TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: reader mail

  • Reader sends in PayPal scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Caleb about the amount and frequency of scams he encountered on craigslist.

    I have a Laptop that I am selling on craigslist, And I read this site everyday, so needless to say, i’m not new to scams. I received 3 scams in a matter of hours, and they just made me laugh. I actually got two identical scams from 2 different people. But thanks to your site, as soon as I read that I needed to send money overseas, I knew it was a scam. Thank You…

    This One was sent from Nick and Nate about 30 minutes apart.

    Thanks for your response. I will not be able to pay cash right now, as I am not here in town at this moment. I would like to get your item as a gift for someone and would appreciate it you will allow me to pay for it thru Paypal. I will add $100 to cover your costs of shipping it. If you send me your paypal email address, I will make the payment.If you don’t have paypal just log on to www.paypal.com and set up one. Is free and secure,IT GUARANTEES TRANSACTION SAFETY.

    Please get back to me ASAP so I can know for sure if I will be getting your item.

    And finally this one, they wanted me to send the product to Michigan, without looking, negotiating or even talking about the product. They were willing to give me extra money for my trouble = SCAM.

    Hello am still interested in the item i will want you to get to me with your paypal so i could make your payment and i want you to ship it to Michigan for my distance friend for a xmas gift and i will pay you $70 for the shipping i guess that is ok…Hope to read from you soon

    Hello am still interested? Apparently Cookie Monster has become a Nigerian scammer.

    You’d think that since the scammer was using PayPal that it wasn’t a scam, however this article from the Inquirer shows that scammers could end up with both their money and the item.

    Thanks, Caleb for bringing this to my attention.

  • Reader sends in another tutor scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Krysta who encountered the old tutor scam…

    This guy’s emails were extremely fishy with some odd details. I looked up reports on tutor scams on craigslist and found them very similar to the ones already reported. Then I asked myself what is a UN peacekeeper doing in Eastern Oregon? Here is the scam:

    “I am pleased with whatever arrangement you could have made now concerning the hours to be having him the tutorial.Is name is Mike and he speaks danish and alil bit english language but not fluently.Okay according to the distances i think i will inform the nanny about it and she can be bringing him to you for the lesson wherever you have been choosing to be comfortable for you ,and this will bring him closer to your family and emulate a good morales from them.I would like to you get prepared starting with him by the middle of the month and i think that will be sometimes next two week.But as a teen tutor you should realize a better time table and housr to be taking kids and will be welcome with me.Nevermind,i will be making a payment of a month for this calaculated three hours every week,i guess it would be a cost fee of $720 by my own calaculation here and would like to make this payment out to you in a check,such that i will not finish with the money cos we have just been paid our royalties.i worked under the united nation as a peace keeping force. while i have lil time to visit home this time around while mike has been staying with his grandma before i finally take him to a nanny.Furthermore,i may required you not to recommend Fridays though, because all children have the concept of “Its friday, no more school!” and tend to have a hard time concentrating on fridays. And i would want you to give me a weekly reports and send me copies of your lesson plans for each lesson before or after the time of the lesson through the nanny.Nevertheless, I have also attached a picture of my son Mike with the nanny so that you will know how she and mike looks when you set to meet.I wish i have make myself cleared to you now and hoping you will take up this offer , Because i have made contacts with my son concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me is ok by him because i always want the best for my son in life.i will be looking forward to hearing from you again.i would await the your information, so i can proceed on the payment asap.

    kindest regard,

    Mike Snr.”

    I guess Eastern Oregon has a problem with Somali pirates or something. ‘Is name is Mike’? Wow. This guy wasn’t even trying.

    Good morales? Pedro Morales? The first triple crown WWF title holder?

    I’m curious to know if he actually included a picture of Mike Jnr. and what the picture looked like.

    I guess he was waiting for the response before setting up his proposed victim for the fake check scam. Luckily Krysta was smart enough to do her research.

  • It’s just a scam to the left

    Reader Brian sent in this picture of a $3850 fake scammer check made out to everyone’s favorite character from The Rocky Horror Picture Show for a $500 cat-pee stained couch.

    check1

    Brian, you actually do win at the internets.

  • Coca-Cola name used in employment scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Ervin about his job search on craigslist…

    I have posted my resume on Craigslist and you wouldn’t believe all the scam job offer’s that are emailed to me daily. I finally did get a local legitimate job in my field (I started today and was called by the Director of Manufacturing to interview last week). I am glad that I was able to get this job. But, these scammer’s have sunk to new lows by using the Coca-Cola name to scam people now. Were you aware of this new scam? I am going to
    paste it for you to share below.

    Thank you,
    Ervin

    Here it is:

    JOB OFFER!!!
    Monday, November 17, 2008 12:23 AM
    From:”Admin Admin”

    Dear Sir/Ma
    You’re Ref: 2810/04/TF-ATW
    Coca – Cola Company offer you the position of offshore financial manager
    ..
    This is to inform you that after critical and proper review of your new contact email address, we are please to inform you that you have met the requirements needed for the post of Payment Officer / Book Keeper with The Coca – Cola Company.

    Furthermore, Your duties as the Payment Officer / Book Keeper is to collect payments from our numerous customers within your region, process the payments, deduct 20% of the amount issued to you as your personal bonus and you transfer the rest of the funds to our main account officer whose information will be provided to you in due time.

    This Job position is Temporary and does not require a specific work time frame. All payments will be mailed directly to you via your mailing /contact address. This position became necessary when lots of payments is being received from various customers from different regions / states within the United States and Canada per day and it became very tedious to process and sort, as a result of this, the search for representatives to sort / process payments on behalf of the company became highly necessary.If you are interested in this Job offer…kindly get back with the following information written below as soon as possible:

    All respond or question should be email to the company private email
    (SOPHISTICATED15127@HOTMAIL.COM)

    FULL NAMES: _________________________________
    GENDER:_________________________________
    DATE OF BIRTH:_________________________________
    NATIONALITY:_________________________________
    COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE:___________________________
    MARITAL STATUS:_________________________________
    HOME ADDRESS (Where payment will be sent to)
    STREET:_________________________________
    CITY:_________________________________
    STATE:_________________________________
    ZIP CODE:_________________________________
    TELEPHONE NUMBER(S):___________________________
    SCAN A COPY OF YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE:___________

    Thank you very much and we anticipate your working with The Coca – Cola
    Company.

    Sincerely,
    The Coca – Cola Company Information Systems, Inc.
    Computer Systems Division
    Sam Williams.
    (+447031918592)

    They also included a website that identified Coke as being at a thecoca-colacompany URL. Coke’s actual URL is coca-cola.com. And I’m pretty sure that a major corporation like Coke wouldn’t send out an e-mail that said: “we are please to inform you.” I don’t think Coke would use Hotmail addresses either. This is just the phony check scam in a fake red and white package.

  • Reader sends in scam e-mail for Costa Mesa

    Another rental scam e-mail sent in by reader Rose. This time about a property in the Costa Mesa, California area…

    From: Andre Ulla Jose Uribe [mailto:anrdreulla@yahoo.com]

    Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:50 PM

    Subject: Re: $1000 / 3br – 2 bath single family home. (Canyon Cir Costa

    Mesa)

    Hello,

    Thanks for your email and interest in renting my house..I am Andre ulla,the

    owner of the house you are making inquiry of…Actually I resided in the

    house with my family, my wife and my only daughter before and presently we

    have moved out due to my transfer from my work now in Warsaw,Poland.

    Presently my house is still available for rent for $1000 USD (rent already

    includes utilities).Moreso Now, I’m currently in Lagos,Nigeria for an

    international Christian follower’s crusade.

    Please i want you to note that,i am a kind, honest and trustworthy man and

    also i spent a lot on my property that i want to give to you for rent,so i

    will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house and want you to

    treat it as your own, It is not the money that is the main problem but i

    want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat

    when i come for a check up.I also want you to let me have trust in you as i

    always stand on my word.This is the address of the House (**** ****** ***

    Costa Mesa, CA 92627).

    It has a dramatic entry foyer with ceramic floor. Extremely spacious rooms

    throughout with lots of big windows…nice and light! New neutral paint and

    some newer carpet..Very quiet, low traffic area. New fridge (7/07)…I

    believe its absolutely a perfect home for you and your family.Utilities

    include Water,Trash,Sewer,Gas

    SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE

    RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW

    RENT APPLICATION FORM.

    FIRST NAME:__________?

    MIDDLE NAME:__________?

    LAST NAME:__________?

    PROFESSION:__________?

    PHONE:

    (CELL)PHONE__________?

    (WORK)PHONE__________?

    (HOME)PHONE__________?

    KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________

    PRESENT ADDRESS: _____________________

    CITY: _______________

    STATE:______________

    ZIP CODE: ____________

    HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING

    WHY ARE YOU LEAVING__________?

    IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,

    HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________?

    WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________?

    IF YOU HAVE A PET,

    NAME OF PET: _____________?

    KIND OF PETS: _____________?

    HABITS

    DO YOU SMOKE ______________ ?

    DO YOU DRINK ______________?

    DO YOU WORK LATE NIGHT? ____?

    Looking forward to hearing from you with all this details so that i can

    have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt for you and contacting

    you…Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the

    document and the keys to you,please we are giving you all this based on

    trust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that we have

    not seen yet and only putting everything into Gods hands,so please do not

    let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this…

    The house is available for rent at the moment so you are free to move in as

    soon as you wish to…A Deposit of $1000 (which happens to be the first

    months rent) is required before moving in…Feel free to call me for more

    information and arrangements on how to get the keys and other necessary

    documents delivered to you…my number is (+2347084066248 or

    0112347084066248).The house will be available for rent for a period of 4

    years so you have a choice of deciding how long you intend staying there…

    God Bless,

    Andre Ulla.

    This one is right out of the Nigerian handbook. Warsaw, Nigeria, Christian missionary, all the usual red flags.

    I wonder if scam rental ads outnumber the real ones yet on craigslist.

  • Realtor has a question for craigslist

    I received this e-mail today from Gene who is a realtor if you couldn’t tell by the title…

    In my opinion, anything free will inevitably be misused as in the case of underage prostitution, scams and all that I read about here.

    I therefore question a few less headline evoking issues. Why has it been that “for profit” enterprises selling various goods and services, including those of an erotic nature, are allowed to post for free

    on CL (even the illegal ones) yet realtors must pay to post a rental listing? Are we considered as being vendors of our services in the procurement of leases for the owners we represent? Surely, all the vendors who advertise for free on CL are representing their services (including erotic and illegal) or products made by themselves or another manufacturer are doing this for profit. Why are realtors services for representing their product discriminated against by having to pay a fee per posting.

    Is there some “weak link” in the real estate business on CL that needed to be strengthened to prevent some illegal activity ?

    I have asked the management of CL this question and have never gotten an answer of any kind.

    Thanks

    I’m not surprised you haven’t got an answer from craigslist Gene. They’re not very forthcoming.

    Unfortunately, Gene, I do not have an answer for you. I can’t even begin to fathom the thought processes at craigslist.

    Also from what I understand you’re better off not posting on craigslist since the odds are pretty good your ad could be hijacked by a scammer.

    Anyway, I’ll open it up to the readers. Do you have an answer for Gene?

  • Reader employment scam

    I received the following e-mail from reader Diana about an employment scam…

    I have been looking for work on Craig’s List. Very successful and that is why I keep looking. Back in April when I found myself unemployed, I spend many hours sending out my resume to posted jobs. It all started with one posting where they were going to pay $25 and hour for a job that I have been doing and getting paid $15. What a deal I thought! I replied, sent my resume to receive a reply that the job had been filled, however, here is another opportunity for me. I had to qualify and fill in the questions below. I happily did and got a reply back that I was accepted and this is my assignment. They would send me a check for couple thousand dollars, you take your 10% commission and send the rest back by Western Union. Once I received the money order/cashiers check/business check, I called the bank listed on it to find out it was a fraud account. If I could cash all the bogus checks I have received while doing this money scam for fun, I could retire. It is a shame that so many people take ads like this and think they are real, but then in the end, they are out thousands of dollars for a moment of greed. Yes, they have figured out how to pull a scam even through the job search sections. Such a shame. Job hunter beware.

    Which leads me to believe that paid ads are not the be all and end all to security that craigslist thinks they are.

  • We get letters

    I received the following comment from someone calling themselves Kali on my post about the Erotic Services Backlash…

    To the vigilante posse who have taken it upon themselves to dictate how others should live their lives, I wish many curses to rain down upon your home and your loved ones. May you reap the karma that you are sowing a thousand times over, may you get into freak accidents and may you get attacked by swarms of bees, bitten by bown recluses and black widow spiders and may large trees fall upon you crushing you to death and dismemberment

    You deserve everything that the counter posse is doing to you ( glad to hear that they are fucking up Jon’ world, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay) and much, much more..

    so mote it b e, it is done.

    Kali

    In case you don’t remember Jon had his family threatened and his personal info posted online.

    What’s a matter Kali, was it cutting into your meth money?

    Personally, I don’t see it as a matter of morality. What you’re doing is illegal and people like Jon are doing exactly what craigslist suggests people do and flag the ads for obvious illegal activity. Criminals should never talk about reaping what you sow, especially those in the sex trade. You’re just inviting a nasty STD on you if you don’t have one already.

  • Another reader sends in tutor scam

    I received the following e-mail from Ben who noticed an ad on craigslist about someone needing an English tutor…

    I didn’t fall for this scam, and it’s clearly a repeat or new take on an old theme, but here’s the email I got after replying to an ad asking for an english tutor on the Raleigh craigslist from johwilli03@gmail.com (“John Williams”)

    “Hello,

    Thanks for the email,my son will be coming for a vacation in the U.S,and i want him to be busy throughout because he is a bit playful.I just want to know maybe he can always come to you and you can be his tutor so he can learn from you.I want my kid to partake for a tutorial class.He is just 15 yrs old,I have told him concerning the arrangement of the tutoring and he told me it is okey with him.I want you to know that i am going to pay for 1 month,which should be $50.00/hr(which i have in mind).And i am planning that you will be teaching him 3 times a week,which is 1hr per day,so get back to me with the total fee for the subject English language, when you will be available to teach him during the week ?

    I also want to inform you that my son don’t live in the states, he live in Philippine. so my Son will be arriving the states on 10th of NOVEMBER 2008 then the tutorial class can start by 15th NOVEMBER.I want him to study more about what his needs to know while he is in the states. I will also like to inform you that my client in state will be sending you an Over-payment inform of Us money orders or Certified check for the lesson fee, and Also to inform you that i will be paying the Nanny that will be taking care of my son’s welfare while he is there forthe lesson, Please for the nature of your job and for the good relationship between Your self and my son i would want to entrust you with this money because am not presently in the States, i would have liked to take care of all this myself but since the payment would be coming to you from my

    associates , i want you to please kindly be of help by cashing the money and deducting only your teaching fee and send the remaining fund to his Nanny/ Guardian / house keeper so my son can be in good health and well taken care of before my arrival. Regarding this, kindly send your full information to receive the payment so it can be made out to you on-time. I hope i can trust you to be a very good teacher for my Son’s good academics performance.I hope i can count on you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to the Guardian.

    Please reply with

    Full Name On Payment,

    Full residential address,

    Phone numbers and email address, so that one of my client can issue

    the payment to you ASAP.

    Best Regards,

    John”

    Wow, this guy explains the whole scam up front. I’d like to know if some people from other countries actually do legitimate business using the third-party payment plan like this. Somehow I doubt it.

  • Reader almost robbed while car shopping

    I can’t believe the amount of reader e-mail I keep getting. For a small site like this, it’s a lot. I don’t mind at all. I’m just glad that people are becoming educated about craigslist scams.

    The following comes to us from Martin who was trying to buy a car off of craigslist…

    Hi there. I am glad I stumbled upon your site. I just wanted to post the worst craigslist experience I’ve had. Overall, I do get good experiences but this time was a run with a major con artist who advertised a vehicle for a price that was a bargain but not too cheap where it seemed too good to be true. In fact, he answered his phone and was ready to show the

    vehicle and his ad said he had the pink slip.

    I brought 6k in cash with me and met this seller who really played the part well as a rich early twenties kid who needed the money fast to fix his primary vehicle. I test drive the car and ask him if I could have a mechanic down the street take a quick look. This was not part of his plan

    but he agrees. I then ask him about the pink slip. He states to have left it at home (he now claims that his brother posted the ad for him)..and we could drive the car together and get the pinkslip at his house. While the car was in the shop, I told him instead of waiting, lets go get the slip…he agrees.. but once in my car, he demands the cash upfront and I resist. I believe his accomplices were worried on what’s taking him so long. He freaks out and tells me to turn around and cancel the deal.

    I am puzzled as to why he cancelled. I went home and lo and behold, I googled the name of the registered owner and turns out to be an older couple! The wife of the owner had a blog on myspace venting that their car (the car I was buying) was stolen that same morning.

    Turns out the crook responded to the owner’s sale ad and stole the car pretending he was going to test drive it but took off before the owner could get into the passenger side.

    Seems like I foiled his final attempt to swap the vehicle for cold hard cash that I had. I am shocked as to what my fate could’ve been if I did not delay him and took him to where he wanted me to take him. I could’ve been robbed, ambushed or shot just for my cash. I am working with law officials now to apprehend. We have surveillance and prints ready and ill keep you

    updated on our results.

    Thank you, Martin. Hopefully, now more people will be wary when buying a used car from craigslist and hopefully ask the right questions like you did.