room-renting scam

[sandhawke]

This is a scam artist, right? You can tell by his English and typing, and then wanting to pay like that at the end confirms it.

Comments

[jacflash]

I dunno, offering to send a cashier's check and asking for your name and address is a little different from asking for your bank account number.

[jtdiii]

Fake checks are still deposited and show up in your account, they just never clear. They then ask you to send a small portion back as a wire transfer for last minute expenses, by the time their check bounces they have cashed and disappeared with your money.

[jacflash]

And then you say "no" to that request, until/unless your bank swears the check has cleared and is legit. It's not hard to thwart.

[kcatalyst]

Yeah, it reads like a scam to me but I don't really understand where the payoff comes in if it is. Maybe it comes later in the conversation.

[jtdiii]

Generally the checks are fake, after you cash it, he will suddenly need a month or two of it back to pay for his last month's rent for where he is, etc.

Avoid at all cost.

[jacflash]

Okay, if you were a guy in Anchorage who urgently needed a place to stay in the Boston area, and you saw an ad with a promising listing and wanted to grab it, how would you proceed if not by offering to send certified funds ASAP?

[rosiewoodboat]

I agree. There is surely nothing wrong in receiving the money and then saying "no" to any suggestions of wiring money back....

[jtdiii]

Very true, but the scammers are very good at convincing well intentioned people to do just that, with a sob story that rapidly increases to legal threats.

[catya]

huh. but sending a money order / bank check? weird.

[scholargipsy]

It's a scam for sure: he overpays by check, the check looks real, you deposit it, and then it bounces but he demands cash money in recompense for...something. I almost got taken by a "Japanese student" seeking to prepay for lessons in just this manner, so I know whereof I write.

[ghislaine]

Definitely a scam. Ryan has been finding roommates on craigslist for years and I've observed him doing so for almost 3 years now. This kind of thing is becoming all too common.