Who knew getting scammed could be so much fun!

Ever since posting my rental ad on Craigslist, I've gotten more scam email than I ever imagined was possible. Admittedly, I almost fell for it the first time, but soon caught onto the game. Now I've decided to just having fun with it and see if I can give these guys a run for their money.

For example - following is an email correspondence I'm having with "Prof. Jeff Galant from the UK":

First mail from 'Jeff'

Good-Day
I' m Prof. Jeff Galant from UK' Searching thru the apt rent page,i saw your apt posted for rent on craigslist.com with the little description you gave in there, i was impressed and it reduces any stress of searching around for an apt. I have an interest and i would like to make an inquiry if it still available for rent duration in which you want to leasethe unit.

Preferably 6months/12months If you require any specific information,pls let me know or you can call me on my cell phone, please dial as presented for international calls . { +44 7031914059 }

Am a family orientated man, no pets, no smoke and no drugs Give me the detail of the fees.
1- Security deposit fee ?
2- Monthly rent fees ?
3- Utilities if applicable ?
4- Dimension/measurement of the unit {s} ?
5- Crime rate of the area where the apt is located ?
6- Park lots if any ?
7- If the unit is Furnished or Unfurnished ?
8- Total Move in fees ?

Thank you, God Bless
Jeff Galant
E.mail:jefflant@yhaoo.com.au Phone:+44 7031914059

My response:

Hi Jeff,

You have the house! Can you send me a check today?

Jeff's (rather enthusiastic) response:
Hi
Many thanks to your prompt response and brief details on this unit.

I am indeed a potential tenant and serious about renting this unit. Having discovered lots of Dinasaurs fossil such as Dinosaurs Megalosaurus ,Oviraptor, Pinacosaurus, Saurornithoides, Velociraptor,plesiosaur, Ichthyosaurus etc. Am coming to state to Trade those fossils with some US Museums.

In view of my work schedule, i would want us to finalise basic arrangements. I'm and i am currently working with Netherlands Fossil hunters Imperial Dinosaur Fossil Research in Middlesex. Netherlands. I will be in the states for the next one year with my wife and five year old daughter and during my stay i will be Trading dinosaur fossils with Some USA Museums and Research with some America Palentologist on fossils hunting and field work.

Am willing to offer you 1month rent + the security deposit and utilities if any to secure this unit prior to my arrival to state, and on my arrival, i'll pay for the 11months fees in Cash. My Trustee in the states will be the one to handle the Move in fee, and we will instruct him to send you the check for this as soon as you give us the go ahead to make payment to you.

Due to the limited time that we have before our arrival, we are making arrangements with a furniture company there in state to supply the home with some befitting furnitures.

We can start the lease at your ealiest convinient time and we will be effecting a one year lease although, we will be arriving on sept 15th of 2008. You can prepare the lease in me and my wife name "Prof Jeff Galant / Mrs Florence Galant

Once again, thank for the measurements and the price that you sent to me, it will indeed be of great help to deternine the Sieze of Furnitures that my furnitures company will supply to the unit... As regards my furniture, am planning on having them delivered to the house before our arrival so that we can settle in comfortably, you can understand that transporting furnitures across atlantic is not easy, so we are making arrangement with the furniture company there in State to deliver the furnitures before our arrival after the rent and security deposit has been fully paid to you by my Trustee. I want to seek your indulgence and favor. Can we rely on you to take delivery of those furnitures for us when they are delivered? We will instruct the furniture company to contact you to schedule a delivery date and time that will be convenient for you to receive those furnitures for us. As you will be handling the delivery of those furnitures for us,we may ask our Trustee to include the costs of our furnitures with the rent and deposit to be sent to you so that you can help us to make the payment when it is delivered. We will really appreciate if you can do this for us and promise to compensate you adequately for your time and effort s on our arrival in your place.

Please let me know if this will be okay with you so that i can instruct our Trustee to go ahead with the payment. Let us know how to move ahead as we intend to complete this deal before we move in by 30th of sept 2008,we will let you know the exact date as soon as we get a booking on a flight to the states. I want a less risk, fair,transparent and a hitch free transaction so i attached the pictures of my family so that you can have an ideal of who you are dealing with. (note that there were no pictures attached with his email)

If you require any specific information, pls let me know or you can call me on my cell phone, please dial as presented for international calls . {+44 7031914059}

P.S: Forward the lease agreement/application form to Review it ahead of time. I would eventually have it signed physically when i arrive. In my opinion, appending signatories should be done properly and at best physically. Please, send me a picture view of the living room and bed rooms only if that will not take time to do. This is an international situation and am not sure how you can run my employment and Credit check background, there's no way we can go about this until i arrive to state, hope you understand my concern. With this arrangement, my Trustee in the states,will be effecting your payment deposit to you. I believe we can work together and ensure every arrangements that we shall both execute in line with my taking up the tenancy should be done accordingly to ensure we have a proper understanding.

For Payment, Get back with the below details
1- Name to be written on the certified American check
2- Mailing address , No p.o.box
3- Phone Number
4- City
5- Zip Code
6- State

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation
Jeff Galant
E.mail:jefflant@yhaoo.com.au Phone:+44 7031914059

My response:
Hi Jeff,

We can fill out the lease paperwork when you arrive to the States.

The measurements for the house are:

Living room: 24x65
Dining room: 30X40
Bedrooms: 16x30
(Anyone think these sizes are interesting? I thought he might catch on but....)

Please send the payment via Paypal to exit333PM@hotmail.com

Jeff's response (seemingly a bit more tired now):
Hello,

Thank for getting back to to me ,regarding your payment my trustee will be issuing a check out on your name not paypal so all you need to do right now, is for you to get back to me with all this informations ,For Payment, Get back with the below details
1- Name to be written on the certified American check
2- Mailing address , No p.o.box
3- Phone Number
4- City
5- Zip Code
6- State

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation

My response (now the fun begins):

Hi Jeff,

Did I tell you how much I LOVE Dinasaurs!? OMG – they are sooooooo INCREDIBLE. Do you have pictures of some of the fossils you’ve found? Sometimes I wish that Dinasaurs still walked the earth because I would have one as a pet but I wouldn’t let it sleep in my bed like my dog does, but that would be FUNNY :) :) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Don’t you think that would be funny!? Does your daughter like Dinasaurs?! How old is she? Does your wife like them too? I used to think that I wanted to be an archeologist but then I changed my mind and decided to become a vet. But then I couldn’t get into vet school because my grades weren’t high enough L I used to volunteer in animal shelters and this one time, I saw an dog getting operated on and I ALMOST THREW UP!!! It was sooooooooooooooooo gross. I don’t know how people do it. That must be really, really hard. Especially when they die L I don’t like when animals dies. It makes me sad, and then I get angry and want to punch someone in the mouth. I try not to get angry often because I don’t want to end up in jail like my mom. She’s a junkie and it’s really sad because she used to be a model but then she got hooked on drugs. Oh well…this is probably too much information but I figured if you are going to move into the house next door then we should be FRIENDS!!!! What do you think?

I’m really, really, really looking forward to meeting you and your wife and daughter. I have a daughter too but she is retarded. It’s a sad story so maybe when you move over here you can come over for dinner and I can tell you ALLLLLLL about it. One day I want to write a book. Do you want to be in my book?



I'll keep everyone posted on the next correspondence and if you have any ideas on how I can get this guys money before he gets mine - I'm all ears!!