Are People Really this Dumb?

So roommate, her friend, and I found a townhouse that we love love love (to rent). Our lease is up November 30, and we really don't want to stay in the tiny little apartment we're in right now, especially when we can rent a townhouse for about the same amount of money. The only catch is that the place we found (and adore) is huge, and the rent is a little higher than we are willing to pay. The solution- rent out the basement to a 4th person (trust me, this place could comfortably fit 6, so 4 is not a big deal). So I posted an ad on Craigslist to find that 4th person. We have a few good candidates, but what I've noticed more than anything is the number of scam emails I get. Last year when we were looking for a roommate, I remember only getting one or two of them. In the three times that I've placed the ad, I've gotten easily 30 scams- some of them with the exact same message. It's really getting annoying. Some examples:

Jane Mark
HelloHow are you doing,I went through your advert on craigslist and I have developed a profound interested in your room,I will be moving to state soon and am hoping to be there for my educational leave and also looking forward to have my Master degree in a good university around.So am looking to spend almost 12 month in your state.....please i'll like to know the total move in cost of the room and the breakdown details of the house and the utilities as well as the picture of the house if available,as i'll not be able to check out the place until my arrival,Aarrangement can be made for payment prior to my arrival since i'll be moving down from Uk as soon as i'm able to reach an accord with you......Method of payment???Here is a little info about myself...... I am Jane Mark,26 years old female. work with a ACTEXO TEXTILES LIMITED in UK Regional office,gentle easy going i dont smoke but sport lover and outgoing person, am 5.4fit plus tall. Moreso i do want to know from others and know seek others people opinion and respect others choices as long as they do not harm others and generally am very happy. I am very outgoing and enjoy meeting others. I do not smoke. I am very interested in other cultures and find each and every person interesting to me and like hearing what they have to say on matters. Well, I guess that is about me for now.I'll expecting your email as soon as possible..pls kindly reply me your email to my privat email box Await your kind response .Talk to you later .Jane

Lauren Greg

Oct 19 (1 day ago)
How are u doing? I saw ur advert pls u will have tomail with the details of the room to includes rents and utilities.But let mejust give some hints about myself. My name is Lauren Greg 26, Female,Straight a christian born in USA and am a model but I am presently in africaon a modelling contract and i will be back to the state this october.I would like to move inthis month.I would like to rent for a long term period.I really need a placeto put my head when i get to the state.I am a very happy, independent,educated, reliable person that get along with pretty much anyone,very niceand loving person,fun to be with.i dont keep late nite.most importantly I amrespectful of other\'s privacy,time,and personal items.Do you accept a(CASHIER CHECK/INT\' MONEY ORDER) as a mode of payment.. Please let me know yourmind on this.I will like to know more about you This is very important Regards"

Or, my favorite, the down-right rude emails:
Hi
I came accross the posted house for rent.i ll like to know if its still available email me again with the below details so we can proceed and have some things done concerning the Rent.

Kindly email me with
1} RENT FEE.MONTHLY 2} MOVE-IN DEPOSIT 3} ADDRESS OF THE PLACE FOR RENT 4) WILL YOU TAKE A CASHIERS CHEQUE/MONEY ORDER FOR MOVE-IN DEPOSIT 5} HOW LONG RENT LEASE DO YOU REQUIRE ( 6/12 MONTHS ) 6) DO YOU HAVE PICTURES ? SEND THEM
I will be expecting to read answers to the above questions asap my email adderess is; mareenfbd323@yahoo.com Regards.
Maureen.

I personally love when people who want to be my roommate send demanding emails- "Do you have pictures? Send them." and "I will be expecting to read answers to the above questions asap." Well, then I guess you will be disappointed, since I am not sending you shit.

I had finally had enough the other night, and decided to start replying to them. My email:

"question- does anyone actually fall for this scam??! I've received about 20 different emails that all say exactly the same thing, all from different senders. If you people want to steal money from people, you're going to need to get more creative, especially when you just relpied to all 3 of the ads I had listed at the exact same time with the exact same (horrible) wording. Stop trying to rip people off- we Americans are not quite that stupid."

There was one of those responses that I got that had sent the exact same email to all three of my email addresses (I have the place listed 3 times, each with a different email address), so I made damn sure I responded to that person all three times (from the different email addresses) with the exact same response.

I haven't heard back from any of them yet, and I'm sure I won't, and they won't stop trying to pull this scam, but damn it felt good.

So here's the question- are we really that stupid that, after hearing about these scams all over the place, and considering Craigslist warns you about scams, we would actually fall for this?