Why don't the Police catch online internet scammers?
Online real estate rental scam
I almost lost $2,400 to a scammer yesterday.I went looking for an apartment to rent in the inner city so that I could be closer to some of my family. I found a nice property in an area that I like that was reasonably priced and very suitable. I replied that I would like to take the apartment subject to inspection. I got a reply back saying that I could pay the deposit and she would send the keys as she was in London with her new husband and would not be back till April..She also sent me her passport and a copy of the lease agreement. She then asked for the deposit to be sent to her, with the signed lease at an address in London.
I read her email again and became suspicious as her English writing was poor, yet her passport said she was born in Dublin, and had spent her time in England and Australia. She also wanted the money sent by Western Union, and that's when I really woke up that this could be a scam, so I looked a bit closer.
The plot thickens.
I went back and read the lease agreement, and there at the top where the word "Landlord" is usually written was the word "Landlady". I have seen a lot of leases, but in this country at least the legal term is landlord, and I have never seen the sexually specific use on a lease before.Another black mark!
At this point, I know that the property exists, as I have visited the address, seen the apartment and it is in a large block of apartments as she stated. The price and lease terms are acceptable, and I have a passport photo which includes the whole page from her passport, with date of birth and country of origin showing in the photo.
I had heard never to send money via Western Union unless it was to someone you know, so I offered to put the money in her local account, after I saw the apartment. She replied that after I paid the deposit she would send me the keys via FedEx.
By now I was downright suspicious, but not being a lying piece of human excrement myself, I found it hard to believe this sort of scam even existed, or that someone could go to so much trouble to scam someone. I went online and looked for the name she gave me.
Like many long time Internet users, I can find almost anyone online, so eventually after not finding anything about her at all, I typed in the name she gave me followed by the word "scam" Presto! Up comes her name on another Real Estate site. A blogger who had the same experience as me had realized she was a scammer and baited her fiercely!
Sure enough the scammer took the bait. It was pretty funny, but what was amazing is the others who came to this blog after they had been scammed by her.She has taken thousands of dollars of house hunters!
I sent the blog to the scammer, who had the audacity to ring me to assure me she was not a scammer! I near fell off my chair when I received the call. I have since had 10 more emails for different properties, and 6 of them were from her using another name. I have not used any of the names here, as they are all stolen along with passports and identity from people who answer her email and provide their I.D. to identify themselves.People like me, who have a totally clean background, wind up being chased by the police for fraud! Unlike the scammer we are easy to find.
I decided at this point to ring the police, give them the blog, her other identities and the passport photo she had sent to me. They had to call me back, so I waited all afternoon for a reply. A senior rang me back. He had been in contact with the fraud squad and they had told him there was no point as I had not lost any money so had no crime to report.
How does that work. Here we have a fraudulent thief, who has stolen citizens identities (surely that's a crime) In the mean time many of her victims have been pursued by the police!
I can tell which frauds are hers easily just by the word pattern and constant miss-spelling in her replies, the modus operandi is identical in every case, and I reckon a chicken could be trained to track her down. As there are dozens who have been defrauded by her and more every day, I just think the police are useless at this sort of thing.
I am going to take it to the feds next. I'll let you know how I go there.
Not good enough!
I attempted to get some satisfaction from Western Union, they took the details of the delivery address she used for this attempt, and have heard nothing back of course.
I then contacted the site where the scam was posted. My email and their reply are below.
I have had yet another scam attempt, that makes three from this site. Each
one is from the same person using different ID (stolen). I have been to the
police to no avail. As I have lost no money. I am now going to my local MP
and the Television show \"A current affair\" as this is so
stupid! The person scamming cannot hide their identity by changing it, as
her English writing makes it obvious that it is the same person. This
person has now scammed a minimum 10,000 dollars according to the blog about
her that I found. Why can\'t you track her down?
I only bought one week subscription, because I know that most of the emails
I get will be from her. Please help catch this person.
Here is the reply from share accommodation
Hello,
Unlike what you think, it is very difficult to fight scammers. They use proxys which allow them to navigate using IP address all around the world. They then create different accounts on sites like Share-Accommodation.net.
After 4 years of experience, we guarantee you that the best way to avoid scammers is to be "web smart".
Just NEVER pay money or give ID details to anyone without meeting them first.
Should you have any other questions or issues please do not hesitate in contacting us.
______________________________________
Best regards,
The Share-Accommodation.net Support
In other words they don't give a toss, and are only interested in putting me off the job I must do. Find this vermin and have them prosecuted.
Comments
Hi! Majyar's guy found me too. ( Or I found him?!) It was with a Dacia Dokker ARCTIC, on http://www.autoweb.hu. (They are trying in Hungary?)
With false number, and changed e-mail.
But the phone number was the same : 00447404704281, under the name : Robert Bryant.
The letter (I got from him/her) was created with translator software and the english version was strange too (altough I don't speak english perfectly).
Felt suspicious, so I searched.
It's is really sad, that nobody does anything against them.... :(
Majyar. Thank you so much. The same person is scamming with false motorbike advertisement on Bakaca.it: Name and contact:
E-Mail Halasz a.u.t.0@live.com
00447404704281
Robert Balazs
Ok I am going to publish all my scammer's details here, that way if someone goggles him/her they may find out he/she is a scammer. Scam was to buy a van/bus in Hungary. but when you ring it is in England and we all know the rest. He/she is using a legitimate transport company's detail;s (whom have told me many Hungarians have been scammed) and the police are investigating it. and also if you Google his phone no it comes up on a forum in Spain same scenario only a motorbike. I have since got the add removed in Hungary. At least he/she will have to changes phones. You scum of the earth.
Mercedes Sprinter 311 CDI 9 személyes kisbusz- Dízel 2000 00447404704281
Ervin Halasz
BAN GB09 BARC 2029 4160 5556 65
S code:20-29-41
Acc: 60555665
Swift: BARCGB22
Branch bic :0wq
Anchor Vehicle Logistics Ltd. Transports account
BARCLAYS BANK PLC
Rob Borthwick
(Executiv Manager Anchor Vehicle Logistics Ltd. Transports)
207 Regent Street,
London,
W1B 3HH
UNITED KINGDOM
a.v.l.ltd.transports@live.co.uk 0044 208 043 3629
0044 7990935735
a.u.t.0@live.com
Excellent informative Hub .Would like to let you know about a current scam that a family member just lost money to.This scam is on both the FTC and the Western Union site too.You receive a Secret Shopper offer to rate Western Union's customer service .Check in the letter ,you deposit check ,send an amount under the check total Western Union,you keep the remainder as payment.Check bounces ,you are scammed for the whole amount of the check ,plus bank fees when you face insufficient funds and could face criminal prosecution.
I like Mudkipz
Given that all of this stolen money is going to support Terrorism why doe the FBI and International Police Agencies continue to let this activity go???????
Are they just DUMB?
- AUTHOR
Hi warzone. The thing is, even an expert, (which I am not) would have trouble knowing if the site is a fraud or not. If the link to paypal is real it sounds like the way to go as you will indeed get your money back. I would go to paypal off page and see if you can pay it rather than click the link. You can run your mouse over the link and it will display at the bottom of your browser.
I hope this helps.
not great deals. i was looking at a nikon d700 and they want $680 for it plus shipping so $730 for all. (i found other scammers online that were selling the same camera for like $200-300 but the only payments were "WESTERN UNION AND MONEY GRAM"). This site use only paypal, but when i look on GOOGLE to see if anyone has been scammed they say yes and lost their money because they used money gram... but paypal offers buyer protection so any amount you send no matter if you recive or don't receive the item you get your money back. Now the thing is i don't know if they updated the site to paypal only or not... im not sure if people are just saying stuff to make the company look bad!!
here is the web sites link:
www.linglan-telecom.com
please help me i need to buy a camera asap and im not sure if the site is fraud or not due to it accepting paypal which all other fraud site don't use.
- AUTHOR
Same or similar modus operandi, I would say it is the same person. The identity will be stolen, so her name and passport will be someone else's, usually one of the poor victims, who often have the police chasing them for the scam. Thank you for the new information. :)
I have never been to this site before. But I came across it after I was almost scammed!!!
I thought I would give you an update on this woman!
She is going through kijiji.ca her name is Carla Dunbar her email is dunbarcarla@yahoo.com
She wanted me to send 585 to london she is using royal mail
Royal Mail Express: Package Information & Delivery Schedule
Shipment Information:
Service: Royal Mail Express Special Delivery Services
Description of goods:Apartment Keys and rental contract verified and signed by the sender. All items to be dispatched are double checked at Royal Mail warehouse in London, United Kingdom.
Tracking number: GB673418**
Estimated delivery time: 48 hours
Note:The tracking number will be available upon payment verification and after the parcel is in transit.
When I recived this I tried to look up the tracking number... its to short... so I called the "condo" that she said she owned
They are not condo's they are apartments you can not own them.
I didn't think people could get away with this... crazy...
- AUTHOR
Thanks toknowinfo.
Your comment is timely. A new body is being set up to do just that.
I still can't see how they are going to deal with Nigeria without jurisdiction though.
Wow the audacity of that woman! Good thing you have a good head on your shoulders. Thanks for this heads up hub. Your right, there must be something more that can be done to protect against these scammers. Maybe eventually a special agency will be set up that focuses just on this. You would think they could hire just out of college or high school kids as cheap labor to do some of this tracking work. Thanks for the education.
- AUTHOR
Thank you for adding to the pool of warnings here E.Burdick.
I am so happy you did not use another way of sending the money. I am very pleased you got your money back.
I recently fell for a very well put together and seemed so real down to confirmation numbers and everything. I did send 2400 dollars but after speaking to the police and the NYS Attorny Generals office I was informed it was a scam. I was able to get my money back before the scammer received the money thanks to MoneyGram. I wish there was something people could do to bring them to justice.
- AUTHOR
Hi Dense, I was very disappointed with the ending as well as you can imagine. I could do no more. The dead end is that no laws exist to catch these guys in countries like these, and short of taking over their government or invading them, no where to go forward. Thank you for the comment.
Very detailed scammer hub! I always like to read this to be on my toes. :)
Would have preferred a different ending though. ;)
Thanks for the sharing!
I'm pleased you didn't lose any money and cottoned on quick, however I know that many are not so fortunate which is sad. Thanks for sharing your story and keeping people informed.
- AUTHOR
Thank you for the comment. That is precisely the same modus operandi, and sounds like the same person. I would suggest she is now selling your identity! Be careful, and don't be surprised if you get a visit from the authorities about some scam using your details, that is the second level of this scammer. (assuming it is the same one)I do hope I am wrong about that. I wish you well.
I had an experience similar to this, through share accommodation also..This woman that i contacted about a lease, was ever so frisky about the whole thing..Very similar story..I sent her an enquiry email about the place, and she sent one back, basically saying, 'it's yours.' She said that she was living in London, and would send the keys. She asked for a copy of mine and my (ex) partners ID's. We emailed them to her, being completely naïve about organizing lease online...Never heard back from her after that, and sent her about 5 emails, trying to get in contact with her. It's a good thing that we were broke as hell at the time, and had only cash, no money in our accounts. So we assumed that she was a scammer, as she never replied, but weren't too worried, as we had nothing worth stealing!
Pleasure, ; )
- AUTHOR
Thank you Cowboycoffee, and thank you for the link as well as the information on this scam.
Most of these scams are based in Nigeria. 419 Scams.
Western Union and money orders through the mail are common tools of the trade. The newest con they try to run is on personals sites by setting up false accounts, using peoples Pictures that they have downloaded, etc. eventually leading to a request to cash a money order or to wire money. This is a very informative post from the FBI Site on the various scams. http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm
- AUTHOR
Thank you fastfreta, I do enjoy trying to help others avoid being scammed. Interesting to hear about your daughter's experience.
My daughter had the same experience. She told the scammer that she worked for a person in England and that he wanted the person to get in touch with him. All of this is true, however the person never contacted my daughter's employer. I guess this has worked for them, or else they would stop. Very good hub, and thanks for writing it as a warning to the unsuspecting.
- AUTHOR
Nice comment. I will google it and report back.
I have had some good luck turning them into the scam police online. These people request copies of the email addresses and they actually do something about the problem. Their address is unfortunately in one of my 14 email accounts, and I will try to locate it for you...you may have some luck by googling email scam cops or email scam police. These people will all get their just rewards....even tho there are those of us who want to see them get them sooner.
I as you go after people who try to scam me. Even tho the good Lord says "vengence is Mine" I feel if we let them continue more people will be hurt.
GREAT POST!
- AUTHOR
If you are coming for business I would go for the hotel or other accommodation first, then get on the net and find your next place. I can help with where to look. :)
I am planning to come to Aus in the month of March'2010 I am a bit confused what to opt to either take a hotel for a week or so and search for a rental appartment else finalize the appartment before coming to Aus (which is a bit risky). Could you please suggest what should I opt for. I am planning to visit Brisbane initially.
- AUTHOR
If you have any questions or need assistance just ask!
Thanks a ton for the great help. Sometimes mere backing up is more than the actual help. I must thank you for your active assistance and support. I am about to come to a new country where I have no friends or family but with people like you I think my stay would be relaxed and tranquil.
- AUTHOR
Abhi, I will return some links to your email. Accommodation is tricky, but like most things, local knowledge helps. Let me know which city you wish to move to and I will use what I know to help.
Hey,
Nice to see your speedy response, like I said I have recently received Aus PR and planning to relocate there real soon and looking for a rental appartment. Looking at all these online scams I would be grateful if you can suggest a more secure way to find a place to stay in Aus.
- AUTHOR
Thanks for telling us about the current scammer Abhi, you are spot on! We need to teach each other about these crooks.
gr8 informations guys, way to go. I have been through same scam but luckily I also did not make any payment. I had this exchange of emails last week only in which the pretending landlady said she is currently in UK for her MBA assignment and if I can send her the deposit money she can Fed Ex the keys and rent agreement. This clearly depicts this kind of scams are still going on. I have recently gained PR of Aus and planning to relocate there soon. This was my first attempt to search for a rental appartment in Aus but I had a very bad taste. Now I am being too cautious in every internet posting as it reminds me how vulnerable are we and how people can easily rob us. My first experience was very bad, I thought I am not the only person who has gone this and therefore I google it and found this really informative and effective blog. You guys are doing the right thing. What I believe is before FBI, Scotland Yard or any agency take up this matter seriously only way to discourage these scammers is to make internet users smart and publish the modus operandi of these bad guys.
- AUTHOR
Nice idea. How does the FBI feel about that?
I am always selling on craigslist and other less popular sites and find at least 1 half of all responses are scamers. my advice to you is to not use your full telephone # on an ad you should type out some of the number phonetically as in (2 two 2)72three- one234 it will cut down on phone scammers getting your #. secondly in email responses you are sure are scams send them this address to mail their Fake checks to.
make sure you use your "fake name" which can be something like
Ive Ben Skammed
Suite 400
2635 Century Parkway, Northeast
Atlanta, Georgia
30345
this is the address of Atlanta FBI office. after you confirm that you had them mail the package to that address stop communicating with them.
Good for you! That's the problem with us honest people - we think others are honest, too.
- AUTHOR
You are most welcome Dao Hoa, and I am pleased the information was informative, very kind of you to take the time to comment.
Great hub. I did not know there is such scam and the person so bold that called you back after you exposed her. Wow! Now I know. Thanks.
- AUTHOR
Hello BEAUTYBABE, If you read back through the comments you will see what you are up against.
So sorry, I would love to say Scotland Yard would help but they cannot.
I wish you well, don't feel too bad about being conned, we all get conned one way or another!
- AUTHOR
Hello BEAUTYBABE, If you read back through the comments you will see what you are up against.
So sorry, I would love to say Scotland Yard would help but they cannot.
I wish you well, don't feel too bad about being conned, we all get conned one way or another!
I wish I had you foresight to see that my scammers were who they were Earnest.His english was bad as well, both of them in fact. Luckily, you woke up in time. I have learned a lot from what you said and I wont be scammed like this again. You have taught well by this e mail. She needed to be stopped. You very smart to pick up all the mistakes she made, other people may not have been, especially the part concerning her english. I have thought of getting touch and reporting this to Scotland Yard, what are your thoughts about things like this, is it worth doing or not?
Earnestshub the vigilante! :)
I admire your effort, earnest
as some have already stated the culprits are organized and rent scams are just one of many incantations used. This scam is run hundreds if not thousands of times a month everywhere. Do you really beleive that the police do not care - trust me there are plenty of cops who have been duped themselves. Bottom line is that these scams orginate overseas and in locations where local and federal law enforcement agencies have no jurisdictional authority. As some have stated it is near imposssible to pinpoint scammers they manipulte ip addresses through the use of proxys, phone # are spoofed and tranfer of funds is done by wire tranfer which is virtually untraceable and even if you found the pick up location which is just a tranfer point the bad guy is not the one that will be there. So cash strapped law enforcement is going to assign a Detective to your case who will have to spend hundreds of man hours back tracking through untold numbers of ip addresses to come up with the orgination location (near impossible), which he/she will have no jurisdictional authority over and no specific suspect identified. Or do you think it may be wiser for local Fraud Units overwelmed with local ID theft and scams cases to pick cases based on feasablity of arrest and efficient use of tax payer dollars. The most efficient thing police and the feds can do for scams like this is to educate as many of their redsidents as possible through sound crime prevention presentations.
- AUTHOR
Thank you dawei88, Don't ya jjust hate them! I think that many others here are trying to let people know, and the example you have given here is helpful.
Wonderful hub about this scamming jerk. A few weeks ago some guy tried to sucker me into a domain name appraisal scam. I'm glad you made efforts to report this scam in your hub. I'm sure it'll help to prevent more future victims. Cheers, dawei888 :-)
- AUTHOR
Thank you wealthydavid, you are right. The Internet should be a a joy to use and a place of learning. Your advice will be appreciated by all.
Earnest,
Good you were smart about this, but scams are happening everywhere, we must take this campaign more serious the internet has become a place of pain instead of joy and learning.
PLEASE DO NOT MAKE PAYMENTS TO PEOPLE YOU CAN ONLY TALK TO ON PHONE. DON'T MAKE PAYMENTS THROUGH WESTERN UNION TO ANYBODY ANYWHERE.
PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF FROM SCAMMERS.
THIS IS A PASSIONATE APPEAL.
- AUTHOR
I guess all we can do is be careful and let everyone know. Thanks for the helpful comment.
i had a friend that recived a checks in the mail the currency exchanged verified and everything before they cashed and found out is was bad ten day after, the currency exchanged had to eat that money it is sad what some get away with
- AUTHOR
I also warned them, their response was that they can do nothing about it.
I have had numerous similar emails as well which I suspected frauds. I contacted shareaccommodation today to warn them. Oddly, I am no longer a subscribed member!!!????
- AUTHOR
Thanks Alfiebanana, awesome name! No way to stop the scams then?
This scam originates in Nigeria, that's why the english is so bad - they employ people who spend all day composing these emails for a small cut of the proceeds. It's big buisness out there and they post adverts for properties all over the world. It's not just rent scams, either - buying, selling, Anything WHICH INVOLVES MONEY, BASICLY. So you see, it's not just one person doing it...
- AUTHOR
The Feds and ACCC can't help either.
Best of luck and kudos for the effort.
- AUTHOR
I am going for it CWB, and thanks for the feedback. You would think they would at least look at it!I am now approaching TV shows. No interest yet.
Become a Gila monster earnestshub. Clamp your jaws and don't let go until the quarry has been subdued.
The most disturbing aspect of this story is how unwilling the "authorities" are to do anything. You've pretty much handed them a "perp" on a silver platter and they simply don't want to be bothered. What the hell are they being paid for?
- AUTHOR
JamaGenee, thanks for seconding sevon77. I will keep trying till this person is caught.
- AUTHOR
sevon77 Thanks for the info mate, I have started with an Australian TV show. but will try to get this in front of as many as possible over the next few weeks.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Triplet Mum, I am doing just that! I have been offline for a few days, but now I'm back on the case.
I have meant to ask you.....How did you cope with triplets! I am a twin myself, so I suppose I deserve to have my twin granddaughters (3 yo.)
Kids are far too clever these days. I'm always being out manuvered by these two, and would love to know how you coped with three of em!
Love to you and yours, Ern.
Congrats for being smarter than the scammer!
Good for you for being suspicious! But I've never understood the logic that you have to be a victim *before* police will do anything. sevon77 is right - contact the guy at Dateline and let him catch the scammer!
That sounds like a job for that guy from Dateline NBC I can't think of his name (The guy who set up the pedophiles be pretending to be a 12 year old girl in the chatrooms) He did a piece on baiting and catching internet scammers. He even went as far as to get this one guy arrested after baiting him out into the open.
You are a very good storyteller it's hard to keep my attention on a computer screen. Very good read.
Earnest - I am so happy that you weren't scammed. I would do everything in my power to make sure that person does not scam another person.
- AUTHOR
Ain't that the truth sufidreamer! This person could be tracked through the payment, and that would not be entrapment as some have suggested to me. I feel that Internet scammers are to be tracked down and encoded with a chip that keeps them offline forcibly!
Good luck, Earnest - on the one hand, the authorities warn us about identity theft. On the other, they cannot be arsed to do anything about it.
Good to see a stubborn Aussie on the case - there is no hiding place!
- AUTHOR
Thank you CC I hope to bring this scammer down, and I will update the site with more info as I go forward.
Good thing you were flagged on the suspicious nature of this scammer. Good luck with the Feds now. And good luck in your endeavor to find that new aortment too. thanks for the info.
- AUTHOR
Thanks for the encouragement Jewel! I will try a current affair as well.
I came far too close to being scammed, but sometimes my intuition works a little when my brain goes on holiday!
Sickem Rex! Go to A Current Affair as well, why not, they lap that stuff up. At least it will be more public so others can be on the look out. So many gullible caught by scammers. Good on you for having the brains to be suspicious, lots are not.
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