OCBP Lifeguards Defrauded
Donation protected
Hi my name is Youcef Belrachid and here is my story:
Hi my name is Youcef Belrachid, I am a visiting student from Canada on a cultural exchange program as a 2nd-year Ocean City Beach Patrol Surf Rescue Technicianin Ocean City, MD, and here is my story:
Before coming back to Ocean City this summer, my brother, two friends and I decided to use Craigslist to find and rent a house there.
We found what appeared to be a “great deal” on Craigslist: The supposed landlord was offering the four of us a summer season apartment in Ocean City for 6000$ plus a 1000$ reimbursable security deposit.
This “great deal” ended up defrauding us of the entire $7000! The Craigslist fraud did so by pretending to be a well-known realtor here in Ocean City. (The realtor has no clue about this fraud.) The fraud copied the realtor's identity and used the exact same promotional content to “sell” us the summer rental.
At first we were skeptical and even suspicious, believing the price to be too good to be true, because the seller was asking for an upfront payment of the 7000$ via Paypal. However, the reputation of the supposed realtor, the consistency of the email responses and the professional appearance of all the documents completely threw us off.
We arrived in Ocean City Sunday, May 24th 2015 expecting to find a great place for us to stay for the summer so that we could have a decent roof over our heads. Instead, we found a wrecked and uninhabitable house, damaged by a flood from the previous winter. Here are the pictures that the seller sent us and what we actually found:
Sent by the seller
What we found
We then called Paypal to inquire about their insurance policy over their transactions. Unfortunately, we were informed that even if they succeed in tracking the seller, their policy does not cover real estate.
Later on, we went to the Ocean City Police Department where we were told that no report could be filed on the scam since allegedly, a theft did not actually occur in Ocean City. So here we are, having lost $7000, unable to file a report, without insurance to cover our loss.
Seeing as we are all students from Montreal, Canada, nearly all our savings have gone into the payement of the house.
We come down to Ocean City every summer because we love the purpose of our job, which is to make the beach safe for the Ocean City families and visitors. Thanks to our prevention, education and intervention motto, we are able to save hundreds of lives every summer and this is what we love to do.
PLEASE help us have an enjoyable summer as well despite this hard start by making a kind donation. Anything would help tremendously at this point. On the behalf of Aude, Adam and Rahym, I thank you all for your time and understanding.
Hi my name is Youcef Belrachid, I am a visiting student from Canada on a cultural exchange program as a 2nd-year Ocean City Beach Patrol Surf Rescue Technicianin Ocean City, MD, and here is my story:
Before coming back to Ocean City this summer, my brother, two friends and I decided to use Craigslist to find and rent a house there.
We found what appeared to be a “great deal” on Craigslist: The supposed landlord was offering the four of us a summer season apartment in Ocean City for 6000$ plus a 1000$ reimbursable security deposit.
This “great deal” ended up defrauding us of the entire $7000! The Craigslist fraud did so by pretending to be a well-known realtor here in Ocean City. (The realtor has no clue about this fraud.) The fraud copied the realtor's identity and used the exact same promotional content to “sell” us the summer rental.
At first we were skeptical and even suspicious, believing the price to be too good to be true, because the seller was asking for an upfront payment of the 7000$ via Paypal. However, the reputation of the supposed realtor, the consistency of the email responses and the professional appearance of all the documents completely threw us off.
We arrived in Ocean City Sunday, May 24th 2015 expecting to find a great place for us to stay for the summer so that we could have a decent roof over our heads. Instead, we found a wrecked and uninhabitable house, damaged by a flood from the previous winter. Here are the pictures that the seller sent us and what we actually found:
Sent by the seller
What we found
We then called Paypal to inquire about their insurance policy over their transactions. Unfortunately, we were informed that even if they succeed in tracking the seller, their policy does not cover real estate.
Later on, we went to the Ocean City Police Department where we were told that no report could be filed on the scam since allegedly, a theft did not actually occur in Ocean City. So here we are, having lost $7000, unable to file a report, without insurance to cover our loss.
Seeing as we are all students from Montreal, Canada, nearly all our savings have gone into the payement of the house.
We come down to Ocean City every summer because we love the purpose of our job, which is to make the beach safe for the Ocean City families and visitors. Thanks to our prevention, education and intervention motto, we are able to save hundreds of lives every summer and this is what we love to do.
PLEASE help us have an enjoyable summer as well despite this hard start by making a kind donation. Anything would help tremendously at this point. On the behalf of Aude, Adam and Rahym, I thank you all for your time and understanding.
Organizer
Youcef Belrachid
Organizer
Ocean City, MD