Victim Location 14850
Type of a scam Rental
I found an ad on Craiglist for a short-term sublease: <span title="https://ithaca.craigslist.org/sub/d/ithaca-my-furnished-apt-is-move-in/7169624659.html
https://ithaca.craigslist.org/sub/d/ithaca-my-furnished-apt-is-move-in/716962465…⇄ />
I contacted the person, and her name is Sarah Jorge. She told me that her sister has recently died from cancer and has to be back home in Florida to tend to her mother. However, her landlord is able to show me the apartment, but he may be traveling for his work soon so I should contact him fast!
By the time I got an email back from her landlord, James Wright (who claims to work for USBC, using the email [email protected]) is already on his business trip and cannot show me the apartment in person, so we cannot proceed with the sublease. However, if I really wanted to move in soon, he is ok if I pay for the security deposit now and he will send me the keys via mail.
When I went to the property (106 Lake street, Ithaca, NY) in person, I found the phone number for the rental property management. Once I called them, they immediately said that this is a con / scam, and 2 more cases has already happened with the same named people. They urged me to report the scam to the police.
Victim Location 47401
Total money lost $1,700
Type of a scam Rental
"James Wright" sold me a rental home in Denver, Colorado. I sent him 1700$ over Western Union and it was a fraud.
Victim Location 30533
Type of a scam Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes
Scammer phone number is 702-857-8613. Although my grandmother did not give them money, bc i refused to take her to the bank to support scammers, but they continuously call asking for money and in return she will receive 850,000. They are targeting elderly and they need to stop calling
Just like Trisha above, I found an ad for a short term sublease on Craigslist at: “https://ithaca.craigslist.org/sub/d/ithaca-nice-apartment-utilities/7479872524.html.” The posting showed photos of an adorable 1 bdrm. apt. that seemed perfect for my boyfriend and me while we were house hunting. This time the poster (I should say poser) went by the name of Ellen Smith and she was away consoling her mom in Kansas since her sister just died from colon cancer. “She” instructed me to contact her landlord James Wright ASAP to view the apt. (located at 106 Lake Street in Ithaca) as he was going to be traveling soon to some sporting games. (In the meantime, we drove by the apt. building at that address and it looked like a nice place to live.) When I received a reply email from James Wright ([email protected]) he claimed to work for the USBC and stated he had already left for his duties and he would be away for the next 13 weeks. He indicated that if however, we really wanted to move in soon, he would process our application and once he received the security deposit, he would send me the keys via fedex priority mail so I could track the package. He asked for a reference (current employer or landlord) and attached a Sublease Application. Luckily, we decided to look up “James Wright” and “USBC” and found this site exposing him as a scam. Our thanks to Trisha, the commenter above, for saving us from losing $850 (the “security deposit”).