My girlfriend is hunting for a new apartment in New York City and she’s stumbled across two offers that we both found suspicious. I can’t see the scam here, but I suspect there is one.
Both places - one in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn - look beautiful, to the point that the prices are ridiculously low and include all utilities, even Internet service, which is not normal. Both are being offered by women who say they are construction engineers now based in the UK, now looking for a subletter for a period of years. The “problem,” they each say (and this is where I start to get suspicious) is that they have to arrange a way for the renter to get the keys and there’s no way they can get anybody to show the place. One of the two pitched using a service to handle delivering the keys and making payments.
Am I being too suspicious for once and turning up my nose at a good deal, or is there a con here?
That’s where she found both of these ads, not that that’s very surprising. So in this case, the scam would be that she sends money to the service for the keys and they just never show up?
You may get some keys, but they won’t be to the apartment in question. The person on the other most likely doesn’t have any connection to that apartment… not the leaseholder and probably hasn’t ever been in the building.
It has the elements of a pig in a poke scam… hoping that you’ll be so enthralled with the price you’re getting that you’ll overlook the glaring red flags, like renting an apartment you haven’t seen or giving someone money quickly before checking out the details.
That fact that they represent themselves as 2 separate people - but who are both construction engineers (and both women), sounds really fishy to me as well. What are the odds?
Yeah, that’s why I mentioned it. The Craigslist posts are also much better written than the emails they sent my girlfriend, which to me indicates they’re working off a script or a guideline with the postings, but when they send emails and have to improvise they don’t do as well.
Baloney. Engineers have to be capable of effectively communicating in writing, or they don’t make very good engineers. Also, getting through an engineering program and passing the requisite licensing exams tends to screen out your average illiterate.
Not to say that there isn’t the occasional exception to the rule, though.
[Scene Initech. Bob Slydell and Bob Porter are interviewing Tom.]
BOB SLYDELL
So what you do is you take the specifications from the customers and
you bring them down to the software engineers?
TOM
That, that’s right.
BOB PORTER
Well, then I gotta ask, then why can’t the customers just take the
specifications directly to the software people, huh?
TOM
Well, uh, uh, uh, because, uh, engineers are not good at dealing with
customers.
BOB SLYDELL
You physically take the specs from the customer?
TOM
Well, no, my, my secretary does that, or, or the fax.
BOB SLYDELL
Ah.
BOB PORTER
Then you must physically bring them to the software people.
TOM
Well…no. Yeah, I mean, sometimes.
BOB SLYDELL
Well, what would you say… you do here?
TOM
Well, look, I already told you. I deal with the goddamn customers so
the engineers don’t have to!! I have people skills!! I am good at
dealing with people!!! Can’t you understand that?!? WHAT THE HELL IS
WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!