What do you think? Scam? Help required.

[LondonCalling]

OK - so I'm househunting again for a place.

Found a really nice one in the CBD for pretty much the same amount I'm paying for a piece of shit in Brunswick.

However, I find this slightly dubious, and alarm bells are ringing. On the other hand, I could really do with this place.

Examine if you will.

Hello,

Attached to this email are the pictures of the 2 Vacant rooms in the Flat. The Flat is a 3 Bedroom Flat, I'm currently occupying one of the rooms, so now i'm seeking for neat, decent, responsbile and easygoing Individuals to occupy the rooms.

By the way, my name is Mrs Leena Karnani, I'm British. I just relocated to Australia to start a new job and i'm a very loving person to be with, so you'll really enjoy our stay together. But right now I'm on an official assignment in London and i'll be back in about a week or thereabout. That's just the nature of my job.

Thanks for your interest in my flat i really appreciate it.The flat located very close to Shoan Heights Apartment Hotel on Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, 3000 and below are other things you'll really like to know about the place:

Rent: AU$500 per Month,{AU$125 per Week}
Security Deposit: AU$200 Will be paid to secure the flat and Refundable back to you at anytime when you leaving the room
Rent include: electricity, gas, cable, phone and internet
Available: Right now
Minimum Stay: 3 Month(s)

Room amenities: Furnished, Private bath, Phone jack, Linen supplied, Hardwood floor, TV, Air conditioning, Carpet, Closet, Cable jack, Private entrance
Home amenities: Alarm system, Washer/Dryer, Balcony/Patio, Internet, Cable ready, Dishwasher, Doorman, Gym, Yard, Elevator, Pool

Hope to read from you again soon.

Best Regards,

**************

Hi,

Sounds pretty good to me, however, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be a tad suspicious about the terms and security involved. Happy to hand over the money, but in terms of looking at the worst case scenario, I could quite easily be left without a leg to stand on. Are you happy to do escrow? (i.e: send money which isn't received until keys/bond are sent on the same day?)

Otherwise, if you are able to come up with any alternative suggestions that would ensure that I'm safe in knowing that the money I'm sending to you is safe/secured. I'm sure you can appreciate that the situation of sending money to someone on the other side of the world for an apartment that I've never been inside, can raise eyebrows. As I can appreciate your working situation, hopefully I can accomodate this as I would love to live where you are offering.

Regards,

Cam

Dear Cam,

I do understand how you feel about all this. It's just due to the fact that i'm out of the country and you are willing to take the room now. I'll like to inform you that you can make your payment by sending the rent fee and security deposit to me over here in the UK via Western Union Money Transfer or betterstill you can make the payment into my Boss' Bank account over there in Australia and i'll send the keys over to you via DHL or Fedex Courrier Service as soon as she confirms that payment has reflected in her account, so that you can move in as soon as possible. I believe it's more secured that way. I would have told her to handle all this for me, but she's deaf and she lives in Sydney.

I'll also be willing to send you a scanned copy of my passport, so as to assure you that you are secured and in safe hands.

I'll like you to think about all this and get back to me as soon as you can. Hope to read from you again soon.

Best Regards,

*************.

If it's too good to be true, it normally turns out to be as such. But any steps I can take to make sure for certain, and still cover my arse?

 

[suliman]

This woman sounds dodgy, dodgy, dodgy... if something seems to be good to be true, it generally is. Don't like being a pessimist, but come on!

 

[LondonCalling]

Yeah, I find it weird that she'd just let some random stranger (who apparently seems like a wonderful person based on a "Hi. Is your room still available?" message) move stuff into her home, for the cost of 2 mths rent and bond (1200....if I wasn't for real, I could easily probably break in and take more than $1200 worth of stuff based on the photos)

And that's another thing, the photos that were sent. They look nothing like the sort of apartment that would be found in that sort of neighbourhood. Very odd.

On the other hand....I found her profile on Facebook. :S

 

[LondonCalling]

Update:

She's now offered for me to take one month and bond up front for the keys,and then pay the other month upon gaining possession.

 

[suliman]

If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. She probably work for the deposed president of Nigeria and has a million dollars waiting in a foreign a/c too! The facebook profile is probably dodge too.

 

[carntheroos4eva]

Scam. Delete the email. Do not reply to it.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Has she offered you any real money gold making opportunities?

 

[LondonCalling]

Was about to deposit funds into her account until she came back with a Western Union money transfer list of details, and the excuse of not having any Australian bank accounts, despite apparently living here.

Apparently quite a common fraud to happen. Glad I dodged a bullet there.


....so does anyone have a place for me to live?

 

[Rocket23]

There are two words thatr should send you packing mate and they are......

"Western Union"

Whenever anybody wants something paid using Western Union it means they are DODGY!!!

 

[raskolnikov]

The two words, "official assignment", would have sent me running.

 

[superfraser]

I grew concerned with the deaf boss in Sydney. Of course you can't ring this person and this person is to far to go and visit.

 

[Bosun]

Deaf boss in Sydney??, Western Union Money transfer?? No Aussie bank accounts but she lives here?? This sounds incredibly suss, good thing you didnt go through with it.

 

[fooled]

yeah it a scam , it worked on me... ____ing dog.
am i the only stupid one , wish i was as switch on as all of you, i paid the money and then she said her lawyer wanted another month ontop of the other 2 months and and the 200, and she wanted my passport,at this point i googled her, she has the same place for rent in chicargo,,,(what the ____).... i could not believe it, and she is also advertising for a nanny for her 5 yr old girl... the only reason i rushed into this was becuse. i was desperate cause i my lease ran out and i wanted me and my little girl to have a place to go to, look at what she left us with.. she is one nasty peice of work.

 

[blues4flag]

Deaf boss in Sydney??, Western Union Money transfer?? No Aussie bank accounts but she lives here?? This sounds incredibly suss, good thing you didnt go through with it.

Yep.

 

[blues4flag]

yeah it a scam , it worked on me... ____ing dog.
am i the only stupid one , wish i was as switch on as all of you, i paid the money and then she said her lawyer wanted another month ontop of the other 2 months and and the 200, and she wanted my passport,at this point i googled her, she has the same place for rent in chicargo,,,(what the ____).... i could not believe it, and she is also advertising for a nanny for her 5 yr old girl... the only reason i rushed into this was becuse. i was desperate cause i my lease ran out and i wanted me and my little girl to have a place to go to, look at what she left us with.. she is one nasty peice of work.

I almost got sucked into selling my laptop to a Nigerian scammer when advertising on Ebay...fortunately, before I had time to go through with it, another Nigerian based American emailed me - was almost exactly the same as the first email, with names and occupation basically only changed.

 

[HFC082]

Too good to be true? it ____ing is!!!!

 

[Mattlowry]

If you thought she was dodgey you could have said you had a brother/friend/relative or whatever in England at the moment and he/she can go give the money to you/get the keys in person, that way ensuring your money is safe.

If she says no its clearly dodgey, if she says thats fine, then she probably isnt dodgey, could say your friend/relative/whatever isnt there anymore and you can go through with the original plan.

 

[Martha]

Hello,
Well it seems that on the other side of the world Ms. Karnani is up to something....heres the story. I am a university student in Canada, and not surprisingly am pretty broke! So I was looking on a local classifieds website for part time job listings and replide to an ad looking for drivers, here was what I got from Ms Karnani in response,
Hello,
"Thanks for the reply to our add..what you would be doing is to take care of our Boss that is coming into town pretty soon,she would be staying for a week or two depending on how soon she is going to finish what she came for,what you would be doing is to always convey her from her hotel room to other places like the shopping mall,restaurants and other places she would love to go to until she is ready to go back and you would get $600 weekly for the job.You would be paid via a check,money order or bank draft.so i would love you to get back to us with the following informations. Please note that you do not have to rent or own a car to work with us, we already have a company car that will be driven by you."

Now at this point the sketchy english was a bit of a red flag, but 600 pay for one week is pretty enticing so I repsonded telling her basic info about myself, and then I got this repsonse:

Hello,
How are you doing today? I'll like to inform you that i got your details which you sent me to me earlier on and i also discussed you with my Boss and she says you are the exact kind of person she needs for the Job. Therefore we both concluded that we send you an upfront payment by Tuesday morning. A check of will be sent to you by one of our numerous clients owing us in Canada, so all you have to do is cash the check deduct your weekly salary and send the rest of the money directly to my Boss in London via Western Union Money Transfer Using the Details below because she will need the money over there to purchase a flight ticket to Canada:
Please note that you are not to deduct the Western Union Money Transfer Charges from your own money, you are to deduct it from the money that you are going to send to my boss. You will be given her flight details and date of arrival as soon as you have sent her the money. I hope you understand.
'll like to know if you will be able to do this as stated.
I'll be looking forward to read from you again soon.
Best Regards,
Leena Karnani.

So ya, at this point Im thinking really sketchy and it was at this point that I googled her, and found this blog page, (on the other side of the world to boot!) and was convinced that it must be the same lady because of the closing, "hope to read from you again"
So, just putting this out there as general info, and also to get some feedback or input. Take the money and run, or just run? Im curious what other people might make of this suspicious offer, or if theres anyone else whos had dealings with Ms. Karnani who could offer some insights.
Cheers All!

 

[carntheroos4eva]

Hello,
Well it seems that on the other side of the world Ms. Karnani is up to something....heres the story. I am a university student in Canada, and not surprisingly am pretty broke! So I was looking on a local classifieds website for part time job listings and replide to an ad looking for drivers, here was what I got from Ms Karnani in response,
Hello,
"Thanks for the reply to our add..what you would be doing is to take care of our Boss that is coming into town pretty soon,she would be staying for a week or two depending on how soon she is going to finish what she came for,what you would be doing is to always convey her from her hotel room to other places like the shopping mall,restaurants and other places she would love to go to until she is ready to go back and you would get $600 weekly for the job.You would be paid via a check,money order or bank draft.so i would love you to get back to us with the following informations. Please note that you do not have to rent or own a car to work with us, we already have a company car that will be driven by you."

Now at this point the sketchy english was a bit of a red flag, but 600 pay for one week is pretty enticing so I repsonded telling her basic info about myself, and then I got this repsonse:

Hello,
How are you doing today? I'll like to inform you that i got your details which you sent me to me earlier on and i also discussed you with my Boss and she says you are the exact kind of person she needs for the Job. Therefore we both concluded that we send you an upfront payment by Tuesday morning. A check of will be sent to you by one of our numerous clients owing us in Canada, so all you have to do is cash the check deduct your weekly salary and send the rest of the money directly to my Boss in London via Western Union Money Transfer Using the Details below because she will need the money over there to purchase a flight ticket to Canada:
Please note that you are not to deduct the Western Union Money Transfer Charges from your own money, you are to deduct it from the money that you are going to send to my boss. You will be given her flight details and date of arrival as soon as you have sent her the money. I hope you understand.
'll like to know if you will be able to do this as stated.
I'll be looking forward to read from you again soon.
Best Regards,
Leena Karnani.

So ya, at this point Im thinking really sketchy and it was at this point that I googled her, and found this blog page, (on the other side of the world to boot!) and was convinced that it must be the same lady because of the closing, "hope to read from you again"
So, just putting this out there as general info, and also to get some feedback or input. Take the money and run, or just run? Im curious what other people might make of this suspicious offer, or if theres anyone else whos had dealings with Ms. Karnani who could offer some insights.
Cheers All!

Don't reply to scammers like this. Just delete them and report them to police

 

[Rohan25]

Oh that wacky Leena Karnani........She's incorrigible.

 

[bigdroppunt]

ask her for teh n00dz.........

 

[Bunnie]

the funky english is enough to sound those alarm bells... seriously! You may need the help of professional housing services... crack addict prostitutes and now broken english speaking scam artists....