I need a little help from my blog community. As most of you know, I have a tiny apartment
in Paris which I try to rent out on a short term basis when we are not there. Periodically, I get an inquiry almost word
for word the same. Here is one I got
today.
“Hello,
I'm Maria Lorenzo, During my search for rental, i will be staying for a short period of 1 Month on a research program, As I was viewing rental adverts, I'm interested in your apartment, I would like you to email me the photos if available, I would also like to know the total cost for one month rental starting from 7th January until 30th January 2017, the rental will be paid in full amount, the company has agreed to pay in full, Furthermore, I would like you to know a Check will be issued to you in an excess amount by my sponsors this week for security deposit and my traveling expenses to avoid delay in traveling plans and other preparation for my arrival, According to my Client, it will only take your bank 24 hours/3 business days for the check to clears, Once you have cashed the check at your bank, you are going to deduct your total cost for rental and you will will be sending the balance of the check to the traveling agent Account/Via Western Union/Money Gram, Who will be taking care of my flight and transportation during my arrival and stay, I will be more than grateful if you can render this assistance and I won't mind paying you extra $50 as compensation for your efforts., Also all necessary agreement form will be fill out by me when I arrive and set to move into the apartment, I would like to know how peaceful is the neighborhood and how close is the apartment from the bus/train station, My purpose of coming is based on my research proposal on (Financial Analysis); and I was granted a part time sponsorship on my accommodation and travel expense, Please send me the name to be written on the check and the address where the check should be mailed too. and send me your phone number, mobile number the check will be sent Via FedEx/UPS courier service and it's safe and faster, i will be waiting to hear from you.
Best Wishes,
Maria.”
I'm Maria Lorenzo, During my search for rental, i will be staying for a short period of 1 Month on a research program, As I was viewing rental adverts, I'm interested in your apartment, I would like you to email me the photos if available, I would also like to know the total cost for one month rental starting from 7th January until 30th January 2017, the rental will be paid in full amount, the company has agreed to pay in full, Furthermore, I would like you to know a Check will be issued to you in an excess amount by my sponsors this week for security deposit and my traveling expenses to avoid delay in traveling plans and other preparation for my arrival, According to my Client, it will only take your bank 24 hours/3 business days for the check to clears, Once you have cashed the check at your bank, you are going to deduct your total cost for rental and you will will be sending the balance of the check to the traveling agent Account/Via Western Union/Money Gram, Who will be taking care of my flight and transportation during my arrival and stay, I will be more than grateful if you can render this assistance and I won't mind paying you extra $50 as compensation for your efforts., Also all necessary agreement form will be fill out by me when I arrive and set to move into the apartment, I would like to know how peaceful is the neighborhood and how close is the apartment from the bus/train station, My purpose of coming is based on my research proposal on (Financial Analysis); and I was granted a part time sponsorship on my accommodation and travel expense, Please send me the name to be written on the check and the address where the check should be mailed too. and send me your phone number, mobile number the check will be sent Via FedEx/UPS courier service and it's safe and faster, i will be waiting to hear from you.
Best Wishes,
Maria.”
It seems transparently to be a scam, and I never reply, but
I cannot for the life of me figure out how the scam works. Does anyone know?
3 comments:
The scam works because the check is fake, but a good enough fake that your bank will (probably) accept it. However, it will eventually be rejected by the check-clearing system—after you have wired the excess via Western Union or MoneyGram, via a transaction that cannot be reversed. So you're out the supposed "excess" balance.
Snopes.com has a page on this: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/sales/cashier.asp
Happy New Year!
My readers know everything! Brilliant. Thank you.
It also works by deliberately utilizing poor grammar, vocabulary and syntax to filter out people intelligent enough to recognize immediately that it is a scam. Hence, they are almost always from non-anglophone countries, such as Nigeria.
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