Helene Frings request for room to rent - is it legit?

Pretty sure this is a scam. Please check out. I got drawn into it and then "Helene Frings" wanted to send me a package with a tracking number...For a room rental? I live in a tourist town and it makes allot of sense to get requests for rentals from around the world. But, when I got about 4 requests, there appeared to be a common thread... I checked out the ILO which she claims to work for, It's a legit organization, but....something doesn't feel right anymore- not supplying personal references, work reference which I requested - anxious to secure the room, etc....
Thanks for checking out.

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Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:06:23 -0800
From: helene frings <[email protected]>
Subject: Room needed
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Communication from "Helene Frings"

Hi there,
I'm Helene Frings, a 33 years old lady from Hamburg, Germany. I speak English and German fluently, I am currently working with the (ILO) International Labour Organization in Berlin.I am on a programme supported by German Government to States.I am searching for a place to stay.I just read your advert you posted and check to know may be the place still available.i really love the profile of the room/Apartment for rent and I will like to know much about the room and i would really want you to secure the room before my arrival, more so to know if it would be possible for me to pay for the room before my arrival, i will like to know the total amount of the room in month fee's with the utilities included. All these vital information are very important for me to know before submision of my proposal to the Organization. The Organization will be paying all the fees and the source of the money will be money order or cashier check...Hope to read from you soon.

Helene

My Response: Advised it was still available, gave details of room, asked for references.

Response from "Helene Frings"

Thanks for writing me back soon, I'm absolutely okay with the breakdown details of the room.... I will be making a payment for a month rent to move in. I'll be so happy if you can reserve the room for me additional $50 would be paid for removing the advert from the site because i'm so much interested in renting the room. My organization will be responsible for all the fees and the payment will be by United State money order or cashier's check as i had stated in my previous email so i will need all these informations from you....
Full Name......
Full Address....
Phone.....
Paying my rent would not be a burden to me since i wont be the one to pay the money but the organization i work for. My coming over will be by the end of this month and i will be living for a minimum, of 6 to 12 months. I'm coming for a research on reducing poverty, achieving fair globalization and advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.It works with governments, employers and workers organizations to promote Social protection Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all.Social dialogue Bringing together representatives of governments, employers and workers to foster cooperation and to deliver "real world" knowledge about employment and works. Anxiously waiting for your response, Have a pleasant day.

Helene

My response: 2nd request for references & credit check - asked for FB account to check.

Response from "Helene Frings" This is where the red flags started popping up:

Hello There
I really appreciate you getting back to me with this information and i will have it sent to my Boss immediately .....and i will also get back to you with the tracking number of the package via courier service.Once again I thank you for renting this place out to me .
I will keep you posted as the process unfolds OK?
Best Regards.

My response:

Helene,
Tracking number for a courier service? What are you sending?
Please advise.
D

Response from "Helene Frings":

i mean the tracking number of the payment ok

My response:

Hmm…….is it possible for your organization to pay thru PayPal?
Thanks again,
D

Response from "Helene Frings"

I never know but let me ask first and i will get to you as soon as i get the reply from them ok

I am not going to respond pending your assessment.

Quotes added for clarity - Michelle

It's 100% scam.

The "parcel" would contained a fake check for more than you were owed, and you would have been instructed to send the excess by WU to some other party before your bank identified the fake. Occasionally scammers will send spoofed paypal messages too, so if "she" comes back and says PayPal is ok, that is where they would try to take it.

The language mistakes scream "African." NNFMP in the header is another clue to a scam.

Thanks again Dottie for your information! This was the first time I used internet advertising. I'm getting a really good education on internet scammers.

Almost just fell for the same scam. This time the name was Mary Jones, email address [email protected]. Same general description, young german woman from Hamburg coming to NYC for ILO research. Almost verbatim description of her work as the previous poster's Helene Frings. My wife and I gave "Mary" our names, address and phone numbers. My wife felt a little funny about the emails Mary was sending, so I did some sleuthing. Called the ILO in NYC, called the German Consulate. No one's ever heard of Mary Jones. Then I google the job description in her email and the first hit is to this post. Thanks for the heads up.

And to everyone else: this scam is ongoing. If you're looking to sublet your place via Craigslist, make sure the nice German girl coming to work on international labor rights issues is a real person!

Louis

Welcome here Louisiana

I'm glad you didn't get scammed out of your money. Thanks for posting this additional information.

Thanks Scam Warners! I actually know someone who works at the ILO occasionally, so I was excited to welcome a "Mary Jones" to the house thinking we'd have mutual friends. Glad I checked here first.

Just got hit up by the same would-be scammer. This time it was a [email protected], claiming to be a German girl with the ILO, looking for an apartment to rent.

The Craigslist apartment listings is evidently a magnet for these scams.

Also, got contacted by a "Sarita Brooks" who says she is working for a "programme" in Romania that deals with "heart problems." Along comes this photo, totally unsolicited, of an attractive young woman. Can I pick her up at the airport when comes in to see the apartment?

She wants me to cash a cashier's check and then send her the difference to pay for her travel. Craigslist warns that fake cashier's checks are common and banks will hold you responsible for the money when, in a few weeks, they discover the fraud.

No real interest in the apartment yet. What a waste of time and a pain in the butt.

I got hit with this scam as well.
I'm a 20 year old college trying to sublet my room for the semester
on Craigslist. So I get some information from a "Sarita Brooks" or should I say "Sarita Alisa Brooks"

Heres messages..
Sarita:My name is Sarita Alisa Brooks,I saw your advertisement On www.craiglist.org and I am very much interested in search of your room /apartment for rent or sublease. I was born in Greater London in united kingdom. Right now I am currently in Russian country(Abinsk,Krasnodar Krai)for a programme on children with Heart Related problems. My next programmes will be in the USA and I will be needing a Place to stay for this programme and I need to secure a Place before my arrival to the US.
I am having fun here and I can't wait to arrive to the states. Plesea do get back to me with more desc-ription of the Place,move in rent fees for the first month,details about the place and any deposit if included. I await your reply ASAP.
Regards,
Sarita A. Brooks

----------------------------------------------
Sarita:Thanks for your response to my email,Yes ,.. I am extremely interested in renting the place...I will also like to know more about the place.I will be through with my programme here in Russia and I will be having my studies leave in there in states, I will still be getting paid for my leave as allowances and compensating salary ,so paying my rents on time won't be an Issue of discussion.

I will be paying Ahead of my arrival for a month, which is very Important and that will secure the Place for me, and as soon as I arrive others important things will be taken care of before moving in to the Place.It's really great to keep contact close with you in respect of the place, I have informed my Boss about this and he promised to make sure that I will meet up with the payment Arrangement so that I can depart from here as scheduled. He also said I will have the advantage to make payment for deposit, My mode of payment will be in US Certified Check , So please let me know if this mode of payment is okay by you, and if YES please provide me with the following information to get the payment to you

.- Your full name as it will appear on the check ,
- Your work or Home address to ensure delivery in your hands through regular mails or a courier service(not p.o.box)
- Your phone number to keep contact close and avoid package missing in Transit.


If you will like to know a little bit about me, Here is a little about me:
I am 24 year old....I don't smoke nor drink. I have no Boyfriend because I am a very busy Lady only dedicated to my work, I like honest,trustworthy and hardworking people while I dislike laziness,messy,uncaring , my job involves traveling which is one of my Hobbies. My sign is Virgo. I speak English, and a little of spainish. I am a christian by religion. My favorites are; My favorite cuisines : Chinese/Dim Sum, Del i, Eastern-European, Fast Food/Pizza, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese/Sushi, Mexican, Seafood, Soul Food, Thai, Vietnamese My favorite music: Dance/Electronica, Disco, Rap/Hip Hop, Soul/R&B and Soundtracks. My favorite physical activities: Basketball, Dancing, Swiming and Hiking/Walking

Kindly get back to me as soon as possible with this requested address contact information so that we can proceed as soon as possible.I await your reply ASAP

Sarita Brooks

NB: Can you please take the Ads off craigslist so that i will be rest assured that you will rent it to me


This is obviously a scam. Whenever I recieve the check I will be turning it into the police.
Please BEWARE of this craigslist scammer . Thank You!

It is fantastic to see so many people who were not taken in by this scam. I would love to see this list have ten thousand posts in it.

Thank you for keeping the information fresh.

HA! This crazy is still going strong with her scam! After almost getting scammed by a person interested in my sublet post I started googling those who would email me about the place. I eventually added my phone number to legitimize the ads. Well, I got an email from "Mary" but funny it enough, it went straight to my junk mail! I guess the entire world is on to her. Well one night I got text at 11 PM asking if the sublet was available. I told her to send me an email which I believe was the email that was flagged as junk. She sent me another text at 2:30 AM the following night. At this point I was already aware that the email sent by Mary was an attempt at a scam but believed the text was from someone else that expressed interest in the sublet. Then the kicker, Mary sent another text telling me to email her at [email protected]. Relentless.

By the way, she hasn't gotten very creative. Here is the email she sent to me:

Hey,

How are you doing?. I am extremely interested..I just want you to know little about me. I am 24 years old and i am coming for vacation. I am from California. I hold a degree in National College of Art And Design In Nicosia, Cyprus. I have also worked as an Exhibition Instructor at the Cyprus Museum of Natural History. I'm real fun person &hard working clean and quite person and easy going and respected My laugh is soft and contagious. I love cooking. My addiction is to taking photographs of people,Places and things has re-surfaced and put into Art work. I love traveling, sporting and enjoy meeting people. I don't smoke or drink but i do not mind people who do being around me..I don't have any pets. Am cool headed and easy going person.

My question is:
How much does it cost to get a parking space?
Is utilities included with the rent?
What color is the interior painted?
Rent is due at which date?
When is it available?
What is the final asking price for the rent?


I will making payment down so that you can hold the place for me.. Please, get back to me asap

But she calls herself Mary Morgan. Number is still the same though: (323) 744-0518

It's taking everything in me not to tell her how I'm not as stupid as she wants me to be.

You guys just totally saved me.
I had the same situation going and she seemed fishy the way she was so excited and anxious to rent the room and send me the check.
She sent me the following:

"How are you doing? Well, Pleasure hearing from you,i really appreciate it and i must tell you that I'm really happy about you renting the place to me.
Also, my boss has sent the payment. It was mailed to you via USPS ( Express mail ). He made a mistake by sending you all my allowance (check) which included the rent fee and fee for shipping my car.
I need your help on handling this for me. As soon as you receive the payment please deduct the payment for the first Month rent of the place and help me to send or give back the differences of the funds to the shipper to take care of my shipment. I hope you understand and I'm very sorry.
I will email you the tracking number soon..
Email me as soon as you can
Best Wishes"

That's when I decided I should do a little research and found this forum. She went by Mary Morgan, the number she used was (706) 431-7185, and the email she's using is [email protected].

The only thing that worries me at all is the fact that she has a lot of my basic information (name, address, phone number, etc.) There's no way whoever it is can do anything with just this basic stuff right?
Thanks again guys, I owe you one

Welcome to Scamwarners Bryman,
These criminals are after easy money and will not take to time to try and do anything with you basic information.
Save the email and after you receive the check take a copy of the email along with the check and envelope to your local post office and repot the scam.
If you have any additional questions about this scam please ask.

I also (almost) got scammed also by [email protected]. Luckily I googled before sending the scammer any money, because it sounded suspicious. The check was from Bank of Guam for $1,000 over the rent amount. The scammer said kindly deduct the payment for the first Month rent of the place and help me to send or give back the differences of the funds to the shipper to take care of my shipment. 30 DAYS FROM NOW THE CHECK WILL BOUNCE and WE VICTIMS WILL BE OUT ABOUT $1,000 each.

Here is the scammer's message (which is word for word as reported by other victims).

Hi,

How are you doing?. I am extremely interested..I just want you to know little about me. I am 24 years old and i am coming for a job. I am coming from Rhode Island. I hold a degree in National College of Art And Design In Nicosia, Cyprus. I have also worked as an Exhibition Instructor at the Cyprus Museum of Natural History. I'm real fun person &hard working clean and quite person and easy going and respected My laugh is soft and contagious. I love cooking. My addiction is to taking photographs of people,Places and things has re-surfaced and put into Art work. I love traveling, sporting and enjoy meeting people. I don't smoke or drink but i do not mind people who do being around me..I don't have any pets. Am cool headed and easy going person.

My question is:

How much does it cost to get a parking space?

Is utilities included with the rent?

What color is the interior painted?

Rent is due at which date?

When is it available?

What is the final asking price for the rent?




I will making payment down so that you can hold the place for me.. Please, get back to me asap


How are you doing? Great and hope you are having a wonderful day. Well, Pleasure hearing from you,i really appreciate it and i must tell you that am really happy about you renting the place.



Also, my boss has sent the payment. It was mailed to you via USPS ( Express mail ). He made a mistake by sending you all my allowance (check) which include the rent fee and fee for my shipping my car.


I need your help on handling this right for me.. As soon as you receive the payment kindly deduct the payment for the first Month rent of the place and help me to send or give back the differences of the funds to the shipper to take care of my shipment. I hope you understand.


I will email you the tracking number soon..

Email me as soon as you receive this emailI await your quick response

Got the same scam! Thankfully I looked this person up before falling for it. She went under the name Mary Morgan
---------

Hi,

How are you doing?. I am extremely interested..I just want you to know little about me. I am 24 years old and i am coming for a job. I am coming from Rhode Island. I hold a degree in National College of Art And Design In Nicosia, Cyprus. I have also worked as an Exhibition Instructor at the Cyprus Museum of Natural History. I'm real fun person &hard working clean and quite person and easy going and respected My laugh is soft and contagious. I love cooking. My addiction is to taking photographs of people,Places and things has re-surfaced and put into Art work. I love traveling, sporting and enjoy meeting people. I don't smoke or drink but i do not mind people who do being around me..I don't have any pets. Am cool headed and easy going person.

My question is:

How much does it cost to get a parking space?

Is utilities included with the rent?

What color is the interior painted?

Rent is due at which date?

When is it available?

What is the final asking price for the rent?




I will making payment down so that you can hold the place for me.. Please, get back to me asap

--------

Mary Morgan seems to be quiet active. I posted a furnished apartment on craigslist and after she texted me, she sent me the email posted below. Was in the process of responding when I decided to google her very common name and came across this website. I instead asked her for a phone number where I can call her as it would be easier to answer her questions that way. The email she is using is [email protected]. The number her text came from is (323)744-0518 (California area code). When you google her phone number, the scamwarners website is the first hit...

Mary Morgan
12:09 PM
to me

Hi,

How are you doing?. I am extremely interested..I just want you to know little about me. I am 24 years old and i am coming for a job. I am coming from Rhode Island. I hold a degree in National College of Art And Design In Nicosia, Cyprus. I have also worked as an Exhibition Instructor at the Cyprus Museum of Natural History. I'm real fun person &hard working clean and quite person and easy going and respected My laugh is soft and contagious. I love cooking. My addiction is to taking photographs of people,Places and things has re-surfaced and put into Art work. I love traveling, sporting and enjoy meeting people. I don't smoke or drink but i do not mind people who do being around me..I don't have any pets. Am cool headed and easy going person.

My question is:

How much does it cost to get a parking space?

Is utilities included with the rent?

What color is the interior painted?

Rent is due at which date?

When is it available?

What is the final asking price for the rent?

I will making payment down so that you can hold the place for me.. Please, get back to me asap

M M