Hat
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Paul,

PM sent!

:) Yeah, it's tempting for me to reply and mislead this person... but I'd rather browse these forums than bait some fraudster. Though I'd love to read of your experiences doing so!

It *is* my first scam e-mail, though! :)
Brooke
Fraise
Posts: 2079
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 8:25 am
Location: Charente Maritime and Middle England

Re: New Scam, I'm thinking...

Post by Fraise »

vrooje wrote:I received this inquiry today from a free site I rent on:
Hi,i'm XXXXX XXXXXXX i'm based here in the Australia.I am a widow with kids.I recently lost my husband to death in tsunami disaster a couple of months ago and i have been in shock since the incident,I am pregnant and following (charity organisation) obstetricians advice that it would be most helpful that i change my immediate enviroment because of my pregnancy as this would go a long way to speed up my recovery from my grief...the organisation ask me to choose country of my choice, so i have decided to relocate to FRANCE while surfing the net,.I am very interested in your apartment and as a matter of urgency I would love to move in as soon as possible and i would acquire my own apartment later.It would be most welcome if you'd reply me stating your accepted conditions of ayment,so that i would forward the conditions to the organisation.
Anticipating towards your letter.
XXXXX XXXXXXX
Haven't replied yet. Wasn't planning to... it seems to have all the makings of a scam. Heartwrenching story, sense of urgency, third party payment, bad grammar and punctuation.

Interestingly, the admin of the listing site e-mailed me with a warning about this inquiry, stating that this person had already e-mailed 4 other people and that it could be a scam.

Just wanted to post this as a heads-up!

:roll: Hi- yes, I got this today as well, with the same warning that it had been sent to 4 other people ( are we 2 of the 4 or 5??). I just reported it as spam.
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