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How to Spot a Scam

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Avoid James Burrows, Cindy Sarne, and Darren White

The following low lifes should be avoided when possible:

Name: James Burrows
Ph: 210-209-8524


Name: Cindy Sarne
Associate: Sandra Woods
Tactic: Factitious Landlord


Name: Darren White
email: unknown

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad I Googled the name before replying to the e-mail! I knew it smelled funny. For me, the biggest tip-off in these scams is the long personal introduction.

Here's the e-mail I was sent:

Thanks for your response. My name is Cindy Sarne and I wish to inform you that the apartment 85 Livingston Street, Brooklyn NY 11201 (Interior: 875 sq. ft. (approx.), Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights) is still available and belongs to my husband and I. We apologize for the slight delay in responding to your enquiry. We just received some news from our representative (Sandra Woods) who is presently in Chicago had a little accident so we are handling the leasing ourselves.


However, we are very busy people and we will not like to take much of your time, therefore I will go straight to breaking down the terms and conditions that apply to the apartment.

My husband and myself have our preferences in given out the apartment. This means we could be a bit choosy but we apologies in advance if it seems to be rather harsh. The apartment is furnished as you can see from the picture attached but most of the furnitures has been move into the store room. The furnitures could be replaced if you like. We are looking out for a responsible person, preferably single. If we accept any married couple, we cannot accept above two kids. In the case of married couple, they will accept full responsibility for property damages during their stay. Pets are allowed and we may be given out the apartment at a very low and reasonable price but we are given it out for a minimum period of at least 3 months starting from August or preferably a longer lease period to as much as 5 years lease. Since we cleared the apartment for renovation on February, we have not been in New York due to business. Myself and my husband relocated to England, so we will be given out the apartment for a long duration at $700 month rate (Utilities included). Our priority is taken a responsible, careful, understanding and reasonable tenant that will take good care of the property, since we will be away for most of the period.

We do not have time for games so we suggest that if you are not serious about the apartment, you try somewhere else. My time is very valuable and my husband is a very busy person but he will like to still speak with you over the telephone before any arrangement for you to inspect the apartment because we cannot just give attention to everyone that is interested in the apartment. My husband's full names are Joseph Sarne, Telephone: +44 702 402 0801. Call only if you are serious about taken the apartment and let us know how long you will like to have the apartment to help us make our decision. If satisfied, we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys of the house to you to inspect. We will like to know you better to help us take our decision on the apartment therefore, in your response, kindly tell us a little about yourself like your names, hobbies, current address, your present occupation, marital status, if you like pets and why you want to take the apartment?

As soon as we hear from you, we will contact you with more details.

Anonymous said...

I received the same exact email! Thank goodness I googled Cindy Sarne before wiring anything or going any further with the process. Here is the email I received...

Thanks for your response. My name is CindySarne and I wish to inform you that the apartment 253 West 73rd Street, New York NY 10023 (Interior: 815 sq. ft. (approx.), Neighborhood: Upper West Side) is still available and belongs to my husband and I. We apologize for the slight delay in responding to your enquiry. We just received some news from our representative (Sandra Woods) who is presently in Chicago had a little accident so we are handling the leasing ourselves.



However, we are very busy people and we will not like to take much of your time, therefore I will go straight to breaking down the terms and conditions that apply to the apartment.

My husband and myself have our preferences in given out the apartment. This means we could be a bit choosy but we apologies in advance if it seems to be rather harsh. The apartment is furnished as you can see from the picture attached but most of the furnitures has been move into the store room. The furnitures could be replaced if you like. We are looking out for a responsible person, preferably single........ If we accept any married couple, we cannot accept aboveone kid.. In the case of married couple, they will accept full responsibility for property damages during their stay. Pets are allowed and we may be given out the apartment at a very low and reasonable price but we are given it out for a minimum period of at least 3 months startingfromAugustor preferably a longer lease period to as much as 5 years lease. Since we cleared the apartment for renovation on February, we have not been in New York due to business. Myself and my husband relocated to England, so we will be given out the apartment for a long duration at $620 month rate (Utilities included). Our priority is taken a responsible, careful, understanding and reasonable tenant that will take good care of the property, since we will be away for most of the period.


We do not have time for games so we suggest that if you are not serious about the apartment, you try somewhere else. My time is very valuable and my husband is a very busy person but he will like to still speak with you over the telephone before any arrangement for you to inspect the apartment because we cannot just give attention to everyone that is interested in the apartment. My husband's full names are Joseph Sarne, Telephone: +44 702 402 0801. Call only if you are serious about taken the apartment and let us know how long you will like to have the apartment to help us make our decision. If satisfied, we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys of the house to you to inspect. We will like to know you better to help us take our decision on the apartment therefore, in your response, kindly tell us a little about yourself like your names, hobbies, current address, your present occupation, marital status, if you like pets and why you want to take the apartment?

As soon as we hear from you, we will contact you with more details.

Cindy

licemam said...

Thanks to this blog, i also avoided being scammed by that Cindy Sarne. I responded to her ad on craigslist 3 days ago, and from the first email i thought it was a true ad. But then i was alerted by the 2nd email because she asked too many personal info, was out of the country and couldnt meet me in person. Here are the emails, i hope this will help someone else not being scammed by her!

Email 1:
I received your mail stating your interest in our apartment located at 253 West 73rd Street, New York NY 10023. Interior: 1050 sq. ft. (approx.) Neighborhood: Upper West Side.
My name is Cynthia Sarne. My husband and I have our preferences in giving out the apartment. Presently, we are collating a list of interested applicants out of which the most responsible applicant(s) will be given the apartment.
Our priority is taking a responsible, careful, understanding and reasonable tenant that will take good care of the property.
The above criteria are very important as we intend to leave you in full charge of the apartment for the period we are away. My husband and I just relocated to the UK with our kid recently due to business. We have a contract here that would last for 8 yrs. Thus the minimum period which we intend to lease out the apartment is 3 months starting from September while the maximum is 8 years. Hence you are guaranteed to stay in the apartment between 3 months and 8yrs.
The apartment is in excellent condition as you can see from the pictures attached herein.
Note that only serious and responsible applicants will be taken seriously. It is therefore your responsibility to prove to us that you are the right person to whom we should hand over our property.
I do apologize if I sound too strict but I am sure you realize that we are giving out the apartment at a most affordable rate i.e. $600 month rate (Utilities included are electricity, water and heat) so you will be conscious of your responsibility to take good care of the apartment for us if given the opportunity.
You are advised to contact my husband via telephone as he will like to speak with you before we proceed with viewing arrangements. In addition you may send us all necessary details we need to know about yourself which will convince us that you are perfect tenant for us. These details should include your full names, current address, your present occupation, marital status, if you like pets and why you want to take the apartment.
My husband's full name and telephone number: Joseph Sarne; Tel: +44 701 113 5369.
More details will be communicated to you as soon as we get your response.
Regards
Cindy

licemam said...

Here's the 2nd email from Cindy Sarne.

Email 2:
Dear,
Personally, I will like to just give you the apartment without asking any additional questions because I am quite satisfied with your profile but I will have to further discuss the issue with my husband. You are not the first person approaching us for the place so I do appreciate a high level of seriousness because our schedule is very tight. We would like to conclude with the leasing process to focus on our regular business activities as soon as possible. It is because of our business we had to relocate to the UK in the first place.
There maybe a little problem but I will try to work things out with my husband. He bought the apartment because he normally does business in New York but we just want to lease it for the period we will be out of the states. This will be at least 8 years or more. My husband was considering selling off the property but changed his mind because we still have other long term plans for the place. We would like to know the exact duration you want to sign up for the apartment. We wish to start leasing starting September. I suggest you find time to call to discuss further {+44-792-400-3256}.
Like I told you before that this is not about the money, which is why our price is very reasonable. The apartment had just been renovated with security access system installed. We just need someone to take good care of the apartment while we are away. I am very concerned about the state of my kitchen and bathroom. Some of the furniture had been moved to the store room under lock and key. This could be placed back if you like but I will also discuss that with my husband.
We intend to start collection of the rental fee of your duration after you have seen the place. We would probably use my husband's Chase account to facilitate the transaction. However, there is nobody there that will show you the place unless we make arrangement to send you the keys along with copies of the house documents, security access code, tenancy agreement and other lease signing papers.
I will try to talk to my husband today about sending you the keys and documents but you will need to scan us some form of your id or reference before we do that, preferably send us your work id, student id, driver's license or state's id to verify your identification.
Alternatively, you can scan your letter of employment or admission letter as reference. The insured cost of shipping is also about £133 pounds. More so, after viewing the apartment, if you do not like it, you will also be responsible for sending us back our keys and documents.
If you are okay with this arrangement, get back to us with your feedback.
Regards,
Cindy

Unknown said...

I found several more check scammers on craigslist:

glenkenneth@gmail.com
associated "mover" :
Sabrina Parker
4406 Chambers Rd
Macon,GA 12063

gstacey68@gmail.com
ddbull000005@gmail.com
deizbullitt2@gmail.com
frankcolem@gmail.com
kelvinbaileys@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Avoid Cindy Hall, My wife was buying steeler tickets for my birthday wired them money to UK and the tickets never came. But they got their money.

Anonymous said...

also avoid beryl cleary berylcleary@live.co.uk

same e-mail as above

Anonymous said...

Cindy has morphed into Cate Cleary advertising in the Village Voice for an apartment at 85 Livingstone St. Brooklyn, NY

I didn't send any money, but I suggested they send me the keys and documents beforehand. I'm curious if I'll hear back.

Cate Cleary is a SCAMMER. SEND NO MONEY!

Hello,

Personally, I will like to just give you the apartment without asking any additional questions because I am quite satisfied with your profile but I will have to further discuss the issue with my husband. You are not the first person approaching us for the place so I do appreciate a high level of seriousness because our schedule is very tight. We would like to conclude with the leasing process to focus on our regular business activities as soon as possible. It is because of our business we had to relocate to the UK in the first place.

There maybe a little problem but I will try to work things out with my husband. He bought the apartment because he normally does business in New York but we just want to lease it for the period we will be out of the states. This will be at least 8 years or more. My husband was considering selling off the property but changed his mind because we still have other long term plans for the place. We would like to know the exact duration you want to sign up for the apartment. We wish to start leasing starting from April/May.

Like I told you before that this is not about the money, which is why our price is very reasonable. The apartment had just been renovated with security access system installed. We just need someone to take good care of the apartment while we are away. I am very concerned about the state of my kitchen and bathroom. Some of the furniture had been moved to the store room under lock and key. This could be placed back if you like but I will also discuss that with my husband.

We intend to start collection of the rental fee of your duration after you have seen the place. We would probably use my husband's Chase account to facilitate the transaction. However, there is nobody there that will show you the place unless we make arrangement to send you the keys along with copies of the house documents, security access code, tenancy agreement and other lease signing papers.

I will try to talk to my husband today about sending you the keys and documents but you will need to scan us some form of your id or reference before we do that, preferably send us your work id, student id, driver's license or state's id to verify your identification.

Alternatively, you can scan your letter of employment or admission letter as reference. The insured cost of shipping is also about £133 pounds. More so, after viewing the apartment, if you do not like it, you will also be responsible for sending us back our keys and documents.

If you are okay with this arrangement, get back to us with your feedback. You can reach my husband on this number +44 792 457 0656.

Regards,

Cate

Anonymous said...

In this email, she requests that the money be wired to London, even after I told her I wouldn't pay anything until I received the documents. this is Cleary a SCAM. Don't send money.

Also, the address provided belongs to:
Impac Associates
Suite 514 Linen Hall 162-168 Regent Street, London, W1B 5TF

p: 02070383956 f: 02070383957

However, a search of this business reveals nothing. It's also bogus.

Hello,

I presume my photos give a sufficient impression of the apartment and I guess you have made up your mind on what you want, so I will like to just see the outcome of this so I can conclude with you at once. My husband had accepted you to occupy the apartment upon confirmation of your details and we will go ahead in sending you your keys along with the security codes to access the apartment. These are the items we will be sending to you along with instructions.

I may place other people requesting for the same apartment on hold because my husband had told me that I should give your request more consideration and conclude with you first.

We have already bought a house here in England so you can have the apartment for a very long period if it suits you. We will give you at least 1 year notice if there is any change but I am sure it is not going to happen in the next 6 to 8 years. We expect you to state the payment plan that may suit you.

I also suggest you send the cost of the delivery which is about $215 or £133 equivalent via western union in my husband's personal assistant's name and confirm the details to me via email. We would have preferred you to make payment on delivery but we have to take a comprehensive insurance to cover the parcel due to its sensitivity which sums up to $190. This is why you were asked to send us the cost of delivery.

The actual cost of shipping the parcel cost $25 dollars with FedEx but my husband have decided to take a compressive insurance on the package due to the sensitivity of the documents which cost $190 dollars. This is because he bought the property over $650,000 dollars so he has to take all necessary precautions.

Name: Ms. Carla Wayne
Address: Suite 514, 162-168 Regent Street, London
Location: London England.

Lastly, after viewing the apartment, if you happen to change your mind on taking it, you will be responsible for the cost of returning all the keys and documents also via courier. We will send all the items as soon as we re-confirm your mailing address and the cost of delivery.

Regards,

Cate

Anonymous said...

In this email, she requests that the money be wired to London, even after I told her I wouldn't pay anything until I received the documents. this is Cleary a SCAM. Don't send money.

Also, the address provided belongs to:
Impac Associates
Suite 514 Linen Hall 162-168 Regent Street, London, W1B 5TF

p: 02070383956 f: 02070383957

However, a search of this business reveals nothing. It's also bogus.

Hello,

I presume my photos give a sufficient impression of the apartment and I guess you have made up your mind on what you want, so I will like to just see the outcome of this so I can conclude with you at once. My husband had accepted you to occupy the apartment upon confirmation of your details and we will go ahead in sending you your keys along with the security codes to access the apartment. These are the items we will be sending to you along with instructions.

I may place other people requesting for the same apartment on hold because my husband had told me that I should give your request more consideration and conclude with you first.

We have already bought a house here in England so you can have the apartment for a very long period if it suits you. We will give you at least 1 year notice if there is any change but I am sure it is not going to happen in the next 6 to 8 years. We expect you to state the payment plan that may suit you.

I also suggest you send the cost of the delivery which is about $215 or £133 equivalent via western union in my husband's personal assistant's name and confirm the details to me via email. We would have preferred you to make payment on delivery but we have to take a comprehensive insurance to cover the parcel due to its sensitivity which sums up to $190. This is why you were asked to send us the cost of delivery.

The actual cost of shipping the parcel cost $25 dollars with FedEx but my husband have decided to take a compressive insurance on the package due to the sensitivity of the documents which cost $190 dollars. This is because he bought the property over $650,000 dollars so he has to take all necessary precautions.

Name: Ms. Carla Wayne
Address: Suite 514, 162-168 Regent Street, London
Location: London England.

Lastly, after viewing the apartment, if you happen to change your mind on taking it, you will be responsible for the cost of returning all the keys and documents also via courier. We will send all the items as soon as we re-confirm your mailing address and the cost of delivery.

Regards,

Cate