Almost Scammed Out of $4,000!

So Bryan wakes up in the middle of the night the other night and is furiously typing on his new MacBookProSomethingOrOther.  He eventually comes back to bed and when we wake up he offers the "good news and bad news."  Uh-oh.

Good news is, we didn't get swindled out of $4,200.  Bad news is that we don't get to stay in the terrific Paris apartment on the Ile de la Cite after all.  Damnit!

He was suspicious for several reasons:
1. It was cheap.  Not amazingly cheap, but about a few hundred dollars a month cheaper than anything else in the area.
2. It was available.  Get this--we originally asked for April.  When it was available and looked so central, nice and relatively inexpensive ($2,200 a month was the equivalent, I believe), we asked if it was free in May.  Of course, the guy said yes.
3. We were required to wire the whole amount, not a deposit.

So Bryan did a few searched on Paris Craigslist and found the same photos used for several different locations over the past few months.  This guy/these guys set up different websites, rent fake apartments, scrape in the cash and then close down and set up shop in a new website periodically.  Awful!

Imagine what could have happened.  We arrive in Paris, April 2 at 9am.  Bleary-eyed after a red-eye flight with our five- and six-year-olds.  We take a taxi, with our 12 pieces of luggage (let's make it two taxis), to our apartment only to discover it isn't an apartment.  Or it is an apartment, but the number we have is fictional.  We have thrown away $4,200 and have nowhere to stay for the next two months!  So at about 10:30am, I would have to venture out to, where, the American Embassy?  Holiday Inn?  Imagine scrambling in a second language to find a place to stay for a week while Bryan's across town with the kids and all our crap, exhausted, dispirited and alternately angry and scared.  NOT an appealing thought.

So he did some research and we found reputable places to rent.  We've signed contracts, paid deposits and are ready to go.  I'm leaving this part to him, so, fingers crossed, it'll work out.  I'll let you know April 2.