found my new rental

[BillE]

I just got an email from the owner. $700 is a steal! 3bed 2 bath 3car garage on 1/2 acre.

"Hello,
Thanks for the email. I own the house and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer to ( West Africa , Nigeria ) that makes us to leave the house and also we want to sell the house before but due to some resons we decided to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person and God fearing person who can take very good care of the house in our absence.we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own.So for now, I am here in West Africa and will be staying here for the next 3years in our new house and also with the keys of the house for rent, we try to look for an agent that we can give this documents and the keys before we left but could not find, and we as well do not want our house to be used any how in our absence that is why we took it along with us so if you are interested we are goind to shipp it to your location.We came over to Africa for a missionary work, so i hope you will promise us that you will take very good care of the house. So get back to me if you know you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in renting home.Hope you are okay with the price of $700 per month and the security Deposit is $350.Get back to me for the rental application.
You can go and view."

[ira s]

Ah, the old Nigerian rental scam!

[rose-colored-coolaid]

What I don't get is, why do these scammers always say they are going to/from or already in Nigeria of all places? Wouldn't they be better off to use a place nobody automatically connects with scams? Replace Nigeria in your example with Greece and it becomes at least a tad more believable, for instance.

[ira s]

Wouldn't they be better off to use a place nobody automatically connects with scams? Replace Nigeria in your example with Greece and it becomes at least a tad more believable, for instance

Or Norway. Nobody talks about the Norwegian scammers..

[John Butts]

[EconE]

You need to work those 419 emails.

Seriously.

Play along with them and waste their time. The more time of theirs that you waste, the fewer real victims that they can rip off.

Need tips?

[Lake Hills Renter]

That would be wasting my time as well. I have better things to do.

[mukoh]

Tell them you prefer to pay in cash only, and mail them a package of monopoly money.

[SeattleMoose]

Sorry, just beat you to it. I just wired them a $1000 deposit.

[sampai]

[BillE]