I'm Being Stalked by a 29-year-old Model

Recently, I've been advertising a room for rent in my house using the modern wonder Craigslist. Occasionally I receive an e-mail inquiry from a model from a foreign country. Just today, I received the following email, written (of course) in all capital letters:

From: "julian scott" julian_0030@yahoo.com

HELLO,

I`M JULIAN SCOTT 29 YR OLD MODEL, I HAVE BEEN OUT THE STATES FOR A WHILE NOW AND I AM WILLING TO MOVE BACK TO THE STATES, I AM LOOKING FOR A PLACE WHERE I CAN START LIFE ALLOVER AGAIN I NEED A ROOMATE I CAN CALL MY FRIEND AND PROBABLY CONFIDANT I AM SINGLE AND FRIENDLY I AM HUMBLE AND NICE, I HAVE GONE THRU HARDTIMES AND I WANNA JUST START ALLOVER AGAIN I SAW UR ADVERT AND I THOUGHT TO EMAIL YOU IF U HAVE A PLACE FOR ME OR WOULD LIKE TO BE MY ROOMIE, I WOULD LIKE TO RECIEVE AN EMAIL FROM YOU SOON COS I WOULD LOVE TO MOVE IN THIS MONTH,I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO COME SEE THE PLACE MY SELF BUT I AM NOT PRESENTLY IN THE STATES AND WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT SO I WOULD BE TRUSTING THE DESCRIPTION ABOTHE AMOUNT WILL BE ISSUE ON THE CHECK IS $3200 COS THAT IS THE AMOUNT MY EX BOSS WANT TO PAY ME THAT IS WHY AND AS SOON AS U GET THE CHECK DEDUCT UR MONEY U WILL SEND THE REST TO MY AGENT SO THAT HE CAN MAKE AN ARRANGEMENT TO MY TICKET SO THAT I CAN BE ABLE TO COME OVER TO MY APARTMENT THANKS MAIL BACK AS SOON AS U RECEIVE THIS MAIL THANKS

Apparently this "woman" was never introduced to punctuation; that is one hell of a long sentence.

In addition, it is very suspicious that someone would send a check in an amount more than four times the rent. What will likely happen is that an innocent landlord will cash an expensive international check that will take some time to clear. Thereafter, it will come back as unpayable sometime after the victim has wired his own money to the scammer. I simply wrote back: "Hi, I'm not interested in people who use ALL CAPS in their emails."

But she wouldn't give up. A while later, I received an instant message and didn't recognize the sender:

julianpretty: Hi [Of course she's "julianpretty"-- to remind you that she's a model after all]

Libertarian Republican: Hi--- If you're trying to sell me something i'm not interested.

julianpretty: This is julian scott that emal you about your rooom that is available

Libertarian Republican: Right-- I see the email now. It looks like a scam.

julianpretty: Oh..What do you mean by scam

Libertarian Republican: Oh, defraud people out of money, that sort of thing. LOL Believe me, your ad is suspicious. Don't bother CraigsList people with such. If you really are who you say you are, get a cheap hotel room and then find a place to stay once you are here.

Libertarian Republican: Well, what do you have to say for yourself?

julianpretty: What?

Libertarian Republican: I mean, aren't you a criminal? LOL

Libertarian Republican: If you are who you say you are, drop me an email when you are in the states and I'll buy you a drink. Otherwise, I'll know you are a criminal. What do you have to say about that? I'm posting our Conversation on Craigslist. So speak now.

Well, my would-be dream model roommate Julian Scott had no response. However, fraud is no joking matter. It can happen anywhere. eBay is a notorious hotbed for fraud. Craigslist is merely the latest forum. More Craigslist scams, including one with the same message from Julian, reported here.