Internet Rental Scam:

[Daniel Durham]

Hi All,

Ok perhaps I posted in the wrong area the first time I posted this, but for whatever reason it was removed from the general forum with no explanation for it so I'm reposting it here in hopes that it stays posted.

Internet Rental Scam: If you have a property listed on the internet, you must read this...

If you currently have your home listed for sale and/or rent-to-own on ANY popular website (CraigsList, Rental Properties, Buy Owner, etc.) please be aware of a scam that has been making the rounds for most of this past year.

This specific scam is originating out of cyber cafes located in the little known Republic of Liberia (you are probably more familiar with the Republic of Nigeria to the east, and the popular e:mail scams that promise huge payouts from the Nigerian lottery, or requests from a Nigerian diplomat who needs assistance in moving cash out of his country). This scam is much less obvious and rather brilliant in its simplicity, and if the bad guys grab your cash, not only will you never see your money again, but you will find that there are no law enforcement agencies willing or even able to help you get it back.

The scam works like this: After posting your property on the internet, you will receive an e:mail from a prominent-sounding physician or other corporate professional from overseas. This person claims he will be coming to the states to work for a year, and that after seeing your listing he thinks your property is perfect for him and his family. As an act of good faith and to demonstrate the seriousness of his interest, he offers to send you a cashier's check for the entire year's worth of rent up- front.

Sounds great, right? How could you possibly be scammed when a cashier's check is involved?

In our experience, once you agree to the deal, the doctor will ask via e:mail that you now deal directly with his "financier" (key word to look for), who will handle all the money and contract details from this point forward. At this crucial point you are approaching the danger zone, because the doctor will request what seems to be innocent-enough contact information from you so he can put you in touch with his financier (like your full name, street address, and business and/or home phone number).

As the doctor's move-in date approaches, you will be advised that the family is having furniture delivered (which is right at about the same time your check is scheduled to arrive). As promised by the financier, you receive a cashier's check in the mail for one year's rent that looks 100% authentic and legitimate. If you grew up in Chicago like I did, you also would have had some exposure to graft and corruption. But when I tell you that I could not believe this perfect piece of paper was a fake check, I am not kidding.

You deposit the check, and about a week later, the financier calls in distress. He screwed-up the payment to the furniture company, and the doctor's wife will lose her mind if the furniture delivery is delayed. Would you PLEASE help him out and contact the furniture company rep to see what needs to be done. You will be put in touch with a very nice person from Ashley Furniture Company (who will send very authentic-looking e:mails with the actual company logo), who will instruct you how to wire the payment for the furniture directly to the company to ensure timely delivery for the good doctor and his stressed wife.

The financier cannot thank you enough for saving him, and agrees to immediately forward another cashier's check to cover the amount you wired to the furniture company (anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000). Most people who have been taken by this scam only hesitate briefly before wiring the money, as they have already "cashed" the doctor's check, they are sitting on a year's worth of prepaid rent and the dollar amount for the furniture is small in comparison, and believe that if the check were fake it would have bounced already.

The cashier's check from the good doctor bounces roughly three weeks after the homeowner deposits it (contrary to popular belief, it takes financial institutions longer to figure out that a cashier's check is worthless, in comparison to a personal or corporate check). The doctor, the financier, and the furniture company representative disappear, and you are now out anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000.

One of my students on the West coast was recently contacted via e:mail by a London-based surgeon who was interested in his property. When he called me with the exciting prospect, I told him the scam that was about to unfurl. We took the opportunity to play along, and I got in touch with the legal department at Ashley Furniture's corporate headquarters, in an effort to help them possibly catch someone in the act. As it turned out, the corporate attorney was taking at least three calls a day from people who had been scammed, and the calls just kept on coming.

This scam is being run each and every day by teams of con men from the safe and distant shores of Liberia. One glaring clue is that the e:mail correspondence will be disjointed and feel awkward to read -- spelling will be accurate, but phrasing and sentence structure will not be of the caliber you would expect from a highly-educated professional.

Variations on this scam can be very sophisticated: Some operations have "mules" on the ground here in the states, and most of the time these people will not know they are pawns in the scam. Like all confidence scams, this setup plays off of the ripe greed and/or desperation of property investors and homeowners alike who are holding houses they need to move.

I have yet to determine how widespread this scam is. More than a year ago, someone tried to pull a "local" version of this con game on me. I contacted both the local police and detectives in the Houston area where the fake company check was written. The problem was the police could not technically do anything as a crime had yet to be committed (I didn't try to cash the check nor did I wire anyone else money), and the principals of the con were more than out of everyone's jurisdiction.

What follows are three actual scam letters that are currently circulating on the internet:

INITIAL CONTACT LETTER FROM FAKE PHYSICIAN

-----Original Message-----

From: Dr. Clinton Johnson [[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 1:26 PM
To: Name
Subject: RESPOND $2500 / 4BR - SELLER FINANCE THIS BRAND NEW HOME!!!

Thanks for your mail, i am indeed serious about renting this unit and will be willing to offer you two months rent or a year to start with plus the security deposit in order to secure this unit prior to my arrival.

Could you be kind enough to let me know what the electricity/utility cost would be ? As i will really need to have this unit for myself. You can send me the lease application , to enable me to review it ahead of time. I would eventually have it signed physically when i arrive. In my opinion, appending signatories should be done properly and at best physically.

This is an international situation . With this arrangement, my financier in the states, will be effecting your payment deposit to you. I believe we can work together and ensure every arrangements that we shall both execute in line with my taking up the tenancy should be done accordingly to ensure we have a proper understanding.

In view of my work schedule, I would want us to finalize basic arrangements. I will arrive the united states in 9 days time. If you require any specific information, pls let me know or you can call me on my cell phone, please dial as presented for international calls .

My due regards, Dr.Clinton John,Ph.D (Chemist)
St. Mark's Hospital
28 Northwick Park,Watford Road,
Harrow,Middlesex HA1 3UJ,
United Kingdom .
Phone:+44 7045 73 1260
Fax: +44 7030403330
e mail;drclintonjohn@ gmail.com
..to protect human health and the environment

NOTICE THE GRAMMAR on that piece of poetry. What follows is the second letter that arrives. Notice they have not yet asked for money but they have requested some personal data. If you were to share this information, you would be on the path to having your identity stolen.

-----Original Message-----

From: Dr.Clinton Johnson [[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 11:49 AM
To: --NAME --
Subject: PAYMENT AND MEASUREMENT $2500 / 4br - SELLER FINANCE THIS BRAND NEW HOME!!!

Thanks for the mail, i will need you to provide me with your full name in which the check will be issue and your complete physical contact address to which it will be sent to by my financier, as soon as you provide these, I will forward it to my financier with an instruction to issue and send you the check.

Please i need you to also reconfirm the total move in costs, that is the rent and deposit to be paid.I will also be waiting for the measurements i requested for in order to forward it for the furniture company for the rest of furniture that will fit in well and have it deliver prior my arrival in order to settle in well.

I will look forward to your e mail with the required informations.

Due regards from me I am looking forward to meeting you soon.

Dr. Clinton John

AND FINALLY, CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE FURNITURE COMPANY....Note the company e:mail address has many erroneous symbols in it. In this setup, the homeowner is directed to make the check payable to Esther Todd, and not wire the money directly to a business account. A quick Google search would let you know that Ashley Furniture does not have an office location in Michigan. The original e:mail had a cut and paste of the actual Ashley Furniture logo, but a fake version of the company mission statement. Here's a copy of that letter:

-----Original Message-----

From: ASHLEY FURNITURE.INC [[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 1:20 AM
To: --NAME --
Subject: FILE 41/76 WE ARE DIRECTED FROM DR. CLINTON JOHN FOR HIS FURNITURE ORDER

Dear sir,

From Ashley Furniture, we are contacting you in the regards of some Furniture Order made by Dr. Clinton John who is our client that made Order for home Furnitures, he has given us Quotation for the Furnitures. All we want you to know that we are coming down for delivery on Tuesday next week because we are not responsible for keeping furnitures that are already done, so we are making this oppurtunity to make good arrangement with you so that we can know the exact time you will be available for us for the delivery.Sorry for this inconvieniency we just have to let you know before taking any step.Just get back to us the time you will be available for us.

We are waiting for your quick response today.

Esther Todd, General Manager
Ashley furniture Inc,
60 agnes rd,Detroit,Michigan.

This mission statement reflects our proud past and our desire for the future.This is the mantra that drives us in everything that we do. From design through fulfillment, we continuously strive to provide the best product at the best prices accompanied by the best service in the industry. Being the best and bringing the best to you is our relentless pursuit.

IN CONCLUSION, a quick Google search of the Ashley Furniture scam will provide pages of search results, all detailing complaints from people across the country who have been scammed. Check out the following link for an interesting article regarding the mule's role in the scam:

http://suckerswanted.blogspot.com/2007/10/ashley-furniture-impostors.html

BOTTOM LINE - Let's be careful out there...