Booking Arrangement
A few days ago I received this email. I don’t provide holiday accommodation and the language used made it an obvious scam. I know how these hotel scams work. The scammer says they are going to send you more money that you have asked for and asks you to send some of the money to a third party. If you fall for the scam you will be left out of pocket with no way of recovering the money you have forwarded.
This scammer didn’t disappoint.
First email
Good day
I will be coming for holiday in your place with my wife from United state of America and i will like to know if your property will be available for the month of April,i will want you to get back to me to confirm the availability of the dates below:
Arrival Date: 1 April 20177
Departure Date: 8 April 2017
I hope to read back from you with the availability of the dates and the total price for two adult and we are also flexible with date
Greetings Family Taylor Mathew
Notice that the scammer claims to be coming to “your place”. They have no idea where you are or what kind of accommodation you provide.
I couldn’t resist – I replied that we had several places and asked which he wanted.
His reply?
It’s Okay.
Am waiting to hear from you with total price for two adult in a week
with any nice one
Thanks
So I sent him a made up list of cottages and prices. His reply?
Hello,
Thanks for getting back to me, i am very happy that you will be able
to rent your accommodation to us,I have discussed this with my wife
and we have agreed to use your place, so i will want you to block
other people from renting this following date:
Arrival Date: 1 April 2017
Departure Date: 8 April 2017
Guest: 2 adult
Rental Amount: Albury cottage, £450
Here is our company’s name below :
Company Name : Oil & Gas Association Ltd
Below is our Name and address where you can send any document:
Name : Taylor Mathew
Home Address: xxxxxx Magnolia Street Magnolia Springs,
AL 36555 Alabama
United State
Tell : +1 (289) 724-5234
Regarding the payment arrangement,I am assuring you that their won’t
be any problem because our company’s associate in Europe would be
paying for our holiday expenses and they have inform me that they will
be making the payment via Euro Check.
The Euro Check that you will receive will be in excess, has Our trip
expenses which include our B.T.A (Basic Travelers Allowance)fee will
be included with the rental fee base on trust. As soon as you have
receive the Euro Check you would have it deposited into you account
for clearance,
you would deduct the rental fee and i will tell you how to send our
trip expenses which include our B.T.A (Basic Travelers Allowance)fee
to my traveling agent so that he can do all paperwork’s, After the
Euro Check has been cleared in your account.
I will appreciate if you can get back to me with the following
information that will be need by our company business associate to
make the payment out to you, so that you can receive the Euro Check as
soon as possible:
Full Name on Euro Check:
Full address:
City:
Zip code
province:
Country :
Telephone Number :
I would be very glad if you can be of a helping hand, I will be
looking forward to read back from you with the information needed
above.
Thanks
Taylor Mathew
Exactly as I suspected. He wants me to send money to his travel agent. I very sweetly replied that we don’t accept cheques but that he is welcome to pay using his credit card via my Paypal account. I sent him a made up email address to use with Paypal.
October 19, 2017 @ 4:20 pm
My email was:
“Good day
I will be coming for holiday in your country with my wife from United state of America and i will like to know if your property will be available for two weeks in the bellow date,i will want you to get back to me to confirm the availability of the dates bellow:
Arrival Date: 9 December 2017
Departure Date: 23 December 2017
I hope to read back from you with the availability of the dates and the total price for two adult and we are also flexible with date.
Greetings
Family Richard Cooper”
May 2, 2017 @ 10:20 am
Also received precisely the same. I’d already replied thanking him for the enquiry and letting them know we only accept bookings via our secure booking facility. If he emails back for anything I’ll just ignore and block.
April 11, 2017 @ 10:27 am
Have just received an almost identical email.
Ran the email address through google and found this thread 🙂
Thanks
April 11, 2017 @ 1:33 am
I just received the same scam email today with June 2017 dates . I didn’t answer it and the scammers should add a little variety becasuse it’s almost word for word.
Thanks
Paul Harris
March 15, 2017 @ 11:22 am
I got exactly the same email today – thank you for posting this, as I almost replied. Have received a number of these in the past:
Good day
I will be coming for holiday in your place with my wife from United state of america and i will like to know if your property will be available for a week in the month of May,i will want you to get back to me to confirm the availability of the dates below:
Arrival Date: 20 May 2017
Departure Date: 27 May 2017
I hope to read back from you with the availability of the dates and the total price for two adult and we are also flexible with date.
Greetings
Family Thomas more
March 14, 2017 @ 12:59 am
Got the same today …..”Coming to your place”
March 9, 2017 @ 5:01 pm
Dear Mr. Matthew
The week you requested we have available only the goat shed or the yurt in the pig enclosure. There is no charge, as this is in trade for the shoveling of the excrement of the animals. We must know in advance how many animals you intend to bring, and if you have your own boots. We do not furnish boots.
March 1, 2017 @ 10:02 am
I am awaiting the next scam email from….
Good day
thomas more [surfraazzz@hotmail.com]
March 1, 2017 @ 9:59 am
I get some of these.
Example bellow from one today!
Good day
I will be coming for holiday in your place with my wife from United state of america and i will like to know if your property will be available for a week in the month of May,i will want you to get back to me to confirm the availability of the dates below:
Arrival Date: 20 May 2017
Departure Date: 27 May 2017
I hope to read back from you with the availability of the dates and the total price for two adult and we are also flexible with date.
Greetings
Family Thomas more
November 19, 2016 @ 7:20 pm
—–Original Message—–
> From: MATTHEW TAYLOR [mailto:taylormatt150@gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday 19 November 2016 07:30
> To: Jack Turner
> Subject: Booking Arrangement
>
> Hello,
>
> Thanks for getting back to me, i am very happy that you will be able
> to rent your accommodation to us,I have discussed this with my wife
> and we have agreed to use your place, so i will want you to block
> other people from renting this following date:
>
> Arrival Date: 1 April 2017
> Departure Date: 8 April 2017
> Guest: 2 adult
> Rental Amount: 630 Euros
>
> Here is our company’s name below :
> Company Name : Oil & Gas Association Ltd
>
> Below is our Name and address where you can send any document:
>
> Name : Taylor Mathew
> Home Address: 11866b Magnolia Street Magnolia Springs, AL 36555
> Alabama United State Tell : +1 (289) 724-5234
>
> Regarding the payment arrangement,I am assuring you that their won’t
> be any problem because our company’s associate in Europe would be
> paying for our holiday expenses and they have inform me that they will
> be making the payment via Euro Check.
>
> The Euro Check that you will receive will be in excess, has Our trip
> expenses which include our B.T.A (Basic Travelers Allowance)fee will
> be included with the rental fee base on trust. As soon as you have
> receive the Euro Check you would have it deposited into you account
> for clearance,
>
> you would deduct the rental fee and i will tell you how to send our
> trip expenses which include our B.T.A (Basic Travelers Allowance)fee
> to my traveling agent so that he can do all paperwork’s, After the
> Euro Check has been cleared in your account.
>
> I will appreciate if you can get back to me with the following
> information that will be need by our company business associate to
> make the payment out to you, so that you can receive the Euro Check as soon as possible:
>
> Full Name on Euro Check:
> Full address:
> City:
> Zip code
> province:
> Country :
> Telephone Number :
>
> I would be very glad if you can be of a helping hand, I will be
> looking forward to read back from you with the information needed above.
>
> Thanks
> Taylor Mathew
>
> On 11/17/16, Jack Turner wrote:
>> Hi Matthew
>> ,The total price for the 7 nights including breakfast will be 630
>> Euros
>>
>> Many Thanks
>>
>> &
>>
>> Kind Regards
>>
>> Jack @ Avoca House
>>
>> Phone: 00353-18302014
>> Mobile: 00353-862245494
>> http://www.avocahouse.ie/
>>
>>
>>
>> —–Original Message—–
>> From: MATTHEW TAYLOR [mailto:taylormatt150@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Thursday 17 November 2016 12:29
>> To: avocahouse@outlook.com
>> Subject: confirmation
>>
>> It’s Okay.
>> Am waiting to hear from you with total price for two adult in a week
>> Thanks
>>
>> On 11/15/16, avocahouse@outlook.com wrote:
>>> Hi Matthew,
>>> We have availability on these nights. You can book on
>>> my web site.
>>>
>>> Many Thanks
>>>
>>> &
>>>
>>> Kind Regards
>>>
>>> Jack @ Avoca House
>>>
>>> Phone: 00353-18302014
>>> Mobile: 00353-862245494
>>> http://www.avocahouse.ie/
>>>
>>> [Avoca_House_Logotype_Horizontal_04]
>>>
>>> From: Taylor Mathew [mailto:surfraazzz@hotmail.com]
>>> Sent: Wednesday 16 November 2016 10:36
>>> Subject: Holiday accommodation
>>>
>>> Good day
>>>
>>> I will be coming for holiday in your place with my wife from
>>> United state of America and i will like to know if your property
>>> will be available for the month of April,i will want you to get back
>>> to me to confirm the availability of the dates below:
>>>
>>> Arrival Date: 1 April 20177
>>> Departure Date: 8 April 2017
>>>
>>> I hope to read back from you with the availability of the dates
>>> and the total price for two adult and we are also flexible with date
>>>
>>> Greetings Family Taylor Mathew
November 19, 2016 @ 7:19 pm
Got exactly the same email this week