Here is my story (A note I put on Facebook):

As many of you may have noticed from the abundance of Facebook statuseseses that I have been posting in regards to renting some temporary accommodation, you may not be surprised to know that I have also posted some ads on Craigslist. You may remember the 58 year old lady who was interested in casual sexual intercourse. Needless to say, that wasn't my cup of tea (I'm not about it being 'casua' - "Go all out, or go home", I say).

There was one particular piece of prime real estate that I was so very interested in. For only $200 per week, I could have use of my very own bedroom + bathroom. Obviously, the kitchen, loungeroom etc, would have been shared, but that was fine by me. It was situated near the Gaslamp area of San Diego- a place that is bustling with crowds, pubs, restaurants and character. I was excited about the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks there. This is when I received the following e-mail from the Lady who was looking for a room mate. It follows:

"Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to email my daughter about the room, being a realtor she asked that I help her with the screening

I thought I had the place rented last week to a friends niece, but communication has dropped off. You are the first person to email about it since I put it back on the market . It would only be fair that I gave you the first shot at it.

To tell you a little bit about your potential roomate, "I am a 28 year old professional female. Non-Smoker, occasional drinker and WILL not bring any drama into the house. I'm not going to follow you around with white gloves but would think you'd want to help keep the place clean. I don't have a pet but am not against them." is her 2 sentence description she asked me to pass along

I would prefer a year lease, but would also be open to shorter terms. I'm sure that you will want to see the property before making a final decision. I would simply give you the address and let you swing by, but for safety reasons I would rather meet somewhere first and talk / answer any questions, then let you follow me to the property. Rest assured the home has been up kept properly and had a good cleaning and fresh coat of paint . All utilities are taken care of in the rent.

If you want to go ahead and schedule a time to see the property, go to the link below and print off the free copy of your report. Your score isn't important, I'm just interested in seeing that there are no evictions / landlord related judgments.

Here is the link: //leasing-reports.com/property08832/

I am very open as far as appointments go to show the property. Any morning after 10am is fine. Just let me know when you have everything printed and be sure to leave me a contact number to reach you at and any desired time. I will call you to confirm a time and choose a place to meet.

Thanks for looking,

Sharon and Erin"

The first thing I do when I receive an e-mail from craigslist is search facebook for the e-mail address, and/or Google it to ensure it is a reliable and legitimate source. Now, I'm sure many of you have read that e-mail and thought it sounded quite legit. There is a lot of writing to the body, it's written grammatically correct (for the most part)... Surely it has to be real.

Fortunately, after a very quick Google search ('About 19 results after 0.39 seconds', to be exact), I found these results:

http://www.google.com/search?q=sharon-newsome%40newsomepropertiesllc.com&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a

My response to her e-mail is as follows:

"Sharon and Erin,

Thank-you very much for the hasty response.

You mentioned 'safety reasons' in regards to not giving the address out. I too am very weary of potential scammers (possibly you- you've always got to be careful these days). I'm sure you can only imagine my apprehension when being directed to a 'leasing report' website that was asking for a credit card number, yet didn't seem to have the appropriate security measures. I admit, I am not very computer literate, and although the site did look very legit, I'm still not convinced.

Another alternative is I can give you my credit card info. However, I'm sure you can understand my hesitation towards handing that information out to someone I do not know. Which is why I'm proposing that we meet at the Sheriff's office. That way, the local Sheriffs can confirm my identity and if you like, escort us to the apartment. I'm sure that will abolish any 'safety concerns' you may be feeling.

I am also willing to double the rent ($500 - $750 / wk, or what you think is reasonable) with the opportunity to be a 'room mate' with your daughter, if you get my drift. Traveling through California has proven to be very lonely, and I would like the opportunity to for a casual sexual relationship. No strings attached, of course. And, if you are feeling lonely as well, maybe you could play some part in the fun and festivities.

I would really jump at the chance to f**k you two in the arse, like you are trying to do to me.

Regards,

MT"

I hate scammers.

The End.

If you go to the website newsomepropertiesllc.com all you will see is:

"Index of /

cgi-bin/

images/

postinfo.html

Apache/2.2.16 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.16 OpenSSL/0.9.8e-fips-rhel5 DAV/2 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at newsomepropertiesllc.com Port 80"

Sharon/Rita/Shelly Newsome is getting better but not that good. She was dumb enough to post a house that was midwest..lots of grass and trees for the Southwest. God this group of people are dumb. I spend an hour or so a day trying to flag her on craigslist. You might ask why...I cant stand scammers and am really disappointed that craigslist allows these scumbags on their site. Just maybe my flagging will help some poor soul who does not catch the signs. I did not..in the beginning. But when her email came through it made no sense. I applied for a house with a 40ish year old and she responds with a 25 year old. No pets but she listed a dog on the original site. I am seeing her all over the USA and I know the group doing this is not from the USA. They speak well..so just maybe a person who was from the USA takes care of them and advises them. I know that they read this site so go for it. Please..anyone who was scammed make an effort to check craigslist and flag daily or weekely. If we continue people like Becca will not be scammed. I replied to this add and the same letter...her daughter...filling out the form and the like. Its not a woman...direct your anger towards craigslist who does not control who posts.

How to spot scammers:

1. Highlight the add...if you see gibberish it is 99% a

scam. Go all the way down to the end. Even the img

photos will show background text and gibberish.

2. Is there a phone number?

3. Do they list specifics like what busline, what airport

and what mall?

4. Go to other cities and search...Chicago, Philly, LA, SF

Compare listings and various days.

5. Email with specific questions and see if they answer

your specific questions.

6. Look at the font. Often international font is funky.

7. Look at the photos..do they represent your location.

8. Think does it make sense? $400 for a 3 bdroom in Philly

or Chicago...dont think so.

Most of all...dont fill out anything. If you do report it to your creidt card company, your bank and anyone you think needs to know. Keep a credit check open on yourself and put special passwords on your accounts other than the usual.

Godd luck. I am sick to read what is going on out there and craigslist is doing nothing about it. Today I read one where a man was ofering his house for sex. Now that the porn site is down this will come more common.

Well said, Susan!!

I am glad they took the porn site down but not glad because the predators will just find another way to get "around" it like you see there with the man offering his house for sex. What a bunch of creeps!! Ugh!!