# What is this apartment scam? (And how can I screw the scammer?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820 "2007-04-27T02:10:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/1 "2007-04-27T02:10:28Z")
A friend’s in the market to rent and he sent me a Craigslist ad that was definitely too good to be true. Two bedrooms in a beautiful new building, a parking spot, fireplace, etc. all in the middle of the city for a ridiculously low price. I said go ahead and answer it, but the price is probably missing a zero or he’s going to tell you it’s gone and try to show you another, lesser apartment. Friend wrote. Got a message back. The guy has a superanglosaxon name but his first language obviously isn’t English. Though that’s not the (second) red flag. Apparently he lives out of the country and only comes in twice a year. He needs my friend’s address so he can mail him the key if he wants to look at the place (how trusting!). Third red flag – the guy wants first and last month’s rent. So how is this scam going to work? How does he plan to get the money without my friend seeing the place? My guess is he’ll ask for a safety deposit before my friend ‘gets’ the ‘keys.’ Also, the guy has provided an address/apt #. Can the building concierge confirm info about tenants, legally (well, this I can check tomorrow)? And lastly, what would be a nice way to screw this guy over? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/2 "2007-04-27T02:29:21Z")
In my area, asking for first & last month’s rent is pretty much standard for nice places. But I agree that this is very likely to be a scam. An online acquaintance of mine once answered an ad for a luxury duplex that was being offered for lease at a suspiciously low price. After lots of emails back and forth, the landlord said that he wanted to receive the rent by direct bank drafts and needed all the account info from the prospective renter’s bank. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/3 "2007-04-27T02:32:13Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] In my area, asking for first & last month’s rent is pretty much standard for nice places. But I agree that this is very likely to be a scam. An online acquaintance of mine once answered an ad for a luxury duplex that was being offered for lease at a suspiciously low price. After lots of emails back and forth, the landlord said that he wanted to receive the rent by direct bank drafts and needed all the account info from the prospective renter’s bank. Yikes. [/QUOTE] I figure the address is for something like that. Hmm, maybe I’ll ask if they can send it to my office. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/4 "2007-04-27T03:17:20Z")
Ahh, never mind. Just found the [scam](http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2007/01/web_of_lies.html) and it’s what I thought – a ‘419’ advance fee fraud. I do plan on doing a bit of scheming, though… so if anyone had any ideas. The link is hilarious, though. A woman saw her own apartment listed on Craigslist, so she answered the ad– > [@](#): > > I applied to the ad’s email [Annbovino@aol.com](mailto:Annbovino@aol.com). Ann Bovino (she said “Beth Ann Bovino is my full name.”) got back to me. She wrote “I have available the apartment but now I’m in Fremont - CA. This is the reason that I want to rent it. To start this deal you have to send me 1 month in advance and I will ship you the keys overnight. You can move in the apt in the same day when you receive the keys.” > > She included pictures of “my” home: [News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com](http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/annbovino). [All photos here are taken from this site.] Aside from the picture of my building, the rest are fiction. The bathroom fixtures received a lot of attention. The tub made it in over half the photos, while the modern faucet got a close up. However, I already have furniture and since there wouldn’t be any moving costs, I asked for a discount if the place comes unfurnished. I also asked if there was anyone else at the building who could show me the apartment? A super or someone else? > > Ann Bovino wrote: “I understand your position but the keys are with me and the only option is to ship you the keys. I have an idea for this deal. First you have to send me money on your friend or relative name via MoneyGram because I want to be sure that you are a serious person and you really want to rent my apt. In the same day I will ship you the keys via UPS and after you will see the apt and you make a decision you have to resend the funds on my name for pick up the money.” She generously offered to support all MoneyGram fees. She also cut the rental price to $1400, unfurnished. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/5 "2007-04-27T15:09:01Z")
I answered an ad like that once and the guy told me _over the phone_ that he’d want to stay in the apartment when he was in town a few days a month and have sex with me! He even told me it would be okay if I had children! ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/6 "2007-04-27T16:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=Zjestika] I answered an ad like that once and the guy told me _over the phone_ that he’d want to stay in the apartment when he was in town a few days a month and have sex with me! He even told me it would be okay if I had children! [/QUOTE] Ok If you had previous children, or children with him? ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/7 "2007-04-27T16:37:04Z")
Either, I’m not picky. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/8 "2007-04-27T16:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Ok If you had previous children, or children with him? [/QUOTE] Previous children, who would live there also. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/9 "2007-04-27T18:04:20Z")
This reminds me of the first person to answer my online personal. She told me the best way to contact her was by Yahoo IM. I did, and it was very interesting. She was a 30-year-old model who instantly fell in love with me. She sent me 8 photos of herself, of which she was wearing clothes in maybe three of them. There was just one problem in our getting together – she was stuck in Lagos taking care of her sick grandmother. Would I pick her up at the airport? Of course! (not) Could I help her out with the plain ticket? Of course! (NOT!) What was odd was that she claimed to be born and raised in Boston, be she had the speech patterns of someone for whom English is a second language. Funny, a week later, I decided to message her (him? them?) again, just to see what would turn up. I ended up accusing her of running a scam. She denied everything and tried to patch things up. And she had money. And a house. Of course, she was about to lose the house unless she paid $10,000 for it right away. She just needed me to make the transaction for her. Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/10 "2007-04-27T18:39:37Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] What was odd was that she claimed to be born and raised in Boston, be she had the speech patterns of someone for whom English is a second language. [/QUOTE] The contradiction eludes me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/11 "2007-04-27T18:41:02Z")
**tdn** , did you ever get to sleep with her? Hey, this thread is about screwing the scammer - I thought it was that kind of story ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/12 "2007-04-27T18:56:33Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] **tdn** , did you ever get to sleep with her? Hey, this thread is about screwing the scammer - I thought it was that kind of story [/QUOTE] I was going to ask **Zjestika** the same question. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-apartment-scam-and-how-can-i-screw-the-scammer/401820/13 "2007-04-28T20:13:47Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Fight] Apparently he lives out of the country and only comes in twice a year [/QUOTE] He wouldn’t happen to live in Nigeria, would he? EDIT: [Here’s the resident of the apartment](http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2007/01/web_of_lies.html).