I was looking to rent an apartment in Boston and found a very great deal on craiglist.com - http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/roo/4498915664.html. I've send an email and got an answer from John Glennard, that said he is the pwner, but right now he is in West Africa for a crusade and it's better to contsct his wife Mary Glennard which is in U.S, and has the keys. I've send her a couple of long emails thinking that it's all true. Then I was adviced by my friend to check everything well because it sounded to good to be true! And I found some complains by the photo they sent me, pretending it's the photo of thge apartment, because they changed the names and the story, but it's similar anyways.
Now they are a couple of Cristians - a husband that is in Africa for a "mission of God" at the moment and his wife that "had an accident which affected her hearing and her legs and she's currently on a wheel chair right now" and doesn't use a phone that's why she's always online". She asked me also to complete a form with my personal information. See below the copy of emails I've received from their emails - [email protected] and [email protected] .
"Hello,
Thanks for your email. I'm John Glennard the owner of the Apartment you are renting.Actually I resided in the apartment with my family for some months and we moved away due to my transfer from my working place, my apartment is still available for rent for $500 per month including the utilities like washer and security,it is furnished.Right now I'm in West Africa for a crusade and i would like you to get in touch with my wife in the United states for more discussion as she is with the keys and the documents to the apartment.Please I want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also I spent a lot on my property,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this apartment and I want you to treat it as your own.I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that I will be glad to see it neat when I come for a check up,I do that once in a while.I want to have trust in you as I always stand by my words.Let us know how soon you are willing to move in. Email my wife Mary ,on ( [email protected] ) and she will attend to you better.
ADDRESS TO THE APARTMENT : 1200 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Thanks for your interest.
John Glennard "
_________
"Thanks for your email, My husband own the apartment. I want you to know that it was due to my husband's transfer that made us to leave the apartment and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take good care of the apartment, we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time. So for now, I am in Fairfield, Connecticut in the United States in our new home and also I am with the keys and documents of the apartment, we tried to look for an agent that we can give this documents before we left but could not see and we don't want the apartment to be used any how in our absence that is why we took the keys and documents along with us here and as you know that,my husband over in the West Africa for a mission of God, so I hope you will promise us to take very good care of the apartment.So get back to me on how you could take care of our apartment or perhaps experience you have in renting a home. Hope you are okay with the price per month with hydro, heat laundry facilities, air condition, Internet connection and so on. View pictures in the attached files. I am looking forward to hearing from you ASAP so that I can forward you an application to fill out and discuss on how to get the apartment for rent.
Hope to read from you soon
Mary Glennard "
________
"
Thanks for your response once again, I really appreciate your expression. We don't have any friend or relative to show you inside the apartment because I'm with the keys and documents. I want you to stick to your words. I want you to fill out the questions below, you must answer those questions to qualify for the rental of our apartment. In fact my husband would like to meet you when coming to visit you soonest. We would offer a long term and short term rental anytime you wish to leave the apartment will be grateful and we are ready to rent for as long as you want. Note that you will not be allowed to view inside the apartment until everything is being finalize as the keys/document are with me in Fairfield, Connecticut .You can only view the apartment from the outside. The rent per month includes all UTILITIES with PARKING available.
*******RENT APPLICATION FORM*********
(Private & Confidential)
Also, Please let me get these answers.
1) Your Full Name
2) Present Full Address (where you reside now) & Phone Number to Reach You
3) Age
4) Are you married?
5) How many people will be living in the apartment?
6) Do you have a pet?
7) Do you have a car?
8) Occupation?
9) Citizen of which Country?
10) When are you ready to Move in ?
11) When are u planning to leave the apartment ?
12) How many months rent can you deposit upfront (plus security deposit)
13) Picture of the Occupant?
Looking forward to read from you with all this details for approval so that we can have it in our file in case of issuing the receipt in your name and contacting you .Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the documents and the keys to you, Please we're doing this transaction based on Trust & Honesty and again I want you to stick to your words,we're putting everything into Gods hand, so please do not let us down in this property of ours.
N:B : We're doing this because of God & as good Christians, If you can pay two months, you will get one month free. I had an accident which affected my hearing and my legs , I am currently on a wheel chair right now, I do not use a phone that's why I am always online, if you are interested, you can fill out the rent application above and get back to me as soon as possible. You can call my husband on +234-814-773-6889 OR 011- 234-814-773-6889 . Note:- We're looking for someone who is ready to move in as soon as possible since our apartment is free right now and we will be giving out a month free. God bless you as you do this.
Regards
Mary Glennard"
They also sent me the following pictures -
Stacey
Texas,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, June 06, 2014
From a Nigerian scammer - you lost your money and will never get it back so chalk it up to being naive and stupid.