Friday, September 30, 2011

Don't try to scam me, I'm a girl detective

I have been advertising my spare room for rent for the past three months, and I get really annoyed when people try to scam me. They send me an e-mail that says "Is the room still available?" and when I tell them yes it is, they send me this crap. Don't they know I am a girl detective? Let me lay out all the lies so you identify a scammer, too.

She/he wrote:
Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Brianna Hargreaves,25 years old,fun-loving,outspoken, friendly,clean, caring,and respectful of others, a non-smoker,don't do drugs,drink occasionally,and drama free kind of person. 

Isn't her lack of space between commas annoying you? If she crowds her words this much, I'd hate to think about the personal space of mine she would overtake. 


I graduated last year from Edinburgh University,Scotland...I am single and have no children, do bible studies on weekends and sometimes Karaoke nights with my roommates.Being a Christian I've never missed a Sunday without going to Church.

I call BS. This particular scammer is trying to appeal to my love of people with accents. Moreover, maybe they have stalked me and know that I have actually been to Edinburgh, Scotland and loved it. If you say "Being a Christian, I have never missed a Sunday," then I say BS. You are probably just typing that because my ad mentioned I was a Christian, and you think that Christians would never ever miss a Sunday. Some don't, but real people don't say these things. It makes them look like jerks.

I would love to secure the room for myself before my arrival to the state as I'll be moving in with my luggage.You seem to be a very interesting person to be with and I must confess to you that you will enjoy staying with me in the house because I make people smile always.

Really? I am very interesting? You got that from the five lines I said about myself? More likely you didn't read my actual ad. And I must confess to you that I will not enjoy you stealing my money. So sorry. That doesn't make me smile.

I will be in the States before the end of this Month for the next one year as I am coming for my masters degree program. I was born in Scotland (UK) and my Dad is from Sunnyvale,CA but has been living in Scotland for over 30 years since my Mom is from Scotland.



Great. Give me a whole family history. The scammer is doing this to try and rationalize why he/she is from Scotland but wants to come to Oregon for a master's degree. 

I attended The University Of Edinburgh and I speak both French and English fluently,am presently on a research work in Dunedin (New Zealand) but I'm nearing the end of the research now as it's part of my prerequisite for my masters in Microbiology.


The scammer is trying to appeal to my love of foreign countries and languages. They want me to think "Oh, if I send them my address and they move in with me, maybe they could teach me French! Or we could go on holiday to Dunedin for Christmas!" 

I would have loved to call you but this is a remote area and calls is hard to go through from here and I don't want to waste much time .I'm really interested in renting from you and i do really love pets but i don't have any at the moment.

Of course you are in a remote area with your microbiology research. Why would a person want to waste time calling the person they might live with for the whole next year? Why not just send an e-mail and show up on their doorstep? Don't you see how unrealistic this whole thing is? Besides, I fully Googled Dunedin and it seems very civilized, minus the nude rugby that I learned about.



I would have loved to see the place but am very far away which makes it a little harder,but with some recent pictures I think I'll be good.I would love to know more about you and if you have garage or parking space as I will have my own car, 


This clues me in that they have no idea who they are contacting. I fully posted four color photos of my house. The e-mail they sent me was the standard scam they sent to everyone else. And here it comes, the request for personal information! 

please let me know the total payment of the place and more over I will send your email to my Dad for him to email you later since he is the one that will be paying the bills but nevertheless,I will like you to send me your full Name and mailing address, your phone number as well,so that my Dad will issue out the payment to you from a United State Bank Cashier's Check (NOT OUT OF STATE CHECK).I will need the following information to have my Dad issue out the rental payment to you .

(1) Full name as it will appear on the payment.
(2) Physical Address
(3) phone number



I am so glad that you are 25 years old and your dad is still handling all of your payments. Let me just give you my full name and my physical address so he can come kidnap me. Pretty soon he will be wanting my checking account number for direct deposit purposes.



You can reach my Dad directly if any need arises on +447031860998


I did not change that number. You can call it if you want and test my detective skills.  


Hope to hear from you soon, 
(you won't!)
Brianna Hargreaves

I checked Facebook and only one person has this name. She does not look like a microbiologist.


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