My friend is looking for an apartment - he says he found "a great deal" - I'm creeped out - plus see this...

[Al Neri]

my friend is looking for an apartment in brooklyn, ny. he found someone on craigs list offering a 1BR apt. for $500 a month with no contract - almost too good to be true.

the email he sends me is -

Hello,

Thanks for your email and must tell you that it is my sincere pleasure to write you back.I
am Rev XXX XXX, the owner of the house you are making enquiry of,i speak English and also understand Spanish.l will like to let you know that the monthly fee is 500,Actually I resided in the house with my family,such as my wife and my only daugther before we packed out due to my Missionary work now l am presently in west africa and the house is still available for rent including all the utilities,if you will promise me that my apartment will
be well taken care of l will be more than happy to let you stay in my apartment,l will not
like to give my apartment to somebody that will destroy it for me just like what my last
tenant did,if this is ok with you get back to me as soon as possible so that l can give you
the apartment address and attach the pics to you,as soon as l hear from you l will send you
more information about my apartment.Here is the address to my apartment:

Expect to read back from you asap.

Thanks and God bless you
Best Regards

* i think that reads like a form letter - plus there's no address after he says here is the address.

* the misspellings have nigeria written all over it.

so doing due diligence as a friend i google one line from the letter and find this... eerily similar wouldn't you say?

my name is XXXX XXXXX ,the owner of the apartment you are making enquiry of,l will like to let you know that my aapartment is still available,but it is available for a non smoker,non partier and a very responsible somebody,the monthly fee is $400 and it include,Gas,electricity and water bill,Actually I resided in the apartment with my family,such as my wife and my only daugther before we packed out due to my missionary work in Greece,l will not like to give my apartment to somebody that will destroy it for me just like what my last tenant did,to be very honest with you a whole lot of people are contacting me regarding my apartment but l am not sure of who to accept because l will not like my home to be destroyed again so l am taking my time to look for a responsible and a very honest tenant that will take proper care of my home for me since l am far from home but if you will promise me that my apartment will be well taken care of l will be glad to let you stay in my apartment till the period of time you wish to stay,

Here is the address of my apartment(XXXX XXXX St., XXXX XX #####).

what do you think?

 

[Al Neri]

additional:

i obviously told him not to send a dime to the guy, and to expect him to request my friend to send the first months rent to africa or something. i'd even expect the guy or some crony to show my friend an apartment - just any random apartment they could get their hands on.

 

[Injury]

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If the person's comprehension of the English language is this poor, what could their apartment management skills be like?

Not sure how this sort of "scam" works out unless there are mysterious "break-ins" at the apartments shortly after getting new tenants, or they just have you wire them a "deposit check" and you never hear from them again.

 

[BurnItDwn]

This is pretty obvious. It's a scam.

 

[zoiks]

It's a total scam. Anyone who starts explaining their reasoning for a cheap price and the mention of a foriegn country is likely to be scamming.

Ask him if he likes the missionary position.

 

[rsd]

I'm surprised you even need to ask, obviously a scam.

 

[CptCrunch]

Scam. Craiglist is full of them, and this is one of their 'newer' ones. Just like the 2007 model cars for $3000, only contact available through email... sons a bitches

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: zoiks
It's a total scam. Anyone who starts explaining their reasoning for a cheap price and the mention of a foriegn country is likely to be scamming.

Ask him if he likes the missionary position.

why? hes far more likely to get bent over and reamed if he sends money to the guy.

 

[ViviTheMage]

all i had to read was

Thanks for your email and must tell you that it is my sincere pleasure to write you back.

to say SCAM

 

[zoiks]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: zoiks
It's a total scam. Anyone who starts explaining their reasoning for a cheap price and the mention of a foriegn country is likely to be scamming.

Ask him if he likes the missionary position.

why? hes far more likely to get bent over and reamed if he sends money to the guy.

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: rsd
I'm surprised you even need to ask, obviously a scam.

proving a point my friend

 

[FDF12389]

Originally posted by: zoiks
Ask him if he likes the missionary position.

 

[pstylesss]

Tell your friend I have a bridge to sell him.

 

[hiromizu]

Originally posted by: FDF12389

Originally posted by: zoiks
Ask him if he likes the missionary position.

Didn't Americans create that?