Martins Simpson - Steve Roywebber Martins Simpson, Christina Simpson, Steve Roywebber Apartment Rental Scam Rugby, Nationwide

THE SCAM:

First:  Christina Simpson (a young college student) will contact you through e-mail wanting to rent your apartment/room.  She says she is coming to the USA from England to study at a college or university.

Second: She says her father, Martins Simpson, (a busy business man) will set up her rent payments. She gives you her "father's" contact information:

Martins Simpson
17Cromwallis Road, Briton, Rugby CV22 7HL United Kingdom
Phone +4407088933505

Third: Her father contacts you saying he will send you a check to cover the deposit etc.

Fourth: Next day or so the "father" contacts you with a tracking number for an overnight FEDEX shipping. Says that there was a mix up and his business associate sent both the money for the apartment and the money for the travel agent all to you. Asked you to please help him by wiring the extra money on to the travel agent for the daughters airline tickets.

Fifth: The check arrives (SUN TRUST), you may find that it is 2 or 3 times the rent deposit. The name on the check is different from the name of the person who sent it.... none of the names match the Simpsons. They expect you to deposit it in your account and wire CASH to:

NAME: Steve Roywebber
ADDRESS: 27 Richmond Street
CITY: Quezon
STATE: Manilia
COUNTRY: Philipines
ZIP CODE: 1711

Do not deposit a check like this into your own bank account.

If you doubt it is a fraud, take the check to the bank it was issued from and ask to cash it - for **CASH** only. If you get cash from the bank - great!

In my case - I took the check to SUN TRUST and they told me it was a scam.