Stupid

I’m all about being proactive.

Nipping a problem in the bud before it becomes a problem is usually a good thing.

Keeping that philosophy in mind, I decided to get a jump on the potential mortgage debacle by posting an internet ad for a roommate.

I knew that the chances of me getting a roommate right away were remote---south side rentals are challenging at best---so I placed the ad early.

While I’ve gotten a couple of nibbles, the interesting part is that I think that every last response has been from a scammer.

The first respondent asked me for my exact address of my home---and in the first e-mail no less.

While that didn’t immediately set off any red flags, I did think that he was moving awful quickly. Kind of like the guy on the first date that starts picking out baby names and planning your life together.

Just a little creepy.

I forgot what I sent back in my e-mail to him but I’m sure it included me asking him something about himself and his thoughts on an ideal living situation.

His ad was vague and had a lot of pictures of him bare chested with his tattoos.

I was already feeling that this wasn’t exactly going to be a match.

He replied by asking again for my exact home address and included his personal e-mail address and his phone number.

No replies to my queries about him. He didn’t answer any of my questions.

That’s when I knew he was full of crap.

My ad also has pictures of my bathroom, the back porch and the front exterior of the building.

I don’t know if he was trying to case my place so he could rob me or if he was trying to set me up for the old Nigerian 419 scam. Either way I wasn’t having any of that foolishness.

I promptly deleted his e-mails.

About a week later another individual who also offered too much information right away set the alarms off in my head.

Pushy people who are involved in “getting to know you” situations are never good.

Luckily the roommate service that I’ve posted on is aggressively monitoring and deleting accounts that are suspicious.

But even if they weren’t I have my own roommate vetting process that is a little less detailed than a formal FBI background check.

Do these morons think I’m stupid? That I’d just let any jackass in my home?