# what do you think, is this a scam?



## Mendi the ISFJ (Jul 28, 2011)

I came across a home for rent online. It was among many homes listed for rent on a known website. I sent an email inquiring more about it and today i got a response, it seems a little fishy so ill post and let you guys judge:




Hello,

God bless you for your mail and inquiries about my house. The house is still available for rent and we are looking for a responsible person/family to occupy and maintain the house. My wife and i just moved to West Africa for a program called FAMILY LIFE AND HIV EDUCATION AND THE HIV PREVENTION FOR RURAL YOUTH PROGRAM,and death rate in west Africa, the program is taking place in three major countries in Asian, Africa, UK . We will be away for 2 to 5 years and more that is why I have made up my mind to put up my house for rent to whom ever that will take good care of it. because whatever your hand find to do, do it well.ECCLESIASTICS 9 VS 10.THE LORD WILL BE YOUR STRENGTH AND YOUR PROVIDER,because it pays to help those that are in need so that the good God will help us too.that is why i have decide to help those that are needs help i love doing that.
FEATURES : Laundry, Electric Range, Electric Heat, Master Bedroom, Playground, Car Park.AMENITIES: Air Conditioning, Patio/Party Deck, Cable TV, Ceiling Fans, 24 hours Internet service, Dishwasher, Fire-pit, Garbage Disposal, Microwave, security alarm, Pets Friendly, Refrigerator, Washer / Dryer.


Here they posted pictures of a white couple with what appears to be a classroom of African children. 



Rental price: $1000 per month and security Deposit is $600(Security Deposit is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent.

Fill out the rental application if you are interested.

* 
RENT APPLICATION FORM
*
*TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF.*
*FIRST NAME:__________?*
*MIDDLE NAME:__________?*
*LAST NAME:__________?*
*SEX:__________?*
*DATE OF BIRTH:_________?*
*PROFESSION:__________?*
*PHONE:*
*(CELL)PHONE__________?*
*(WORK)PHONE__________?*
*(HOME)PHONE__________?*
*WHICH*
*NUMBER IS THE BEST TO CALL YOU ON__________?*
*MARITAL STATUS:__________?*
*KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________*
*PRESENT ADDRESS: _____________________*
*CITY: _______________*
*STATE:______________*
*ZIP CODE: ____________*
*HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING*
*WHY ARE YOU LEAVING__________?*
*IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,*
*HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________?*
*WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________?*
*DO YOU AGREE TO PAY THE RENT BEFORE YOU MOVE IN? _____________?*
*IF YOU HAVE A PET,*
*KIND OF PETS: _____________?*
*HABITS*
*DO YOU SMOKE ______________ ?*
*DO YOU DRINK ______________?*
*DO YOU WORK LATE NIGHT? ____?*
*.GOD BLESS YOU.*

Pets Welcome.

Below is the address to the house:Address here

get back to me so i can know how serious you are, so we can finalize every thing out with the rent application form filled out. 

I will await reading an email from you soonest for further discussion and arrangements.

Here is my contact phone number on which you can be able to reach me any day anytime. long distance numbers here




Name Here

whats your first thought and if this is a scam what can a person get out of a response to this email?


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## cherry blossom (Mar 30, 2012)

I personally would stay very very far away from this one. If something seems to good to be true, it probably is. What can they get from you? Your personal details=identity theft, the "security deposit"=actual theft.


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## Van (Dec 28, 2009)

This is most certainly a scam. They say they'll send you the keys to the property once you've sent them the deposit/some rent. Then you find out that they don't actually own the house. If there are pictures of the inside of the house, they're probably lifted right out of interior decorating magazines. They use the Christian act to try and establish trust with gullible people.
I contacted one of these once and spent ages talking in circles with them. Even if you're outright rude to them they'll keep replying  I guess they figure that you're still a potential profit as long as you're talking to them.


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

TBH, I wouldn't trust anyone by email until you are talking to them directly while standing inside the actual house in question.


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## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

Mendi the ISFJ said:


> I came across a home for rent online. It was among many homes listed for rent on a known website. I sent an email inquiring more about it and today i got a response, it seems a little fishy so ill post and let you guys judge:


Wow.

Well, let me tell you, I found a houselisting via Craigslist a few months ago because I was moving to the metro area, and the response i got back via the e-mail address was very similar to this. They even did use real names in the message, and those people DID own the house... or kind of.

Because the name of the person she claimed to be her husband actually seemed to be the son, when I Googled the names to research further, and the husband's name didn't really exist, nor did the story make sense. 

I never wrote them back about it, also because the offer ($700 per month to rent an entire house) was too good to be true; and they claimed they still had the keys with them in Africa (like, uh, whut? Are you telling me you wouldn't have thought, if you were smart enough to put all your furniture in storage, to assign a friend or church member the responsibility of checking on the house and/or having a set of keys for it before you left? The guy claimed to be an engineer...), and the response also "explained too much" which is a typical mistake in scams. There was just information there I did not ask for nor need to know, about their background etc, as if they were trying to prove to me that they were real. ("I think the man doth protest too much.")

Anyway, I'd be very careful about things like that.


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## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

UPDATE: Here's the e-mail I received when I responded to the listing:



> Thanks for your interest in our house.Firstly i will like to introduce myself, I am an Engineer by profession (retired) originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. I and my wife acquired the house recently and decided to rent out the house but due to our busy schedule,and the fact that we are retired we decided to go on a 3 years voluntary missionary trip in association with Christ embassy to West Africa.
> 
> We are looking for responsible people that can take good care of the house in our absence. Our house is still available for rent and the rent includes all utilities(water,electric,gas and etc....).The house is not furnished(but there is microwave,dishwasher,stove and refrigerator) because we have moved our stuff to the storage before we left for the journey.
> 
> ...


Identifying info removed from message.

You can tell how the language seems a bit stilted and the story doesn't quite mesh. If it was for real, it left me uneasy enough I wouldn't want to deal with them anyway. While there was record of the wife and son up here, there was no record of any of them in Fayettville, NC (which is about 7-8 hours from here).


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## Laney (Feb 20, 2012)

Yes it is a scam, I got the same thing over Craigslist.


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## Mendi the ISFJ (Jul 28, 2011)

Jennywocky said:


> UPDATE: Here's the e-mail I received when I responded to the listing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


that is amazingly similar, thank you for posting that.


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