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Scammy Email Gems

Here at PadMapper, our servers automatically screen emails that go through PadLister, to monitor for scams, and ban listers who send scammy emails. Before we ban them, though, we have to review them by hand to make sure we don’t ban a legitimate person by accident. Because of this, we get to see a lot of pretty fun emails from various scammers, like this gem, from a “Robotic Programmer&Welder/Fitter” who is looking for a tenant who is a “clean freak and does not tolerate anything that has to do with dirty”.

We are pleased that you have an interest in our house, Our lovely home is
still available for lease and we want responsible adults/family who are neat and also believe that they have what it takes to take care of our house as if it were theirs. My wife and I initially had it up for sale but had a change of mind in leasing it out ourselves because the agent that was in charge of our rental property was asking too much of an agent fee and also making it difficult for people who cannot afford the rent, stay away from renting my house.

The reason why our house is up for lease is because I got transferred
from my place of work to Texas, I will be away with my family for at least 4 years because of the love I have for them, I have decided not to sell our house and also assuring them that we only have few years to spend here and will be willing to lease it out to person/family who is willing to assure us of taking absolute care of our home and pay their rent on time. I will start by telling you more in regards me and my family. I have a daughter named Leslie (20yrs) who attends University of Texas as a medical student, she has a lot going for her and she is also down to earth in all that she does to keep us happy and when she is back home on vacation, she also assist her mom in the house work when am at work. I work as a Robotic Programmer & Welder/Fitter here in Texas and got married to a lovely wife who is a member of Joyce Meyer Ministries. We will be very pleased if we can find the right tenant to rent our home, a person who is a clean freak and does not tolerate anything that has to do with dirty… We also would like to know more about you and your family, your renting experience and how long and when you plan moving into our home.

We see a lot of emails that look almost exactly like this, with some minor variations. The big giveaway, besides the long rambling story meant to make you trust them, is that they tell you that they’ve been transferred, which means that they’re not around to show you the house. If you see that in an email, that’s almost always a dead giveaway that it’s a scam. In the next email, if you respond, they’ll ask you to send them money, in exchange for sending the keys, often through some service that they try to pass off as a reputable source. They’ll even offer you a substantial discount (30%) if you pay for 3 or 6 months up front. Sounds like a great deal, but in reality, you don’t get anything out of it except a lighter bank account.

As a rule of thumb, you should never put down money to rent a place without seeing the inside of it first – if you live far away from the place you’re moving to, it’s almost always worth it to rent a place on Airbnb for a week to live in while you tour around and pick a longer term place to live.