Think I'm getting scammed?

[ponyfitness]

My girl and I are going to NYC to celebrate our 1 yr. anniversary. To save some $$$ we went on craigslist and found many ads for people who rent out their apts. for extra cash, and it's cheaper than a hotel room (by about 1/2).

We contacted a few, found a guy who had the weekend we wanted in a good location, booked 3 nights, he asked for a 1 night deposit up front. All done through paypal and email...seems legit. After he got payment he emailed to say the keys and all the info (location, how to get there, etc.) would be in the mail the next day.

A week goes by and no keys. She emails again and he says he put them in the mail a few days late, let him know if they aren't there by the end of the week. It's been another week and still no keys. She emailed him again today to let him know it's getting close to our supposed arrival date (next weekend) and we need to know A) where we're going and B) the keys.

What do you think? Scammer? His email addy is his name (if it's real) and he responded right away to all emails. I'm not sure but I'm preparing to bring down the full force of the internet upon him if he is a scammer. I guess we'll know if he suddenly disappears and gives no contact. Any ideas?

 

[dabuffguy]

My girl and I are going to NYC to celebrate our 1 yr. anniversary. To save some $$$ we went on craigslist and found many ads for people who rent out their apts. for extra cash, and it's cheaper than a hotel room (by about 1/2).

We contacted a few, found a guy who had the weekend we wanted in a good location, booked 3 nights, he asked for a 1 night deposit up front. All done through paypal and email...seems legit. After he got payment he emailed to say the keys and all the info (location, how to get there, etc.) would be in the mail the next day.

A week goes by and no keys. She emails again and he says he put them in the mail a few days late, let him know if they aren't there by the end of the week. It's been another week and still no keys. She emailed him again today to let him know it's getting close to our supposed arrival date (next weekend) and we need to know A) where we're going and B) the keys.

What do you think? Scammer? His email addy is his name (if it's real) and he responded right away to all emails. I'm not sure but I'm preparing to bring down the full force of the internet upon him if he is a scammer. I guess we'll know if he suddenly disappears and gives no contact. Any ideas?

NEVER EVER make an upfront deposit over the internet or through Western union. Especially with a credit card or cash w/ WU. It will bite you in the ass everytime.

 

[heavy_duty]

scammed

 

[HAYEZ]

sounds fishy only because hes sending you the keys upfront.im sure he doesnt have 20 sets of keys laying around and im sure he will not want keys tied up all over with people when your not even arriving till later..why would he do that? any vaction rental i have done you pay deposit...usually half down then when you get there you pay the remainder in cash and recieve your keys then in person....i would tell him either overnight them now or your cancelling the charge on the card with your company

 

[EnderJE]

Yep. Tell you what. Send me $500 and I'll find him for you.

 

[puddlemonkey]

craigslist is chalked full of scammers.

 

[75th]

Pony, since youre planning on being in New York, Im actually selling some real estate. Its a bridge that connects the island to the mainland. I have some toll booths set up that generate a consistent amount of revenue, so you should be able to make a profit within the first few months.

PM me for details.

 

[75th]

But yeah sorry to say that you probably got scammed.

File a police report in his area.

 

[drsketch]

NEVER EVER make an upfront deposit over the internet or through Western union. Especially with a credit card or cash w/ WU. It will bite you in the ass everytime.

+1

I think you got scammed bro.

 

[Beachboy6294]

I've never dealt with craiglist I'm a ebay guy but it sounds like you got scammed. I wouldn't expect anything less from a NYC person! lol

 

[ponyfitness]

Yeah I thought the keys in the mail thing was a little weird. I'm giving him 24 hours to respond to the email asking for the addy where we're staying and a phone number. Then I'm sending all the info I have to 4chan and letting those guys go postal on his ass. I already verified that there are 3-5 people under the name his email is under living in Manhattan so he wouldn't be hard to track down.

We can charge back the cc amount and it's not a big amount so no big deal but the hassle is we have to scramble for another place to stay which sucks.

Then when I get there I can go to every address registered and start beatdowns.

 

[ortiz34]

sounds fishy

wish it smelled fishy

 

[SpyWizard]

sorry about that.. you can stay with me.. pics of gf are required though before i send her.. i mean you the keys..

jk..

the world is think with scammers.. try buying a car, there are way too many people that will take your money for nothing.. claiming to use e-bay as the clearing house for hte cash..

ebay says "we don't do that"

 

[Smurfy]

why would you pay money for a rental and you dont even have the address?

 

[nimbus]

he sent the keys to your gf and is gonna bone her on your special day

 

[heatherrae]

You were had.

 

[drsketch]

I deal with people on CL all the time, however I would never blindly send money to someone.

 

[calveless wonder]

dude...you would really go to that extent to save some coin on a hotel?

Now you lost more money than you began with. i know thats not what you want to hear but hopefully you learned a lesson.

you can find certain hotels that wouldn't kill you too bad (relatively speaking) for NYC

 

[txbondsman]

I hope the keys come and everything works out. Go ahead and make other reservations and hope for the best.
Don't let it ruin your weekend.

 

[heavy_duty]

Yeah I thought the keys in the mail thing was a little weird. I'm giving him 24 hours to respond to the email asking for the addy where we're staying and a phone number. Then I'm sending all the info I have to 4chan and letting those guys go postal on his ass. I already verified that there are 3-5 people under the name his email is under living in Manhattan so he wouldn't be hard to track down.

We can charge back the cc amount and it's not a big amount so no big deal but the hassle is we have to scramble for another place to stay which sucks.

Then when I get there I can go to every address registered and start beatdowns.

Post up his info here on EF

 

[Lestat]

hope you didn't get owned bro

 

[wootoom]

no

 

[ponyfitness]

Post up his info here on EF

Don't worry, if it doesn't work out his info will be on every hacker board I can find.

And yes, to save $100 a night when there are literally dozens of listings like this one it was worth it. We might have just picked a bad one. Seems like every hotel in midtown is $200 a night minimum, even the Econo Lodge. $500 is a lot of food/entertainment money.

 

[ponyfitness]

Update: He emailed and gave the addy and a phone number, which we're going to verify tomorrow. He also established payment protocols for when we get there (his brother in law lives down the street). And he also said if worse comes to worse we can pick up a set of keys from the same guy.

I'm feeling pretty good and if we can verify the phone # then I'll be pretty sure we're okay.

 

[SpyWizard]

so he's going to scam you, then send you down the street to be mugged by his buddy?? dude..

 

[digimon7068]

NEVER EVER make an upfront deposit over the internet or through Western union FOR ANYTHING BUT TEH J00SE. Especially with a credit card or cash w/ WU. It will bite you in the ass everytime.

fixed. . .

 

[txbondsman]

Update: He emailed and gave the addy and a phone number, which we're going to verify tomorrow. He also established payment protocols for when we get there (his brother in law lives down the street). And he also said if worse comes to worse we can pick up a set of keys from the same guy.

I'm feeling pretty good and if we can verify the phone # then I'll be pretty sure we're okay.

be careful, but it does sound better...