My "landlord" had arranged an airport pick up for me and Matt after our arrival. After waiting at the airport for 45 minutes with no one to pick us up, we took a taxi to Belmont Avenue where our new apartment awaited us. Our address was to be 45 Belmont Avenue, our landlord's was 20 Belmont, which didn't exist. How wonderful!
Our apartment, number 45, did exist but was already occupied and was not owned by our "landlord." I tried to contact "Michael Disney" and his "daughter, Dominique Eloi of 344 W. 81st St., Los Angeles, CA, 90003." I got no response of course.
With few options, I tried to book a room at the B&B on the corner which had no rooms available. But here is where the kindness and hospitality of the Irish come into play. The owner of the B&B took us up the street to number 26 where he thought we might be able to rent from someone he knew. It turned out that Mary had a one bedroom apartment available that day. And of course we took it since it was quite obvious that we had been royally screwed over by "Michael Disney."
The owner of the B&B, a complete stranger, took the time to help us when he didn't have to and our new landlady, Mary, also took the time to make us coffee, talk with us, take us to the bank and show us around the area. Now, I am not a religious or spiritual person but I do believe in the concept of karma. "Michael Disney and Dominique Eloi" will get what's coming to them, whether it's from Matt and I reporting the fraud or from one of the many other people they screw over. The B&B owner (who did tell me his name but I was worrying about far too much at that moment to remember it) and Mary will be rewarded for their acts of help and kindness.
And here is the moral of the story: all of those warnings about fraud on the internet are true- believe them! I thought I was taking all of the necessary precautions when arranging an apartment online but I was still deceived. I had a signed lease agreement, photos of the apartment, contact info, names, addresses, bank numbers. "Michael" even gave me detailed answers to my questions about the apartment and the neighborhood so he must know the area well. I have reported the fraud but I really don't know if I will get any of my money back. It is a heart sinking, terrible feeling to know you have been deceived and cheated and of course, to lose a fair amount of money.
It has been about two weeks since our arrival and we are all settled into our new apartment. But, with losing all that money and having to pay rent for our new place, we don't have much extra money to spend. Unfortunately, we have not been able to see all the things we wanted to see and do all the things to do in Dublin. It's been scary and stressful but we have a nice place to live, food, each other and...Guinness.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
The same Dominique Eloi tried to scam me too. I have information on them. Please contact me. I wanted an apartment elsewhere in Europe. The picture they sent me didn't match the Google street view. I'm from the PGH area too.
ReplyDeleteJust trying to get info on Dominque Eloi, I ran across this page. I saw an ad on Craigslis today, she replied, she was selling a Rolex Watch, she said valued at $28,000, appraisal listed.She would take the 3500 I offered her. When asked to provide photos, taken now of her wearing the watch, she sent photos of a watch w/the time that was 4 hrs old at that time, and a date of 26th, today is the 9th. Do you REALLY think someone w/a Rolex like that would be wearing a watch w/wrong time and date?? I guess she thought I was stupid. Never answered me about a warranty she would have gotten since she said she purchased it a few months ago,no paper work, but OH BOY SHE HAS AN APPRAISAL! Funny the watch in the photo was on a white ladies arm, she is black, said she was wearing it as she drove. I won't reveal at this time how I know he ethnicity. I do. I have since found her name associated w/scams. When I told her I was forwarding the info to authorities, she told me actually earlier in the day, after I started asking questions, if everything was legit, it would not be a problem to answer, that's when ALLLLL OF A SUDDEN , SHE JUST SOLD THE WATCH AND GOT ALL THE MONEY,<<<HER WORDS. Amazing, sooo I suspect she is a scammer, and would love to turn her in, lots of people can be affected by the likes of her, her ad is all over Fl, do you really think a watch at that value, that she would sell at the price offered would be available for more than 5 mins??? So any info I can get to add to what I have found would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, and best wishes to you......
DeleteCarmel
Well I'm Dominique Eloi of 334 W. 81st St. Los Angeles, Ca. 90003 and I don't know about any of this. And my father's name IS NOT Michael Disney. I don't know of any of this to be honest with you. I have no money from anybody. If you wish to contact me, feel free. I'm in South Carolina right now. I'm sorry that you were scammed by this person, but it seems that I have been scammed too by this person using my name. I don't even know how this person got my name. So let me know what happens. I just got a hold of this website by my mother. I'm a completely honest person. and I don't know what you are talking about. I have never even been to Dublin in my entire life. So please don't mix me up with someone else that is using ME as in identity theft for your dealings.
ReplyDeleteAnd furthermore, I have no idea who you people are or where you are!! So I would like to ask you that you please don't use MY NAME in any of this again!! Because I don't appreciate it!!
ReplyDeleteBesides, NO ONE has EVER contacted me about anything. so that is a complete lie what that first person is saying about her experience in Dublin. If she and her husband had contacted me I would have told them that they were scammed myself. my email address is: scopin4u2@yahoo.com. So before anybody else puts anything out there about ME, I would appreciate that you contact me directly FIRST so we can talk about it!!! maybe if you contact me I can save you the trouble that you have gotten yourself into by talking to someone strange on the internet. They always say... NEVER GIVE MONEY TO STRANGE PEOPLE THAT YOU DON'T KNOW!!! I leave you with these thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as the second person's comments, I'd like to know what information YOU have specifically about ME!!! You know NOTHING about me other than what I just posted which is my email address and the other person posted my mother's address. How you people got this information, I don't know. But you should beware of who you talk to over the internet. people say things to take advantage of you. You never know who you are talking to or where they are. For all you know the person could have been a Nigerian scammer. There are plenty of those out!!!
ReplyDeleteSo WHO is this Michael Disney????? Does anybody have an address, email address or phone number for this person?????
ReplyDeleteThe only other thing that I can tell you is that I did lose my driver's license, while I was in Los Angeles. so there is no telling who picked up on it. And the only thing that DMV did was give me another license, when I reported it. They didn't even cancel my number and issue me a new one. They just re-issued me the same thing over again. So maybe the person that picked up on my license was using my name and address for ill purposes. Sorry to you for what has happened. But sorry to me for what you have said about me that was false.
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