I received an email from Mr. William Smith of the Netherlands regarding the condo I have for lease on Lucile in Silverlake. Mr. Smith claims to be a world-reknowned paleontologist and sent pictures of his wife and child. He wanted to rent the unit, sight unseen, and asked if I would please pay cash for his furniture that is about to be delivered. Yes, according to my research, the Smith letter is yet another Nigerian rental scam has been circulating for some time. Here's my response.
William, we are so happy to have you rent this unit. Here are a few questions before we proceed:
- Are you originally from Nigeria?
- Will any prawns be living there with you or visiting you for business reasons?
- Will you be selling black market cat food?
- Are you willing to leave a bag of cash at the Metrolink train stop in Glendale at the third pier on the right? I think $10,000 in small bills should be fine. No checks or coins, please. Can we pick it up on Thursday at 10:00 am?
Regards to your lovely wife and child.
I haven't yet heard back from him. What a surprise.
Judy Graff's sublime-to-the-ridiculous (well, mostly ridiculous) take on real estate for east San Fernando Valley and North Los Angeles communities. This includes Hollywood Hills, Burbank, Studio City and Toluca Lake real estate and homes for sale, and also covers Valley Village, North Hollywood, Glendale, Atwater, Highland Park, Silverlake, Sherman Oaks and other L.A. areas too. General news and musings as well.
These rental scammers ticked me off so much I decided to create a rental scam quiz so people could get a score and see if they are being scammed or not. Hope it can help someone.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rentvine.com/tools/rentalscamquiz/
Dave, thanks for this! More scam examples coming soon.
ReplyDeleteJudy, I love your sense of humor; your blog always makes for a good and varied read.
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