With All Sincerity

For those of you interested in how a real deal scam works, keep reading.

My roommate and I made a posting on craigslist for the furnished room we have available for the next several months. We kicked out our last roommate for being amongst other things a big slob, and needed a new roommate for the beginning of May. As April was coming to a close we grew more and more anxious that we wouldn't be able to find someone in time. We had imagined it would be easy to find a roommate, but had little luck. We were contacted by a UK citizen named Philip Armstrong who was moving to Toronto mid May and was very interested in our available room. Had our fortunes turned?

Some scams are better than other. This one works on a lot of levels. It plays with your heart and sympathies and at the same time presents what appears to be an opportunity to take more money than you're asking for in the first place. You'll see what I mean. Its a real study in psychology.

May I present....

Philip Armstrong, Samantha Mathison and Mr. Elliot Burger...

Starring In...

With All Sincerity aka The Cervical Scam

April 30th
From: philarmstrong001@gmail.com
To: mannywood@gmail.com

Hello there,

i am interested in the house you placed an ad on.Here is a little info about myself. My name is Philip Armstrong, i am 32 years old, at present i am based in the UK, but will be relocating to your Province in a couple of weeks.I am a social and friendly person, i drink occassionally and a non smoker. i like meeting people,i am an introvert by nature and i get along with most people easily,i dont party too much,i'll be coming soon and my reason for moving is because i have a job offer and the pay is very good,i will be working as a DataBase Administrator on oracle,I can assure you that you will not have any regrets letting out your apartment to me & having me as a room mate.I will be coming over alone,with no family or pets.if you need any other information please feel free to ask,you can contact me by email philarmstrong2681@gmail.com... thanks and hope to hear from you soon

yours with all sincerity

Philip Armstrong
(you can call me on +44-703-592-2943 or +44-703-598-3472)
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April 30th
From: mannywood@gmail.com
To: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com

Hi Philip,

Sounds like you would be a great fit to be the 3rd person in our house! We are very much like you, social, friendly, drink occasionally and non-smokers. The room would be perfect for you because it is fully furnished (it even has a tv) so you don't have to worry about finding furnishings once you're here, and the house is literally 30 seconds or less from the subway, so you will have an easy time getting around toronto. Are you coming here in may?

You can give me a call or email me back anytime!

Sincerely,
Manny
416-555-5555
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May 2nd
From: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com
To: mannywood@gmail.com

Hello Manny,

thank you so much for your quick response to my mail,bear with me that i didn't get back to you on time.i just want you to know that i won't be arriving until some few weeks from now but i just want to make sure that i secure a place before my arrival so that i won't have any problems settling down upon my arrival as this is my first time that i'll be coming to North America where i kno w nobody,but just to let you know how serious i am about having your place,once we reach a compromise i'll get in touch with my employers who will be making payment on my behalf to you as deposit for the first month rent and damage deposit.I wont be bringing much over as i intend to buy most afresh upon my arrival,but i am planning on shipping my car,my PC will be coming with me surely & other personal belongings.If this is ok with you, kindly mail me back your name to make out the payment in & your address to have it sent to. I will be needing your phone number as well, so i can call you & we can discuss more on this issue or any other issues. less i forget,i'll like to see some pics of your place and i want to know if there's a parking space /garage where i can park my car?hope to hear from you soon a prompt and positive response

Yours with all sincerity
PHILIP ARMSTRONG

(you can call me on +44-703-592-2943 or +44-703-598-3472)

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember,amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic"
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May 3rd
From: mannywood@gmail.com
To: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com

Philip,

Good to hear you're still interested. Parking is indeed available. I've attached some pictures of the available room and some of the rest of the house. Sorry that the pics aren't of that high a quality, I took them with my phone.

The only problem I can see is that we are looking for someone to move in as soon as possible as we don't want to go without a paying tenant. Are you willing to pay for the entire month of may? If so we will absolutely reserve the space for you as soon as we receive the payment from your work.

The payment should be made out to Manny Mannyman for $550.
The exact address is 123 Fake St.
And if you have any other questions or I forgot to address something don't hesitate to write back or call me at 555-5555.

Sincerely,
Manny
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May 3rd
From: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com
To: mannywood@gmail.com

Hello Manny,

thank you so much for that piece of information,i will forward it to my employers ASAP but before that,i just want to bring it to your notice that you forgot to include your postal/zip code in the information you mailed me in your previous mail,i will really appreciate it if you check it out and get back to me as soon as you can so as to avoid further delays...hope to read from you soon.thank you

PHILIP ARMSTRONG
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May 3rd
From: mannywood@gmail.com
To: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com

Philip,

Our full address is:

123 Fake St.
Fake City, Fake Province
123 abc

Please make out any payments to Manny Mannywood.

Sincerely,
Manny
555-5555
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May 4th
From: mannywood@gmail.com
To: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com

Philip,

Another person has shown interest in the room and is interested in moving in Wednesday or Thursday. If you can get us the cheque for May in the next couple days we can save the room for you but if not and another person wants to take the room we'll have to give it to them. I'm sorry to pressure you, don't take it personally, but we have to ensure we get payment for May.

Let me know how you'd like to proceed.

Sincerely,

Manny
555-5555
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May 5th
From: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com
To: mannywood@gmail.com

Hello Manny,

i am so sorry i have not being in touch with you for a while,i have not being around for while now,i was out of town to tend to my mum who is very sick(she has cervical cancer),the doctors said she would have to be operated upon anytime soon so as to prevent further damage to her life and health and i just got back today.prior to our discussion,i beackon on you to exercise a little more patience,your payment is already being processed and it will get to you sometimes this week and once it's ready to be sent out to you i will mail you the tracking number of the courier service that will deliver the payment to you so you can track it on their website and know when the payment will arrive...i have also instructed my shipper to get in touch with you as regards the shipping of my personal effects over to your place and he'll be needing some certain informations,i will really appreciate if you assit in the best possible way you can.for authentication,his name is Mr Elliot Burger and his email address is:elliotburgershipper@gmail.com,he will contact you shortly.thank you so much for your co-operation and support and i look forward to hearing from you soon a prompt and positive response.

PHILIP ARMSTRONG
(you can call me on +44-703-592-2943)

PS:your payment will get to you this week unfailingly,it's has already being prepared and ready to be sent out so you don't have to worry about the payment issue i promise i won't dissappoint you in any way.i am really sorry for any inconveniences or whatsoever i might have cos'd you ok...i will try and give you a call later today so we can discuss more about this issue and others
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Later that day I actually did receive a call from him. He had a strange accent and the connection was not good. There was a delay after I would speak so that there was 3-5 seconds of silence before he would respond to anything I said. On three or four occasions he said "I like you, you sound great, I like you"
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May 5th
From: mannywood@gmail.com
To: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com

Philip,

We will save the room for you. And I have been contacted by Mr. Burger who requested our mailing address. I have a few questions for you.

1. When will you be arriving?
2. When will your shipped items arrive?

Sincerely,
Manny
555-5555
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May 7th
From: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com
To: mannywood@gmail.com

Hello Manny,

I am very sorry for not keeping you posted about developments yesterday ,my mum is due for an operation today( she has cervical cancer) and I had to be by her side all through to give her my morale support as she is the only parent I have and I am also her only child.Well,I am glad to inform you that my employer(Mrs Samatha Matherson) has made out payment in your name with a Royal Bank bank draft,i just learnt that it was sent by regular mail(canadapost),it was sent on Tuesday(05/05/09) and it is estimated to take about three working days for the payment to be delivered,from my calculation,it should get to you before this week runs out,so you can keep watch and let me know when you receive the payment ok.
Regarding the shipping of my personal effects(my car and others) I will appreciate it if you get in touch with my shipper.For authentication,his name is Mr Elliot Burger and email address: elliotburgershipper@gmail.com, he will be needing certain shipping details from you so my effects can get to Canada safely.Thanks and God bless

PHILIP ARMSTRONG
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May 8th
From: mannywood@gmail.com
To: philarmstrong2681@gmail.com

Philip,

I'm sorry to hear about the difficult situation with your mother.

Your shipper, Mr. Burger, has only been in touch with me once, through email, to request our mailing address, which I provided. I have not heard from him since that time. If he wants to discuss anything with me, he is welcome to contact me directly, you have both my phone number and email address.

In regards to your first months rent payment, we did indeed receive the $5000 money order. However, we are not comfortable getting involved in the financial transactions between yourself, your employer and shipper. Additionally, the details of your email are not correct, as there is no damage deposit. Please have the correct amount ($550 or $1100 if you won't be here for June 1st to give us June rent directly) sent to us as soon as possible, and let us know what you would like us to do with the $5000 money order (hold on to it for you? destroy it? send it back?, etc.)

Not to be insensitive Philip, but neither myself or my roommate are going to be able to assist you with working out the details and logistics of your move, you are going to have to take care of these matters yourself.

If you have any further questions or concerns please call me.

Sincerely,
Manny
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This is where the story ends for now...

I've contacted the police and my hope is that by leaving my last email sort of open-ended, they might be able to continue the conversation with "Philip" and perhaps find a way to track him or her.

And the morale of the story is....

we're still looking for a roommate.