Comments on Myron's Big BLOG of me: Why are all of these scams?

Thanks! Couldn't find any info as to whether nycd...

2009-06-19T16:59:51.349-08:00

Thanks! Couldn't find any info as to whether nycdirectrentals was legit

God, if only I had found this blog sooner! I too r...

2009-05-27T15:41:57.883-08:00

God, if only I had found this blog sooner! I too received e-mails from Africa and recognized those as scams immediately, but nycdirectrentals.com seemed legitimate and I paid the money and haven't heard back from them since. I will now know what to recognize and keep my fingers crossed for an apartment I can afford.
Thanks!

Thanks for this! I was just asking my dad if he co...

2009-05-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks for this! I was just asking my dad if he could look at nycdirectrentals.com to see if it was a liegt site and your website popped up in the google search. Thanks for saving me from a scam. Can you reccommend any real sites to look for rentals in or near the city???

I found links to nycdirectrentals.com and Susan Mo...

2009-03-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

I found links to nycdirectrentals.com and Susan Morrice on craigslist. I emailed craigslist a link to this blog and the website. 'She' has a ton listed right now on there.. so be aware that this scam is alive and kicking under the nycdirectrentals.com site.

It's a SCAM for sure. I did sign up, thinking $50...

2009-02-09T12:26:00.000-09:00

It's a SCAM for sure. I did sign up, thinking $50 isn't that much money for a few qood leads, and have never heard anyting back from them...NOTHING. so don't get sucked in. 2/9/2009 They should be shut down or on the way to jail.

be careful, they are operating now under a differe...

2008-12-28T00:40:00.000-09:00

be careful, they are operating now under a different name: http://www.nycdirectrentals.com/

This is a scam. I paid them and never hear from th...

2008-10-25T12:57:00.000-08:00

This is a scam. I paid them and never hear from them again. These bastards should go to jail.

Avoid them!

Dozka: I ended up going with a broker and it was v...

2008-09-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

Dozka: I ended up going with a broker and it was very stressful. I ended up getting a place in one day. I possibly could have saved money by making my own appointments. I'm not sure, but nevertheless I got a place to live!

Thank you for this post! I'm trying to flat hunt f...

2008-09-29T04:34:00.000-08:00

Thank you for this post! I'm trying to flat hunt from London. What did you end up doing to locate your flat?

yep, they're alive again. I've just (9/21) found f...

2008-09-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

yep, they're alive again. I've just (9/21) found few ads on craigslit - incredible deals, but you have to pay $39 for access to apt's details.
Thanks for sharing your story

I thought anyone who read this might be interested...

2008-08-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

I thought anyone who read this might be interested.

As of today there has been 689 hits combined to this blog entry from searching for square4realty on google and http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080731121035AATtZKh

(which was a question about square4realty.com).

This means that potentially a lot of money has been diverted and not spent on this site.

Thanks for all your research! I also got an email ...

2008-08-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all your research! I also got an email from Susan Morrice that originates in Israel, and confirmed the 2007 creation date of www.square4realty.com

What a sham(e)! I guess I'll either have to get really lucky on Craigslist, but more and more I'm thinking to use the fact that I'm based in NYC to my advantage and just start knocking on supers' doors.

I got an apartment, I went with a real estate agen...

2008-08-01T19:54:00.000-08:00

I got an apartment, I went with a real estate agent.. it worked out okay but I ended up paying a fee.

I ended up getting a place in the financial district. I got a place where if I knew what I was doing I could have just shown up and rented it without an agent.

If you are already in NYC try just wandering around where you might want to live and look for signs... that might work

hey... thanks for this. I'm currently looking for ...

2008-08-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

hey... thanks for this. I'm currently looking for an apt in NYC and it's really really hard and sometimes frustrating and then I came across the square4realty site. a friend suggested that I sign up because $50 is not that much, but thankfully I googled and got your site and am grateful!

post about your real estate agent experience. if I get too frustrated, I may go that route. thanks

My emails from them also came from Israel. Here's ...

2008-06-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

My emails from them also came from Israel. Here's the weird thing though. I actually entered my credit card info and signed up, because when you're looking for an apt in NYC, $50 doesn't seem like much money. But, I've checked... they haven't charged my card. And it's been weeks. Maybe the people behind the scam aren't operating anymore.

I contacted them with a few questions...This was b...

2008-06-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

I contacted them with a few questions...

This was by the contact page, I mentioned a few inconsistencies on their site and asked for clarification.

No response.

Since I'm going to be in NYC ~July 7th-8th (really soon), I've got it lined up with a REAL realestate agent to look at a few places. I asked to only see no-fee places as there are quite a few of those.

My, this does seem like a scam. I'm living in NYC ...

2008-06-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

My, this does seem like a scam. I'm living in NYC at the moment, and looking for a new apartment.

I'd find it almost impossible for this to be a scam, simply because of the level of detail they've given the site.

But, you're right. How could it be real? The housing rates are below average, the apartments are above average, and the details about the apartment are way too detailed

I went and looked up the results on logs for googl...

2008-06-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

I went and looked up the results on logs for google searches for square4realty and... I've gotten 14 unique people who have read this doing a google search on square4realty to see if it was a scam.

I feel pretty good about posting this as I potentially saved a bunch of people $50 each.

One of the unique hits was from Israel (the owner of the site I believe).

I signed up

I'm in the same boat as you looking for an apartme...

2008-06-12T06:25:00.000-08:00

I'm in the same boat as you looking for an apartment in NYC. I google searched square4reality because of how shady it looked after they emailed me and found your site. Def not going with them.

Good luck in your search, it isn't easy huh.

Heck, she probably said she had a speech impedimen...

2008-06-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

Heck, she probably said she had a speech impediment because she doesn't exist and doesn't want you to be suspicious when her "husband" won't (can't) put her on the phone.

Have you called a real estate agent? I know they help people find rentals, but I don't know how they get paid for it. You don't have a lot of time and Manhattan is a ridiculously competitive housing market, so you might

Good luck on your search! Finding the right place...

2008-06-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

Good luck on your search! Finding the right place is difficult enough, I can't imagine trying to do it from across the country.

I hate scammers. She prolly said she has a speech ...

2008-06-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

I hate scammers. She prolly said she has a speech impediment so you don't think it's weird when you call up and she speaks broken English. Some people are morons and fall for that crap, tho.