There seems to be no end to the number of scammers and fraudsters eager to make a quick buck from naïve tourists in Paris!

by Anne Garber

World Wide Web (Monday, June 9, 2008) -- I knew we would have to be on our toes trying to rent a Paris apartment on the internet, but who could have imagined that 17 of the 18 responses we would receive in a three-week period would be complete fiction? And transparent fiction, at that!

One of the viable options we explored was the wonderful Franglo site, which allows visitors to post free classifieds, very like Craig's List. We are big supporters of both sites, and have always had very positive results. Recently, however, like all good things on the internet, both services have been corrupted by a few selfish, creepy scam artists.

This whole experience might be enough to make one suspicious of everyone and every thing on the 'net, but I am trying to maintain an open mind. The main thing is to do careful checks on each and every respondent.

Why would we not use an agency, you ask? Some of the apartment swap and rental agencies do careful, check-listed home visits for every accommodation they agree to list, thereby guaranteeing that the places exist in the first instance. But they are somewhat pricey. We used a very good agency a few years ago, and found a lovely apartment (owned by a charming academic named Charlotte) that fit the bill -- but again -- a trifle on the costly side.

To help avoid these scams, Craigslist suggests that you keep all transactions local and don't do business with people who live outside your local area. You are also urged to use caution and common sense as you should with all online financial transactions. Offering more amenities than what you asked for or bonuses is another odd piece of behaviour. Who would make such an offer? And why? Poor grammar and misspelled words are other clues, as are vagueness about what is being offered, or changing features in the item itself. That said, we're always willing to cut people a little slack for not communicating in English well, and guys like this latest fraudster endear themselves by seeming to put so much effort into getting their message across.

But the honest consumer is always at a disadvantage, because he or she comes into the marketplace with an open mind. Why couldn't I have won that lottery? Why couldn't this deal simply be the find of the century? We are not all motivated by greed, but most on-the-level individuals can't help but harbour at least a few small fantasies about "What if I just got lucky, for once?" But those transactions ARE fantasies. And that's about the sum of it.

Before I share with you my checklist of How to Research the Background of Respondents, here's the latest (and one of the most chutzpah-hilarious) wanna-be scammer's correspondence with me. All photos in this story are from him; note that the "living room" windows face out onto "23 Boulevard Voltaire, 75011 Paris," which -- if you know anything about Paris geography -- is in the heart of the city, not far from République! The aspect of this correspondence that struck my funny-bone was the idea that the view outside could possibly be on this street; if there's a forest of evergreens outside of ANY window in the area, I will eat an entire plate of androuillette! (stuffed entrails. . .Ugh!)

Check out the map, façade-view and elevation photos in this story to see for yourself. When I told my husband John that this guy claimed his apartment was on Boulevard Voltaire, he replied: "Boulevard Voltaire in Snohomish, I'll wager"

Another tip-off in the living room photo was the copy of Sunset magazine peeking out from the magazine rack, and a small stack of hotel-type information binders on the table beside it. Any Pacific Northwest hotels recognize your room? We enjoyed the nerviness of this particular would-be scammer immensely!

Here's our correspondence:
Hi,

I just read your profile now and i found out that we could make good flatemate.

I have two rooms for rent in centrat Paris, this rooms have all the basic amenities needed i a room. I am looking for a neat and responsible flatmate who is ready to take good take of the room rented to him or she.

You can get back to me via my private mail at(lopeznor1@yahoo.com)for more details of myself and the apartment and currrent pictures of the rooms and after getting to know each other we can then be flatmate.

Best Regards,

Lopez

Friday, June 6, 2008, 9:11 PM

Yes, still looking! Please send photos, cost, exact address, if you can (or at least arrondissement).

Many thanks,

Anne

Lopez Norberto
reply-to lopeznor1@yahoo.com
date Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 3:10 AM
subject FR: Details of the flat and myself...get back to me for picture and more details.

Hi Anne,

Thanks for your mail it gives me joy to see your response so soon and this makes me have the good feeling that you are just the perfect match for me. I thuse cease this opportunity to tell you more about myself and my flat and the rooms i have for rent aswell.

My full name is Norberto Lopez and i am an interesting person with lots of interests... I am male professional.As at now,i am studying for my master in london... more about myself i like to dance and love music of all kinds except for opera.... I am active in church...though I go to several different churches...Protestant and once in a while a Catholic service thrown in. I prize honesty and am a good communicator...I am loyal and expect similar treatment. I like simple things in life..and I am not materialistic, though I do like quality. co. I like conversation...and I love people of all ages.

There is a bedroom, sitting room, internet access,kitchen, and bathroom. The kitchen has an oven, plates, washing machine, microwave, fridge, coffee maker, and dishes, table and 4 chairs .

I have been living here in Paris for a very long time and in this flat since my youth days because it is here i started life as a youth after my Bachelors degree. It is a 3 bedroom flat and i live in 1 room and have 2 rooms for rent to interested people(s).

However,the rooms that are for rent has the following facilities,a small fridge apart from the big freezer in the kitchen,it is also furnished,have a big TV connected to a cablet,a big double bed that sleeps two people conviniently,private bath and toilet,parking space,washer and drier,airconditioned,gas system in my kitchen for heating and your cooking needs and also an internet connection for use...

I have my personal laptop which we can always share incase you do not have any.There is a private bathroom and toilet like i told you to each room. The apartment is very quiet and is perfect for you.

The apartment is located at: 23 Boulevard Voltaire, 75011 Paris, France.

The rent for the apartment is 100euros per week that includes the utilities bill of 100euros the cost of the utilities include the heating system,water,gas,phone connectivity,Internet and things like that and the monthly rent is 50euro .There would also be a security deposit of 500euros.

The kind of person i seek should ideally be a combination of a clean and tidy,domesticated person, honest and trustworthy, a kindly respectful person, someone truely enjoys living in a luxury executive apartment with another, professional person who may be from anywhere and i hope you are okay with my Adderss.

Expecting to read form you soon

Regards................
Norberto Lopez

Dear Norberto:

Your flat sounds quite good! Is it possible you have photos of the various rooms? And is there a lift -- or are you perhaps situated on the RDC?

Looking forward to your next e-mail message.

Sincerely,

Anne On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 3:41 AM, Lopez Norberto wrote:

Hi Anne,

Thanks for you quickest mail,and i quite appreciate you candid and sincere interest in my room. The flat has 3 rooms and 1 is for me while i am leassing out 2 for interested people and if after leassing it out and i could not find another renter for the last room,i will have to use the room as a guest room whereby anyone who comes visiting either you or me and wanted to pass the night can do that in the guest room.

The rent again per month is 300 euro + utilities of 50euro is to be paid just once which covers the whole of utilities you are to use in the room and a security deposit 600 euro,which is refundable at the end of your stay in the room.The 600 euro which Will be refunded to you,is for a security deposit,and it has to be refunded back at the end of your stay.

The purpose of this money,is in case of damagies and if you did not damage any thing in the room,you money will be refund in full to you at the end of your stay in the room.Hence the total money you are to pay is about 950 euro,where 600 euro could be refunded back at the end of your stay in the room if nothing was destroyed.

My house is located at 23 Boulevard Voltaire, 75011 Paris, France.

The transport system is quiet very good as it is located in the heart of Paris and,i would advice you do it by rail and if bus transport is preferable,no problem aswell.

1.You need to read and understand and sign an agreement form that will guarantee you that the room has been reserve for you.

2.The deposit and the first month rent has to be paid to my Mother through western union money transfer in Essex, North London because after the death of my father all the rest of my father's assets are being handled by her and so she collect the first months rent herself while other months rent shall be arranged on how it will be paid either directly to me or not.

3.I'll need your full name, and your move in and out date for our family lawyer to prepare the Agreement/contract between you and me together with your current home address where the original copies of the will be sent, together with the reciept of payment which you shall bring while moving in.

4.A scanned copy of your passport is needed for verifications as i shall send mine to you aswell.

The signed agreement form will be send to you first through attached mail for you to read and understand the terms and conditions applied,after which you will proceed with the payment,i'll now send you the original copies and other rental papers together with the reciept of payment through a registered courier(DHL,FEDEX or UPS) to your address for you to sign and bring along with you when moving in.

NB: It takes 3 business working days for the original copies of the contract and receipt of payment be delivered to your house address given after payment confirmation.

With the following information the contract for will be prepared and sent to you as an attach file so you can read and if you are okay with the rule and you are willing to abide by it you can then make your security deposit to my mother in uk london.

Expecting to read from you soonest.

Regards...
Norberto Lopez

Date: Sunday, June 8, 2008, 6:08 PM

Hi, Norberto:

First of all, please let me know if your apartment is on the main floor (rez de chaussee). (Note: he never DOES answer this)

Number two: It is against Canadian law to photocopy our passports, so we will need to use another form of identification.

Thank you!

Anne Hi Anne,

thanks for you mail and i most say that i am happy that you reply to my mail.

well you can make a scan of your ID because with that i will be able to identify you when i get to see you. you will havd to get back to me with the following details so that my family lawyer can prepare the document form for the both of us.

1 your name and current address were you will like the document form sent to.

2 Your scaned ID for identification.

3 your moving in and out date.

With this following information the contract form will be prepare and sent to you so when you read it and you know you can abide by the rules you can then make you payment to my mother in london.

Awating to read from you soonest

lopez.

Aha! So the money is to go to his "mother in London." Another persuasive scam-clue.

Well, sorry Norberto, but you've just been "outed." And I'm going to share our correspondence with my millions of readers. Too bad, so sad. But when will you learn that crime does not pay?

Here are some strategies to employ to determine the veracity of people who are offering apartments for rent in France:

First of all, search the person's "name" in Google, in quotes. In this case, I would search "Norberto Lopez" and also "Lopez, Norberto" -- and add the word "scam" or "avoid" to see if anything comes up. You can also search for the person's e-mail address, although this -- like their names -- can be easily changed for each potential sucker. Yahoo and Hotmail do not seem to do any follow-up on complaints (unlike Google / Gmail, which does), but the fact that the scammer uses a Hotmail or Yahoo account does not -- in and of itself -- mean they are not legit.

Next, see if you can find a listing for the person's name at Pages Blanches, although mobile phones are not often listed, so this might not yield results even from a legitimate offer.

If you can extract a street address, you can search for THAT on Pages Jaunes, so you can at least determine if the address matches the description of the apartment. Often scammers will use a real address, but it's a building filled with doctors' offices, or a hotel, which should tell you that it is likely not a "real" apartment.

If the scammer has given you a telephone number, you can try a reverse search to make sure if name and number match up, but be advised that searching UK numbers (often the case -- number would start with country-code "44") could cost you USD $15.

Reverse number searches in France (country-code "33") are free via Pages Jaunes. Typical French democracy: Searches are free.

You can also try to search telephone numbers -- in quotes -- on Google (or if you can read French, on Google.fr) in case someone has reported a scammer in a chat room or on a website like this one, but results are pretty hit-and-miss. Speaking of which, don't forget to search Google chat-rooms, community forums and news groups.

If you get results on Pages Jaunes, of course (as mentioned earlier), you can view aerials, elevations, 360-views, business nearby (proximité) and area maps, all of which will provide useful clues.

Photos -- as demonstrated above -- are often too tiny to provide useful details (which is true even of those on legitimate rental sites), but you should scan them carefully before you move ahead in negotiations. Note whether there's a tub, shower-only or shower-and-tub combo, as listing ads rarely distinguish between the two. If it says "eau courant," that indicates running water only (usually cold). A "nice" bathroom will usually have a tub with a showerhead. And the toilet itself is often in a separate "water closet" room. Check out the kitchen and laundry facilities, access and security, apparent comfort of bed (if it looks too soft, it probably is) and if the place looks a little "too perfect" to be for real. And if the offer is for a magnificent place at a price that seems ridiculously low, well, what do YOU think that adds up to?

One correspondent I kept on the hook to obtain more details and photos from (even though I knew from the get-go he was a con artist), sent photos that included a washing machine in both the bathroom and in the kitchen, clearly adding up to "borrowed" shots from more than one place, wouldn't you guess?

It is becoming increasingly common for Brits to buy properties all over France (particularly in the South), and then rent them out when they are not using them for their own vacations. So don't dismiss UK correspondents as crooks; many are above-board and honest! We have friends in Liverpool who have a wonderful place in a complex at Le Palais du Grand Duc, Mandelieu, Cote-d'Azur -- we can vouch for them personally.

If all of this seems like just too much work, you can always check out Rental Agencies.

Please spread the word to help protect others from becoming victims of future scams!

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Resources & Helpfuls Links

report SPAM or file an official complaint with the U.S. Federal Government

send an e-mail to report SPAM and/or phishing

The SANS Security Policy Project - SANS.ORG

Why You Should Google Yourself -- And Often! - ZDNET.COM

What to Do If Your Identity has been Stolen - ACROBAT pdf

An Introduction to Computer Security: The NIST Handbook - NIST.GOV

HIPAA Regulations/Security Standards - HIPAADVISORY.COM

EPRI Security Primer - ACROBAT pdf

Pop Quizzes by Certification Type or Vendor - CERTCITIES.COM

NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide ACROBAT PDF

AntiOnline: Maximum Security for the Connected World - ANTIONLINE.COM

Consumer's Guide to Internet Safety, Privacy and Security - NCLNET.ORG

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