Votes please on this one

Post scam emails to warn other rental owners, or if you are not sure if an enquiry is genuine, put it up here and see what others think.
Emdee
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Votes please on this one

Post by Emdee »

01 October 2005 - 01 November 2005

Adults: 0 Children: 0

Hello,

I am Engr. xxxxxx from the United Kingdom. i came across your cottage while searching for a very suitable place where me and my family could spend a very quite time together away from the very tidious enviroments of my occupation that keeps me away from my from my wife and my lovely kid.

So, i found a very special interest in your cottage and i believe it is most suitable for my vacation with my family, also at this point in time i would be most grateful if you could provide me with the necssary procedures involve to making reservations for the months of October through November. (Oct. 1st - 1st Nov.) i.e for the period of 4Weeks.

Also, i would like to know your mode of payment as to booking/making a reservation, so as well as your last price if negoiatable and your terms/conditions as well.

Thank you as i await your response to this email and do ensure to send your response to my private email

(Name etc withheld in case of severe beatings from gripper rod)
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

This person's grammar and spelling is not too good, given that they are from the UK!

At least they didn't provide a huge amount of strange details (though there are some) or say they're from the Madagascar National Swim Team or some odd thing. Still, my vote: very suspicious.

However I tend to follow through on all of these until they request bank details or offer a cashier's check for too much money.
Brooke
Emdee
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Post by Emdee »

Reluctant to provide a landline number or address too....
janskov
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No doubt - Nigeria

Post by janskov »

I have spend a couple of years in the country of the origin of this mail.
No doubt about it. It is from Nigeria - or at least somewhere in West Africa.
My advise is to disregard it - or play with the idiot if you have the energy.
A-two
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Post by A-two »

You're wasting your time with this one in my opinion, especially if the email address is a freebie hotmail/ yahoo etc. Genuine inquiries don't look like this, EVER, in my experience, rather they include some form of personal identification, at least a working phone number.

Sometimes out of curiosity, I do a reverse IP lookup to locate the geographical area from where the inquiry has been sent. Granted a UK businessman might be emailing you while on holiday in Nigeria, but not very likely. At least that's something you can do discreetly to confirm a person is where they say they are.

FYI, you can find the sender's unique IP address in the full message header, which in Outlook is under "options". It's the first string of numbers under the senders name, unless it has been forwarded from somewhere else, in which case it will be lower down under "originating IP" (I think I'm oversimplifying this, so techies please correct me if I got that wrong) Sometimes I use dshield. org/ ipinfo. php (without the spaces), but there are plenty of free website where you can do this.

My guess is this is not coming from the UK at all.

Joanna
Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

I agree with the others- It's as suspicious as anything but if I wasn't too busy I might just sent a general reply and await developments,especially the request to return some money to him as he just has to pay you too much!!!! :wink:

www.thepetitmanoir.com
Emdee
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Location: 53, NW France

Post by Emdee »

My view is it is a scam. The "English" is crud, the terminology is just not normal and the guy's name is suspiciously common. And who in the UK calls themself engr.?

I've simply replied saying I want a UK postal address or landline number, to which I received a reply along the lines of "why do you need that?"

We shall see.
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

This is 101% scam. The first sentence gives it away. Nobody in the UK would start an enquiry with "I am [name]", let alone "I am Engr. [name]" Using Engineer as a title is to my knowledge only used in a developing country, or in Italy (but not in this context).
Paolo
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debk
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Post by debk »

1. Reeks of a scam

2. Here in Portugal your title options on those little checkbox lists (like to get a card at the local Blockbuster) are:

Doutor/a
Engenheiro/a
Senhor
Senhora

Engenheiro, aka Engineer, is a very respected and oft-used title in these parts. Now, whether or not this is a developing country, well... I'll just sign off as the more officious types like to call me...
Senhora Engenheira Debra
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Yes, my knowledge is limited as you can see! I guess in Portugal it is similar to Italy, where Ingeniere and Dottore are terms of respect, but not necessarily how you would start an email enquiry. Dottore is applicable to anyone with a university degree, so engineers with a degree get to be called Ingeniere Dottore (or is it the other way round?).
Paolo
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Here’s another couple of e-mails which I have difficulty in believing. I have changed nothing except for omitting the link in the first message.

The first.

Dear First National Bank Member,

This email was sent by the First National Bank server to verify your e-mail address. You must complete this process by clicking on the link below and entering in the small window your First National Bank User ID and Password. This is done for your protection - because some of our members no longer have access to their email addresses and we must verify it. To verify your e-mail address and access your bank account, click on the link below:


The second.


My Purpose of writen the mail to you is Because of my client so my client Mrs Houstine want to rent your AprtmentHouse For 4 Weeks Rent My Client Location In address Address:Sogecos France, 4 Rue de Balzac-75008 Paris,France So My client will Pay you By France Bank Check ,Ok The Fist Name of my client is Houstine the Last Name is Roses Ok so i want you to Give the cost of 4 Weeks Rent and also i will need the of theAprtment House And the Pic Of the Aprtment House And also i want to tell you that My Client have Twins Age of 10 years Old Female Ok and my client twins will be use 2 bike in the aprtment house Area Ok. so i will need the detail of the Aprtment House that My Client want to rent from you Ok Best For you Thanks Alot.
Best regards,


Go on. Tell me. Would anyone accept either as being genuine?

Alan
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Normandy Cow
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Post by Normandy Cow »

Hey! I also got the exact same email from Mrs Houstine's agent!

I just ignored it - I am amazed that these people still keep sending out these emails using such appalling spelling, grammar and punctuation, and I wonder whether anyone would really be taken in by them?

But I am concerned that one day they will hook up with someone who will point this out to them and who will help them to write more plausible enquiries, and then it will be much harder for us to spot them...
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Ciapolin
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Post by Ciapolin »

Alan,

What ever you do, don't send anything to the 1st scam e-mail.
Banks DO NOT send e-mails such as this to verify customer details. If you reply and send the details requested you will be giving the fraudster everything they need to access your a/cs. I'm sure if you look on the First Nationals' website you will find a warning about these scams.

The best thing to do is to forward the e-mail to your bank - their fraud department will handle it for you. I know customers of many of the big banks have been targeted in this way and there is an ongoing case to try and resolve it.

Carole-Anne
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Carole-Anne,

I should have included in my first post that I am all too aware of the penalties involved in responding to any of these things. Silence is golden. These messages are always consigned to the deleted folder and then deleted from the deleted folder.

Nevertheless, please keep sounding the warnings. There are many sufficiently gullible people out there making the scammers' antics very lucrative.

Alan
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debk
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Post by debk »

paolo wrote:Dottore is applicable to anyone with a university degree, so engineers with a degree get to be called Ingeniere Dottore (or is it the other way round?).
Interesting! Some people here still demand a "Doutor" just because they have a university degree but it's not really acceptable anymore. I wonder if Spain is like this, too? Maybe it's a southern European thing... Thanks for the info.
Srª Engª Debª
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