Scam Tip Report #16106 - False Rental Listing on Trulia


Scam ReporterScam Tips Received
Anonymous
Kapaa, HI, United States
2014-02-02 09:38:09
Classified Ads Scam
Craigslist (craigslist.com)
+1 False Rental Listing on Trulia 
 Scammer
  Information
Name:
Michael Weber/Elisabeth Venezia
Email Address:
projecthouse876@gmail.com
Scam Website:
Fax:
Emails received following my request for info on the property: 66-007 Alapii St., Haleiwa, HI. Listed for RENT by OWNER.

FIRST EMAIL from YAHOO account: projecthouse876@yahoo.com
[Hello,
You\'re most welcome. I am delighted that you have taken the opportunity to show interest in our house. However, let me tell you a little about myself I am very new in this rental issues, myself and my wife owned the property, it\'s due to my volunteering work as a consultant with Belinda and Bill gates Foundation here is the foundation. I spent less time at home due to the nature of my volunteering job which as affected my relationship so myself and wife I decided to separation because the nature of my job makes her feel we need to put our differences, which we are doing peacefully, so our plan was to put the house on the market has For sale, which we did through MLS (MULTI LEASING SERVICES) Realtor, but sometime the Realtor inflates the price and sometime the asking price from interested buyer\'s are too poor which is taking too long, And also because we still have a young beautiful daughter who is just 11yrs, so we have both accepted to keep the house for her till she get older and decided what she wanted to do with it, so for now we are renting out the property this time around, I am telling you this in case if you find the house on another website, that is the old advert because of this reason and more we need a responsible person that can take very good care of the house like his/her own. Our home is available now for rent at $1000 with a security deposit of $700, Utilities like trash pickup, water gas, heat, sewer, internet wireless are all included in the rental fee, I want to let you know that money is not our problem but what we are looking for is absolute care of the home when you move in into the home, We are looking out for someone that can always keep the home clean and tidy, So please I want you to stand on the agreement that you will make with us happy if you are being offered the place for rent, We are kind and honest family even though we go our separate ways we still respect one another and also other people, we don\'t like disappointing people and we don\'t want anyone to disappoint us. We spent a lot at our house, You can drive by to view the house and email me back the rental application fill below, stay blessed.


RENT QUESTIONNAIRE
1) Your Full Name?
2) Your Full Address & Phone Number?
3) Are you married?
4) How many people will be living in the house?
5) Do you have a pet?
6) Do you have a car?
7) Occupation?
8) how long lease are you looking for?
9) How soon do you intend moving in?
10) Reason for relocating?
11) When will you like to pay the deposit fee?

I hereby apply to lease the above described premises for the terms and upon the set conditions above set forth and agree that the rental is to be payable at the first day of month,also promise to take good proper
care of the house.


Mr Michael Weber]

SECOND EMAIL from a GMAIL account: projecthouse876@gmail.com

[Hello XXXXX XXXXX,

Thanks for your unflinching interest, we are happy to let you know that we have accepted you as our new Tenant, you have to promise us that you will always pay your rent at when due,While appreciate your willingness and commitment,the monthly rent is $1000 and the Security Deposit is $700. You will be required to pay the security deposit of $700 Asap,So as to facilitate the rental procedure and also note that utilities are included in rent Gas,heat, water,refuse bin and rent start to counts asap when you move in,So re-confirm your delivery address where the lease paper work and keys package will be sent to,let me know if you have any other questions, so we can resolve it before we finalize exchange of the document and also let us know if the offer is been accepted by you so that we can email you the payment information? you can as well reach me on my number (949) 478-0287.

you will need to make the first month rent of $1000 and the Security Deposit of $700 will be used for the shipping of the keys and the Documents to the address you have provided to us earlier.The total of $1700 the payment will be made Via Money Gram transfer.You can do that in any Grocery Store or Walmalt

Here are the contents of the document.

1) Entrance and the rooms Keys
2)Paper/Permanent house form
3)The house documentary file.
4)Payment Receipt

So please do get back to me today so that I will let you know the next step to take concerning the payment. I await your reply ASAP.

Below is my Wife information you will use in sending the total move-in cost via money gram. Note; you are to locate any walmart nearest to you to have it sent.

RECEIVER\'S NAME: ELISABETH VENEZIA
RECEIVER\'S ADDRESS: 107 DOGWOOD TRAIL
CITY : VALDOSTA
STATE:GA
ZIP CODE: 31602

Get back to me with the following details as soon as the payment is made so that I can proceed in sending the package to you.

SENDER\'S NAME:
SENDER\'S ADDRESS:
AMOUNT SENT:
REFERENCE#:

I will urge you to get back to me with the senders information and other necessary information required so i will be able to get the money here and send out the keys and all legal documents of the house out to you without any delay.

I will like you to assure me that you and your family will take absolute care my house and that you won\'t disappoint us because we love the home very well and it takes us money to take care of it.

Await to hear from you soonest the money confirmation number along with other information required.

Regard and God bless you!!! once you make the payment so that i can proceed with the shipment of the keys and document to your current address.


Mr Michael Weber]


THIRD EMAIL from same GMAIL account


[Below is my Wife information you will use in sending the total move-in cost via money gram. Note; you are to locate any walmart nearest to you to have it sent.

RECEIVER\'S NAME: ELISABETH VENEZIA
RECEIVER\'S ADDRESS: 107 DOGWOOD TRAIL
CITY : VALDOSTA
STATE:GA
ZIP CODE: 31602

Get back to me with the following details as soon as the payment is made so that I can proceed in sending the package to you.

SENDER\'S NAME:
SENDER\'S ADDRESS:
AMOUNT SENT:
REFERENCE#:

I will urge you to get back to me with the senders information and other necessary information required so i will be able to get the money here and send out the keys and all legal documents of the house out to you without any delay.

I will like you to assure me that you and your family will take absolute care my house and that you won\'t disappoint us because we love the home very well and it takes us money to take care of it.

Await to hear from you soonest the money confirmation number along with other information required.

Regard and God bless you!!! once you make the payment so that i can proceed with the shipment of the keys and document to your current address.


Mr Michael Weber]

This was the first rental listing I have ever inquired about on Trulia and thought that this kind of thing didn\'t happen that often as it does on Craigslist. I made sure to at least, Google the address, but only saw that it was recently withdrawn from the market. Well so did this guy because he noted that he took decided not to sell and it was on the market too long....ALL TRUE. So I fell for it and I made the mistake of providing my real full name, mailing address, school email, cell phone number, and a few things about myself to this con artist. It was not until the prompt second response that I knew. Money gram?! HA! That is a definite \"no-no\" in world of common sense. I was just so in love with the location and house that I let it muffle the little voice saying, \"SCAM! SCAM! $1000 for a North Shore 3 bd/ 2 ba home, IN YOUR DREAMS!\" Although I know better not to provide my financial information or sensitive information like my SSN and DOB, the info I gave him could be used to create a number of online accounts/profiles that could come back to haunt me. So lesson learned and I hope his next victim comes across tips/stories like this before providing ANY info.

Key factors: Bad grammar/punctuation/vocabulary, countless misspellings, unnecessarily detailed/personal reason for listing, unable to personally see property, keys and documents sent by mail after payment via money gram, and of course...the property address is associated on other realty sites. The name he uses--Michael Weber-- is listed on public records as the current/previous owner of the property, which can easily be accessed online.
Follow Ups/Extra Information. Most recent is listed first.
Found source of Scammer's IP Address. His name, email address, phone number as well as a physical address were shown. Not so surprised now that I know this guy's current location is 33 Saka Tinubu, Victoria Island, LAGOS, NIGERIA!!!!

Anonymous   () Added the following extra information on :2014-02-03 08:50:31
 Scammer
  Information
Name:
FRED YOUNG
Email Address:
spamalert@visafone.com.ng
Scam Website:
Fax:
+23412624287

 Got more information on this Scam/Scammer?
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