This is a very serious matter for me and I'd like to know how to do this as soon as possible.
I've been on the hunt for a roommate so I can save some extra money. I found one who claims to be in west Africa with a stateside agent to handle her monetary transactions. I've been sent an exorbitant amount of money, far more than necessary to pay for the rent and security deposit and the potential roommate wanted the leftover money to be wired back to her agent.
Well, I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid. I'm well aware of a real estate fraud tactic that works just like this: someone (especially someone from overseas) gives you more than necessary, you pay back the difference, then a few days later the check bounces and the difference you gave back to the person you now have to pay off with the bank. Needless to say, I had the bank verify the money orders I had been given were authentic before I did anything with them. They all came back as fraudulent.
Now I want to sneak around and take a closer look at the potential roommate. I have her e-mail and would like to know if I can do something to find out where exactly she is (if it even is a she and if she really is in west Africa) and get my hands on any other kind of information that would raise more red flags.
In the meantime, I've required her to wire the money to me--perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part that she's innocent while the agent is the scumbag, but I'm not giving up just yet. I want to see what else happens.
