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This note was recieved by the Rensselaer Union in regards to scam attempts of local area landlords: I am a landlord who owns a property on 4th Street. I was recently involved in a check scam. A young lady from Nigeria said she was attending RPI and was looking for a place to live off campus. Her father then contacted me saying he would be the person sending her rent each month. I sent her the lease and other paperwork with no reply. She never filled it out or returned it to me. A month and a half or so after our initial contact, I received a money order for $3500. By that time, I had already contacted them saying I could not wait any longer on the paper work or payment and that I was renting the apartment to another tenant. They said that was fine, but to deposit the check, because it was in my name, and keep a months rent for the delay an inconvenience, and to send the balance to them by western union. As I waited for the check to clear from the bank, the bank called me to say there was a problem with the check. The check was counterfeit. I had to go to the bank and tell the where the check came from. I made copies of all the correspondence I had with the so-call tenant and her father and stepfather and filed a police report. I also called RPI and spoke with Office Ruth Vibert informing her of the scam. I am writing you because I want other landlords to be aware. Someone else may not be as lucky as I was. From what I hear, Nigeria is notorious for various types of scams. There was actually a piece on Dateline about it. The names of the 3 contact people in questions are:
While we have taken measures to ensure that only legimate RPI community members get landlord information off of this website, Please be extremely careful in dealings via email, especially those requesting you to send money to third parties.
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