msq3040@gmail

I was being scammed by someone at the email [email protected] and they were trying to rent me a house while they were out of town on business. They wanted me to send a money gram and then would be sent the keys. The house was up for sale and there happened to be an open house after we had signed a lease to rent. The scammer said they thought we weren't serious so they kept trying to sell, even though they told us in the beginning they cancelled the contract with the realtor. I then googled the email address and discovered multiple other craigslist and similar website postings for other houses in different cities with the same contact email. Two of which had been flagged for removal. This is a scam. DO NOT TRY TO RENT FROM SOMEONE YOU HAVENT MET. DO NOT SEND MONEY TO A STRANGER. AND DO NOT TRY TO RENT A HOUSE YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PHYSICALLY SHOWN BY A LANDLORD!!
And don't try to rent from the scammer at [email protected]

Welcome to Scamwarners Flamin_pez,
I am sorry to hear that you were targeted by these criminals. Please post the email that requested the payment be sent via money gram and include any telephone numbers that may have been used in this scam.
Be sure to remove your personal information before posting. If you have any additional questions about this scam pleas ask.

This is the original email they sent me. I emailed them about a different posting they had on Craigslist from one of my alternative email addresses and got the exact same response but with a different name and house information.

Original response:

"Hi, Thanks for your email. The house is still available. Let me start by
introducing myself. I am hearing impaired,not deaf though just Hard of
hearing and i am very new in this landlord business.. However, My name is
Steven J Roska, I own the house located at 1636 Jefferson St, Oshkosh, WI
54901. The initial plan was to sell out the House which I tried, but
sometimes the price was inflated by the realtor and it takes longer to
sell. Because of this reason, i cancelled my contract with the realtor
which is why i am renting it out now and i am handling it myself moreover
i need a responsible person (With good credit) that can take very good care
of it,as we are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to
take it as if it were yours. Pet are allowed as long as they are not
destructive. The rent is $600 and security deposit is $600. You are free to
ask any more information you would like to know about the house.

DETAILS ABOUT THE HOUSE..

Number of bedrooms: 2,
Number of bathrooms: 2 full bath.

Rental price: $600 per month and security Deposit is $600(Security Deposit
is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent

Pets are Welcome.
.
The address to the house is: 1636 Jefferson St, Oshkosh, WI 54901

Get back to me so i can forward you the rent questionnaire i would want you
to fill out

Regards"

2nd response:

"Hi, Thanks for your email. The house is still available. Let me start by
introducing myself. I am hearing impaired,not deaf though just Hard of
hearing and i am very new in this landlord business.. However, My name is
Kathleen M Pathuis, I own the house located at 15 Cherry St,Holland, MI
49423. The initial plan was to sell out the House which I tried, but
sometimes the price was inflated by the realtor and it takes longer to
sell. Because of this reason, i cancelled my contract with the realtor
which is why i am renting it out now and i am handling it myself moreover
i need a responsible person (With good credit) that can take very good care
of it,as we are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to
take it as if it were yours. Pet are allowed as long as they are not
destructive. The rent is $600 and security deposit is $600. You are free to
ask any more information you would like to know about the house.

DETAILS ABOUT THE HOUSE..

Number of bedrooms: 2,
Number of bathrooms: 1 full bath.

Rental price: $600 per month and security Deposit is $600(Security Deposit
is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent

Pets are Welcome.
.
The address to the house is: 15 Cherry St,Holland, MI 49423

Get back to me so i can forward you the rent questionnaire i would want you
to fill out

Regards"

This is the email where they tried to solicit the money from me:

" hello how are you.thanks for your response..sorry i told you i am not around for now,i am on a business trip,i am sorry i couldn’t show you the inside myself..i am out of town, and i wont be back until few weeks, but i want to rent out the house before i get back, so that is why i sent you pictures and also gave you the address to see the surroundings and the environment, also if you are able to see the inside through the window.i need you to know that the home is on a high demand & i have some other people that are also interested in the home and are willing to move in but not too worry, i'll be giving it to you. glad you are interested in the house and that you did mail me First is why i'll make it yours... since you will be moving in you will have to make a security deposit to me (Security Deposit is Refundable) in order to secure the House and have the keys sent to you with immediately effect and prior to this, you'll be able to have access to the house and be able to take your time to map out your plans on how you want your new home to be like , however You can pay the Rent Later when you might have moved in already i believe this is very much flexible. you will send the payment through moneygram to me, and after the payment has been confirmed, i will have the keys and other documents sent to you via FEDEX same day delivery or next day delivery, also before you do that, i will send you a lease agreement, which you will sign and scan it back to me, do you agree to this?"

This person is still scamming, but have changed their email to [email protected]

And again just today as [email protected]. I'm super pissed off. Granted, we just started emailing back and forth, and no money was exchanged (I wouldn't have done that without talking to him in person), but I was really hoping that it wasn't a scam like I was thinking it would be. Too good of a deal.

Grr...

wow! I knew it! Lol

I googled the email address and was directed here

This is what was sent to me by
[email protected]


Hi, Thanks for your email. The house is still available. Let me start by introducing myself. I am hearing impaired,not deaf though just Hard of hearing and i am very new in this landlord business.. However, My name is Deborah K philips, I own the house located at 1237 N 11th Ave, Hanford, CA 93230. The initial plan was to sell out the House which I tried, but sometimes the price was inflated by the realtor and it takes longer to sell. Because of this reason, i cancelled my contract with the realtor which is why i am renting it out now and i am handling it myself moreover i need a responsible person (With good credit) that can take very good care of it,as we are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours. Pet are allowed as long as they are not destructive. The rent is $600 and security deposit is $600. You are free to ask any more information you would like to know about the house.

DETAILS ABOUT THE HOUSE..

Number of bedrooms: 2,
Number of bathrooms: 1 full bath.

Rental price: $600 per month and security Deposit is $600(Security Deposit is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent

Pets are Welcome.
.
The address to the house is: 1237 N 11th Ave, Hanford, CA 93230

Get back to me so i can forward you the rent questionnaire i would want you to fill out

Regards

I responded of course, very interested. They attached 23 pictures. Then they wrote:

Thanks for your response and interest
I own the house but I don't live in it currently which is why I wanted to sell it out but decided to rent it out instead because the Realtor was not being sincere and inflating the price of the house. I have cancelled the contract with the Realtor and I'm handling the rent myself.. i am telling you this in case if you find the house on another website or you found a sign board in front of the house, that is the old advert. I'm handling the rent myself...i need a responsible person that can take very good care of it ,i want it to clean and for you to take it as if it were yours..I will take the house off the market soon as I get a tenant to occupy the house as I don't want to leave the house empty. I don't have a problem with your credit as long as you can take good care of the home.There is also access to public Transport. I want you to provide answers to the questions below so as to create a Lease Contract for the rent. You can go by the house to see the neighborhood and surrounds anytime you want and i assure you will love the place, you might even look the inside through the window, i could have come over to show you myself,but i am out of town on a business Trip, and will be back in few weeks so i can meet you myself that is why i gave you the address, go there and check it out if you want to.The heating system is gas, there is washer and dryer and all utilities are included in the rent & the Utilities included are : Gas/Electric , Phone/Internet , Water , Garbage And cable which is optional .


Please go to the house and view it first, then if you like it, get back to me with the answers to the below questionnaire so that i can make the agreement form soon.

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?
How long lease are you looking for?
9)Reason for relocating?
10) Starting Date

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that I can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt and contacting you. Await your reply so we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys to you. Have a blessed day and God bless you.


Regards


To which I replied with my personal information , something I regret.

They replied with this, and this is when I got suspicious... Why would I send money to somebody I've never met in person or talked to on the phone, im sure thats why they added the whole "Im hard of hearing" BullShit. Lol & send the $$$ to their 'Secretary'... Who TF has a Secretary lol


hello how are you..thanks for your response..sorry i told you i am not around for now,i am on a business trip,i am sorry i couldn’t show you the inside myself..i am out of town, and i wont be back until few weeks , but i want to rent out the house before i get back, so that is why i sent you pictures and also gave you the address to see the surroundings and the environment, also if you are able to see the inside through the window.i need you to know that the home is on a high demand & i have some other people that are also interested in the home and are willing to move in but not too worry, i'll be giving it to you. glad you are interested in the house and that you did mail me First is why i'll make it yours... since you will be moving in you will have to make the payment through Moneygram to my secretary, which will enhance me to get the keys sent to the address you provided earlier right after the payment has been confirmed, i will have the keys and other documents sent to you via FEDEX SAME DAY DELIVERY OR NEXTDAY DELIVERY, also before you do that, i will send you a lease agreement, which you will sign it and scan it back to me, do you agree to this?

i can accept 800 for first payment and you can pay the rest later as you proposed... let me know so i can give you the info on how to go about payment




Lol people can be really shitty.

I plan on having some fun with this though now that I know its a total scam.. :D

Welcome to Scamwarners tferrucci,
I am happy to hear that you discovered the scam before you lost money to this criminal. Since the scammer has your real name and contact information we recommend that you stop all communications with this scammer by blocking or ignoring all emails and telephone calls.
If you have any additional questions about this scam please ask.

Here's the most recent one sent.

So the money order goes to someone:
Name: Jerry Higley
City : Chicago
State: illinois
Zipcode: 60621


Actual E-mail below
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
I have attached the Residential Lease Agreement for you, print it out, sign it and scan it and send it back to me. I am more than happy to have you as my new tenant you will need to make the first month rent of $600 and the Security Deposit of $600.. the keys and the Documents will be sent to the address you have provided to me earlier in 24hrs.. And also Pets deposit which is $100..The payment will be made Via Moneygram . You can do that in any Grocery Store or Walmart. All utilities are included in the rent and the dryer/washer is also included except you don't want it.

Here are the contents of the documents of the house which would be shipped to you with the keys via FedEx courier service upon payment confirmation to the address you have provided in your questionnaire, and you will receive the package in just 24 hours after payment

1) Entrance and the rooms Keys
2)The house documentary file.
3)Payment Receipt
4) Hard copy of lease agreement.
5) Payment Receipt

Below is my secretary Info you will need in sending the money to via Moneygram.

NOTE: After signing the papers, scan it and send it back to me, also make sure you scan the receipt of the payment.or better still give me the reference # / MTCN NUMBER.

Below is my secretary info

Name: Jerry Higley
City : Chicago
State: illinois
Zipcode: 60621

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Be careful people!

Ok this sounded to good to be true so myself did my own research and come to find out I was so right about this! We have emailed back and fourth a couple times now and I must say things just started not making any sense the more and more we got into depth about this home! I drove to this home and knew this couldnt be right! Please ppl be cautious when trying to rent online!!! Looks like this person has been at this for some time now

Hi, Thanks for your email. The house is still available. Let me start by introducing myself. I am hearing impaired,not deaf though just Hard of hearing and i am very new in this landlord business.. However, My name is Lisa Granger, I own the house located at 233 Mohawk Dr, Greenville, SC 29609 . The initial plan was to sell out the House which I tried, but sometimes the price was inflated by the realtor and it takes longer to sell. Because of this reason, i cancelled my contract with the realtor which is why i am renting it out now and i am handling it myself moreover i need a responsible person (With good credit) that can take very good care of it,as we are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours. Pet are allowed as long as they are not destructive. The rent is $600 and security deposit is $600. You are free to ask any more information you would like to know about the house.

DETAILS ABOUT THE HOUSE..

Number of bedrooms: 2,
Number of bathrooms: 2 full bath.

Rental price: $600 per month and security Deposit is $600(Security Deposit is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent

Pets are Welcome.
.
The address to the house is: 233 Mohawk Dr, Greenville, SC 29609

Get back to me so i can forward you the rent questionnaire i would want you to fill out

Regards

This scammers current email address is [email protected] . He tried to get me on a house at address 1236 Washington St, Lincoln, NE, 68502. I willl be reporting him anywhere that I can! After I received the email asking for payment, I became super suspicious and called the realtor whose name was on the sign in the yard and he's like "oh yeah, I've had like 5 or 6 people call me about that." UGH! This Jerry Higley must be stopped!

Just saw another post from him. New email he's using is: [email protected] LINCOLNITES BEWARE.

They strike again! [email protected] is the email this scammer is using in Orem UT. So sad I will post the email I received below.

Hi, Thanks for your email. The house is still available. Let me start by introducing myself. I am hearing impaired,not deaf though just Hard of hearing and i am very new in this landlord business.. However, My name is Marilyn D Cox, I own the house located at 840 S 210 W, Orem, UT 84058 . The initial plan was to sell out the House which I tried, but sometimes the price was inflated by the realtor and it takes longer to sell. Because of this reason, i cancelled my contract with the realtor which is why i am renting it out now and i am handling it myself moreover i need a responsible person (With good credit) that can take very good care of it,as we are not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours. Pet are allowed as long as they are not destructive. The rent is $600 and security deposit is $600. You are free to ask any more information you would like to know about the house.

DETAILS ABOUT THE HOUSE..

Number of bedrooms: 2,
Number of bathrooms: 1 full bath.

Rental price: $600 per month and security Deposit is $600(Security Deposit is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent

Pets are Welcome.

The address to the house is: 840 S 210 W, Orem, UT 84058

Get back to me so i can forward you the rent questionnaire i would want you to fill out

Regards

The scammer is still at it unfortunately. Thank you for your post because you saved me a lot of money. My suspicion first came when I noticed a house for rent under the email [email protected] and the person trying to rent me a house had the email [email protected] so I decided to look up scam info under "3040 scam and it led me to this"

They used the name Pamela G. Brown for me and had the same exact email, hard of hearing out of town on business, etc. I am very upset about all of this because I am on the edge of being homeless ATM however I am grateful to you for saving me some time and money and hopefully saving others.

OMFG I knew this was too good to be true. GLAD I FOUND OUT BEFORE SENDING THEM ANY MONEY. THIS IS REALLY FRUSTRATING AS I'M BASICALLY HOMELESS!! HOWEVER I AM GLAD THAT WE DIDN'T SEND MONEY!

~This is the original email I received from [email protected]~


Hi, Thanks for your email. The house is still available. Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Michael R Morgan Sr., I am hearing impaired, not deaf though just Hard of hearing so the fastest means i’d be able  communicate with your is via email ALONE !!!  I own the house located at 919 SW Fairview Ave, Dallas, OR 97338, i am very new in this landlord business. 

The initial plan was to sell out the House which I tried, but sometimes the price was inflated by the realtor and it takes longer to sell. Because of this reason, i cancelled my contract with the realtor which  is why i am renting it out now and i am handling it myself. The realtor sale sign in front of the house will be removed prior to your move in date so ignore the sale sign !!! . i need a responsible person (With good credit) that can take very good care of my house,as i am not after the money, but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours. Pet are allowed as long as they are not destructive. The rent is $600 and security deposit is $600. You are free to ask any more information you would like to know about the house. 

DETAILS ABOUT THE HOUSE..

Number of bedrooms: 2,  
Number of bathrooms: 1 full bath.

Rental price: $600 per month and security Deposit is $600 (Security Deposit is Refundable) 

Utilities included in monthly rent are : Gas/Electric , Phone/Internet , Water , Garbage And cable which is optional . 

Pets are Welcome which is ($100) for pet fee. 

The address to the house is: 919 SW Fairview Ave, Dallas, OR 97338
 
Get back to me so i can forward you the rent questionnaire i would want you to fill out

Regards
Thanks for your response and interest
I own the house but I don't live in it currently which is why I wanted to sell it out but decided to rent it out instead because the Realtor was not being sincere and inflating the price of the house. I have cancelled the contract with the Realtor and I'm handling the rent myself.. i am telling you this in case if you find the house on another website or you found a sign board in front of the house, that is the old advert. I'm handling the rent myself...i need a responsible person that can take very good care of it ,i want it to clean and for you to take it as if it were yours..I will take the house off the market soon as I get a tenant to occupy the house as I don't want to leave the house empty. I don't have a problem with your credit as long as you can take good care of the home.There is also access to public Transport. I want you to provide answers to the questions below so as to create a Lease Contract for the rent. You can go by the house to see the neighborhood and surrounds anytime you want and i assure you will love the place, you might even look the inside through the window, i could have come over to show you myself,but i am out of town on a business Trip, and will be back in few weeks so i can meet you myself that is why i gave you the address, go there and check it out if you want to.The heating system is gas, there is washer and dryer and all utilities are included in the rent & the  Utilities included are : Gas/Electric , Phone/Internet , Water , Garbage And cable which is optional . 


Please go to the house and view it first, then if you like it, get back to me with the answers to the below questionnaire so that i can make the agreement form soon.

     RENT QUESTIONNAIRE

1)Your Full Name?
2)Your Full Address 
3)Phone Number?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
Occupation?
9)How long lease are you looking for?
10)Reason for relocating?
11) Starting Date
12) Will you pay deposit to secure or total for move in ?

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that I can  have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt and contacting you. Await your reply so we can discuss on how to get the document and  the keys to you. Have a blessed day and God bless you