Scam Scare

Leif and I traded one of our weeks to Breckenridge Colorado for a trip in November. The idea was that we would go and spend sometime by ourselves and then Malo, Yvonne, and the kiddos would meet us out there a little later in the week. However, fate had different plans! Malo and Yvonne are moving to Spokane...so our little vacation to Colorado didn't seem like it would be that practical anymore.

I posted our week on craigslist in the Denver area, I recieved a couple of emails from people that were interested, and then I received this one

Thanks for your prompt response.I have discussed this with my Wife about this and we have agreed to use your place starting from 16th of Nov to 23rd Nov 2008 and as for the cost, we are alright with it. You can send me the lease application , to enable me to review it ahead of time. I would eventually have it signed physically when i arrive. In my opinion, appending signataries should be done properly and at best physically.


You can prepare the lease in my my name Dave Breaken, My wife work with a company in the state because she is in Gary,Indiana and Also about the payment My Wife's employers will be the one responsible for all our our vacation expenses as a wedding gift and they have promised to send you a certified check as soon as you have penned these dates down for us. Kindly email me your full name,physical address, home and cell phone number so that the payment can be mailed out to you soon.And we are just two coming over .
Here is my information bellow please use this information to book me for
those date.

First Name Dave Breaken
Address:2345 Ralston st
Gary Indiana


Waiting to read from you.Have a great week ahead.

Dave Breaken
Coldwell Banker Schmitt RE Co. Lower Keys Office
Office: 206-666-3918
Fax: 305-872-4220
2345 Ralston st,Gary Indiana


My first reaction was, that this guy had very poor grammar. But the emails went back and forth and then he said his wifes company was going to send us a check for the room and that it was going to be for more than the room so could we please wire the remaining back to his travel agent. Ahhh?? Okay??? That was when the warning bells started ringing. We received a check (which even to my eye looked fake) in the mail (overnight delivery from FLORIDA..this guy says he is in Indiana) for 3,055.63. Whoa. We were asking $750 for the week. I immedialtey got on craigslist and checked out their "Avoiding Scams" tab here is what they had to say:

2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check

you receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent your apartment, sight unseen.
cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or for just about anything else of value.
value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to "trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)

4. distant person offers to send you a money order and then have you wire money:

this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check is FAKE
sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check
deal often seems too good to be true

I have a good excuse

My camera is busted. We really have no extra money to be throwing around...that all goes to the MONEY PIT aka our house. So I am sharing my mom's camera and hopefully I'll have some new pictures up soon. So much has happened (which is understandable as it has been a month) But new posts are in the future ;)

House Update

These pictures are from Tuesday, a lot of work is being done. I am starting to get so excited!

Whitefish Montana

Leif and I went along for a business trip to Montana with my parents. Tim and Nicole also came and we had a blast. Instead of writing a ton about it, I'll just post a slide show and you can take it all in!! Most of the pictures in the slide show are Nicole's, so the kudos on the pics go to her!!

Silverwood

After meeting up with Tim and Nicole at the Airport and picket up our totally hot ride ( a mini-van) we headed towards Whitefish Montant. However, we saw something along the way that was too good to pass up!! Silverwood is right along the freeway; the rollercoasters looked like they could give us the excitement and neck pain we needed for a long sit in the car. We also ended up running into my two sisters and their families that were they too by chance! So we had a mini-10 minute family reunion in Silverwood! Ha!

Summer is Slowing Down

Our last big trip of the summer has come and gone. I will blog about our fun filled trip to Whitefish Montana in a bit. I thought I would share my favorite picture of the trip while I am blogging about that. Nicole took this one. Isn't my son gorgeous?!?!?

House Update