ARTICLE: The Craigslist Apartment Scam: Beware of the Newest Hot Scam

(Originally published at Yahoo.voices formerly Associated Content~8/17/2009)

ABSTRACT: A new scam has been in the making and it involves people who are being scammed out of their money for an available apartment.

CONTENT: One would think with all the relatively known scams that have been around for a while people would be more wary, yet unfortunately it seems everyday people still fall for a scam.

Many of us are familiar with the scams we get as emails. The most common are those beneficiary type ones, usually originating from Nigeria in which one is being notified of inheriting literally millions of dollars. Then there is the phishing scam, usually and supposedly from a well-known website such as PayPal that indicates one must up-date their account information. There is usually a link one can click in the email and it takes one to a website that looks completely identical to the real McCoy, but of course, it's a fake. There are even bolder email scams that are supposedly from the FBI of money due to the recipient, or from the IRS in which again, one must up-date private information. Actually, when you think of it, some of these scams are downright laughable, especially the FBI one, and yes, believe it or not I've gotten a few of them. One would have to question, like how in the world would the FBI "discover" us as a recipient of any money...same thing with the IRS since they would NEVER contact a person via email but by a snail mail letter. The common denominator in almost all these scams is that the scammer is asking his/her victim to provide personal information, such as Social Security Number, Bank Account numbers, and member ID and passwords for on-line accounts and in the case of those beneficiary type scams that a release of the inherited money can be acquired after sending a certain amount of money via Western Union or MoneyGram.

Now there seems to be a new scam, and it involves Craigslist and targeted to those who are desperate in finding a new apartment or home. I heard this story on the ABC news by investigative reporter Tappy Phillips not long ago of the latest victims in this scam. One couple, by the name of Victor and Kenya Tucker were forced to leave their home due to foreclosure. They had hunted for an apartment and found the ideal sounding apartment listed at Craigslist and the apartment went for $650.00 a month. The couple emailed the landlord several times, and he sent pictures of the supposed available apartment. They were told that the total initial funds for the apartment would be $2,000.00 and would include "security" for the apartment. They unfortunately did all their transactions via the contact email given on that particular apartment listing and were told that the landlord was out of the country at the time, (how convenient) but he would send the keys to the apartment once the couple wired him the $2,000 via MoneyGram. Of course, they never got the keys to the apartment, as the so-called available apartment didn't even exist, and they were out of their money. (1)

This couple's example of being scammed by apartment listings is obviously not the first, for now Craigslist has a disclaimer and warning for all people in search of an apartment and the entire warning can be viewed here I provide a vital excerpt of the Craigslist warning:

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

* DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.
* NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
* FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
* CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"
* NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
* AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION.

I did a quick search myself at Craigslist for available apartments in the NYC area and there is a warning for each and every listing:
" Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any arrangement involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, or a landlord/owner who is out of the country or cannot meet you in person."

Apparently, however, apartment scams aren't limited to the Craigslist. I happen to belong to a discussion forum named MyLot and one of my friends there from England has been apartment hunting. She has one possible definite apartment that she would like to move into, and plans to go out and visit the place soon. In the meantime, she felt, just in case things fell through and she didn't get this particular apartment she went on an on-line search for available apartments. It sounds what was being asked of my friend was exactly like the Craigslist apartment scam. The supposed apartment was also in the same area of the apartment she's hoping to get. She contacted the person via email, in which the landlady sent her photos of the apartment and my friend liked it so she emailed this person back . The landlady then was very insistent that if she really wanted the apartment, she would have to send a £400 (660.6 US dollars) deposit that very day and via Western Union and the landlady even emailed my friend an "official" looking form where it was requested that she provide all her bank details. If that wasn't enough, this landlady expected her to move into the apartment within the next few days. It was just by luck, that my friend knows someone that lives only 3 miles away from the address of this "available" apartment, and guess what? Yes, you've guessed right if you sensed that there wasn't even such an existing address. It was all a scam!

As an up-date to what happened to that couple, Victor and Kenya Tucker who were scammed out of $2,000. When the Tuckers wired that $2,000 that was the last of their funds until their jobs as teachers resumed in September and now they suddenly found themselves homeless. Having been evicted of their home due to foreclosure and not even having an apartment now when they thought by sending the money they would, they became homeless and had to live in their car. When Tappy Phillips first reported about the Tuckers being scammed, people took note and two good Samaritans came through. A woman who wished to remained anonymous handed a rather thick envelope to Ms. Phillips. To her amazement when Ms. Phillips opened the envelopes she saw $50 and $100 bills totaling $2,000, then another kind hearted good Samaritan gave $100. The Tuckers now had money to find a legitimate apartment, have enough money to tide them over until they get their paychecks from teaching and are no longer homeless. But this is an exception of a happy ending, for it makes one wonder how many others have been scammed out of their money due to this new apartment scam that is circulating around.

If you are in the position in trying to find a new apartment to live in, take heed on the warning that Craigslist now posts on every page of their apartment listings, and I'll repeat it once again here:

" Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any arrangement involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, or a landlord/owner who is out of the country or cannot meet you in person."

In other words...DO NOT make any transactions for an apartment solely via by email on any internet on-line listing, whether from Craigslist or other apartment listing websites. Go to the available apartment and deal with the owner in person.

Sources:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6946239 (1)

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6954305 (2)

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

ARTICLE: Estates Information Services: Another Debt Collection Scam Agency: Beware of Being Contacted by This Debt Collector

(Originally published at Yahoo.voices formerly Associated Content~1/8/2009)

ABSTRACT: Never be intimidated by a debt collection agency that is trying to collect an old debt of a deceased relative.

CONTENT: I thank my lucky stars that I have my own computer and when need be, all I have to do is a search for just about anything and everything, and this would include finding out if a debt collection agency is one of those scam operations that one should be wary about.

Just today, in the mail, I received a letter addressed "To The Estate Of...(my mother's name)" from this debt collection agency named Estates Information Services. The letter was in relation to an old debt my mother had owed to Beneficial to the tune of slightly over $7,000.00. When my mother died on August 27, 2006, I collected together all letters and correspondences that had been addressed to her. My mother was in debt for quite a bit of money, over $25,000.00 from past-due credit cards, loans and other financial institutions. I wrote letters to all concerned, and mailed off a copy of my mother's death certificate, and indicated that with her death, her financial obligation to pay had also ceased. When Beneficial itself wasn't able to collect on the debt she owed them, they had turned it over to a debt collection agency, which was later to be turned over to yet another collection agency. Thanks to my newly discovered savvy of how debt collectors in general operate, this is a very common practice, that is, where old debts are bounced around from one debt collector to another, and I would say 99-percent of them are scam operations.

First, one has to know one's rights and obligations about any debt that is owed anywhere. If it is you in question, and particularly for a credit card debt, then yes, unfortunately you owe that money to the credit card company. One also has to be aware of the so-called Statue of Limitations and each state in the United States has it's own listing of how long a debt is collectable. This means the length of time a debt can still be collected. One can find out just which debts are collectable and for how long from the Credit InfocenterWebstie. Credit card debts are perhaps the only debt that is considered an "open" debt, and no matter how much time has passed since you accumulated that debt, you still will owe that money.

When it comes to old debts of a deceased person, however, the rules change drastically. Many people are under the impression that all debts belonging to a deceased family member must be paid up. Not so! Unless that debt was a co-signed agreement between any financial institution, such as a credit card company, loan company and so forth, the living family members of the deceased are in no way obligated to pay that debt. Now when my mother passed away, as I mentioned I sent letters and copies of her death certificate to all concerned. Therefore, I actually found it amusing that more than two years have passed and I'm still being in a sense harassed by yet another debt collection agency for an old debt of my mother's. Upon looking up information on this one particular debt collector, that is Estates Information Services, once again I found out that this is but again another scam deal here.

On the Ripoff Report Website, I came across a person who was also being harassed by this very same company. In his case, his entire family were receiving hostile phone calls from Estates Information Services in regard to an old debt that the person's brother had owed for an old credit card debt. This person indicates that he too, as in my case, did not co-sign for this debt and therefore were not responsible for it. He also indicated in this Ripoff Report that he wrote a letter to Estates Information Services demanding that they should cease any further communication to him or his family as to do so was in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and also, should this debt collection agency continue its harassing tactics that he would get in contact with his Attorney General.

So I too, have written a letter to this Estates Information Services to cease any communication to me about this old debt of my mother's, as I too, like the person in his report, was under no obligation to pay off this old debt of my mother's, and I too pointed out that to continue to communicate with me on this matter would also be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and not only did I write a letter to them, but I included a copy of my original letter to the former debt collection agency (Hudson & Keyse, LLC), that I had written over two years ago, and yes, I have copies of everything, plus I also included a print up of the Ripoff Report made by the person who also complained about Estates Information Services. In other words, I was letting this company know they were scam artist. I also indicated in my letter, that I had found other information that they have been sued by other people who have also been harassed by them. The one thing I didn't do, was sign my letter, as I figured that with having my signature on "file" so to say, they could somehow use it against me.

So, the bottom line for anyone being harassed by any debt collection agency, particularly about an old debt belonging to a deceased family member, I can't emphasize enough...KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Don't get into a panic thinking you are obligated in anyway to pay off this old debt, particularly, and I can't emphasize this enough, if it's an old debt that was NOT co-signed by any other family member. Also, become familiar with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that protects consumers from fraudulent or harassing collection tactics. At the Expert Law Website I found one statement that particularly holds true for what I'm emphasizing here, under their listing for restrictions that are imposed on Collection Agencies by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and I quote:

Contacting a third party who does not owe the debt, such as a relative, neighbor, or your employer. Co-signers to the debt, however, may be contacted by the debt collector

The Expert Law Website gives a whole listing of vital information for anyone who wishes to know their rights about debt collection policies and practices, and what is specifically prohibited and therefore illegal on part of the debt collection agency. Last, another emphasis is to do research via a search on the web about the debt collection agency involved, and I guarantee you, it will probably turn out to be a scam operation. One can file a formal complaint about a debt collector directly on the Federal Trade Commission website for any debt collector who is violating your rights in any form whatsoever.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Information

Federal Trade Commission

Expert Law Website

ARTICLE: New Phone Scam Warning: Beware of 809, 274 and 876 Area Codes: Scam Organizations from the Caribbean

(Originally published at Yahoo.voices formerly Associated Content~6/25/2008)

BSTRACT: A new type of scam is going on, but unlike scams one may get from ones email, this is a scam made via one's phone

CONTENT: I like to pride myself that I can smell a scam right away. Almost everyone of us have gotten scam-type emails informing us that some agency is trying to track down a beneficiary for some long lost relative who has left us a fortune, or even one of the latest that I've been getting is that the FBI itself has funds waiting to be claimed and one just needs to send about $300 to release these funds to us through their ATM Card Centre. The majority of these scams originate in African countries, especially Nigeria. If I truly believed any of these were legitimate I'd be a mulit-billionarie by now.

Naturally, whenever I get such emails, I ignore them and simply hit the delete button. But now, I've become aware...the hard way I might add, there is another scam circulating about and it doesn't involve getting notices via email, but by one's phone.

Just today, a message was left on my answering machine claiming it was FedEx and that a certified package was ready for me to be delivered, but I needed to call back to verify some information to them. The number was 1-876-471-6711. I naturally assumed this number to be a more direct phone number to FedEx rather than their regular 800 number, and I also assumed that it too was toll free, since the other well known toll free phone numbers beside the 800 one are usually 866, 877, 888 and so forth...so the 876 number looked like a toll free number as well. I had known that it was usually the 900 numbers to be aware of as they aren't toll free.

So, yes, unfortunately, I have to admit, I did call the number back. Alarms however, did go off almost right away, for, it did seem strange that when I was talking to this person, a FedEx tracking number wasn't given to me. Then I was told that this package was from a Michael White and from Montego Bay. My alarms further went on full blast however, when the person explained I had to get a Western Union Money Transfer to release the package to me. I had heard too many times that this is how scams work and almost always with the need for one to get a Western Union Money Transfer. I told the person, that I'm not expecting anything from FedEx and certainly not from Montego Bay, and asked point blank is this a scam and hung up.

Then I decided to call FedEx themself at their 800 number and explained all the particulars to the man I was talking to. He verified the point that it did seem strange that a tracking number wasn't given to me...also, if it had really been FedEx, that it would be the 800 toll free number to call back and not this 876 number. Also, if a package had indeed been waiting for me, that most likely a delivery attempt would have already been made and one of the FedEx door tags would have been left.

So now I get curious and try to find something out on websites about this 876 number, and sure enough found that this indeed was a scam and no doubt I've been hit by it. It turns out many people are scammed by devious companies calling for one reason or another...the numbers are usually with area codes of 809, 274, and yes, as you can guess, 876. Since there is no "international" number before any of these areas codes, one assumes they are calling a number within the US and that it isn't an international number. The origins of these area codes are actually from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica or the Bahamas...and as you can guess, when you call these numbers you are being charged international rates...ah, but that's not all, there's more to it.

On the one website I found, that has Caribbean Area Code Warning, it gives the whole lowdown about these phone scams
Truth or Fiction. It does mention that the 809 area code is an actual, and legitimate phone number for the Caribbean area, so not all phone calls from this area are a scam, and that the 876 is an offshoot of the 809 number. But for the scam artist that is using these area codes, what the unsuspecting person, such as myself, doesn't realize is that when the person calls back such a number, that people will later suddenly find outrageous charges to their phone bill from $10.00 to $100.00 per minute, and the scammer will try to keep the person on the phone for as long as possible(1)

I further did another search, directly on AT&T's warnings about these phone scammers, which verifies what I found at the Caribbean Area Code Warning website. AT&T Website All I can say, is that I wished I had investigated all this before I made the phone call, but at least, I'll be aware, that if I get an outrageously high phone bill, I'll know who to blame.

Not only had I called FedEx about this to indeed find out if that so-called FedEx call was legit, but I next called my phone company to explain what had just happened and indicated to the person that I was no doubt scammed and would no doubt be seeing very strange charges to my phone bill at the next billing cycle. She explained to me, that I won't be responsible for the charges should they show up, and if they do, I can further dispute them...I also consequently emailed my phone company as well, so that my phone company not only has my phone call on record, but a written email as well.

Like I said, up until now, I've kind of prided myself for being alert to scams, so you can imagine how I'm kicking myself that I fell prey to this Caribbean Area Code scam. But I'm passing this information, that you won't fall for this latest scam they way I did.

Caribbean Area Cod Scam Warning

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/area809.htm (1)

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045

http://www.consumerjungle.org/content/view/335/631/