Zurich Apartment Scam - [email protected]

Hi guys,

In the last 24 hours I have been in touch with a Victoria Quin, from Liverpool, UK. It started with a very attractive post found on homegate.ch. I don t go in all the details but after the first 2 e-mails I had the feeling something is weird, therefore I went to see if there is really an apartment register with this name at the given address. Surprise, there were none with this name or with no name. I knew exactly which one is the apartment from the pictures and at that specific balcony there was actually a guy enjoying the sunshine. I came home and did a bit of a search with parts of the e-mail she sent me. That is how I found exactly the same text but with different name.

Neverthless, see below the e-mail I have got. Hope it can help somebody. I will also announce homegate.ch so that they will maybe let know about the scam all the other users that contacted the owner of the post.


Hello,

My name is Victoria Quin and I just got an e-mail regarding your interest in my apartment in Neunbrunnenstrasse 33,8050,Zurich. I'm looking for someone to live in my apartment, because my company has won an auction for a big construction project in Liverpool, United Kingdom. I'm a project manager in civil engineering, so my accommodation period here will be very large (more than 5 years). I'm a english engineer. I bought this flat when I worked in Switzerland as part of a 5 year contract, thinking it would be a better investment than taking in rent. I am the single owner, the apartment is fully paid and there is no legal problem. The apartment is unoccupied since I no longer live there.
I want to rent my apartment to some nice and responsible persons, so I would like to know more details about yourself : How old are you, if you are married, if you have a pet, if you have a car, occupation etc.. I must say that I have nothing against the fact that you're a student and I love pets and they are welcome in the apartment. You should also know that I appreciate the sincerity.
In addition to the rest, here is some information about myself and about the apartment, so we knew a little more.
The apartment is exactly like in the pictures, fully furnished, fully equipped, so you won't need anything to move in (you can also bring your own things furniture if you have).
The monthly rent is 1100 CHF (for the whole apartment), utilities included (water, electricity, internet, cable). You can rent the apartment for an indefinite period, but for a minimum period of four months.
About myself, I am 51 years old, single woman and as mentioned above I am a project manager in civil engineering, currently living in Liverpool, United Kingdom. You can move into the apartment the same day you receive the keys. The only problem is that I'm already in UK, but I already thought at a solution so you can get the keys and visit the apartment to make an impression.
I appreciate your interest in my apartment and I'm looking forward to our future collaboration and friendship.

Sincerely,
Victoria
PS: If you do not understand english, you can use www.translate.google.com , because my german is not very good.

It is easy to check Swiss addresses:

http://tel.search.ch/

If you put in here the address, it will list all the people living in this house. It would be easy to ring one of them to check something. If I can assist with that- I'm happy to do so.

Orange Rose

Welcome to ScamWarners scam_fighter and thank you for posting this scam. It is great that you could tell it was a scam. Did the scammer include a phone number in any of the communications?


Thank you Orange Rose for the information. It will surely be helpful.

Thank you guys,

No, they haven t included a no. I only got two e-mails, I have only replied to the first and when I received the 2nd I realized that there are quite a few things wrong with it. I though of given more details about how I figured out, but I guess I wouldn't want them seeing these post and correct their mistakes.

I am just curious how they got the pics for the place. Could the place might have been for rent in the past? I really don t know...

Yes scam_fighter, they go through other apartment rental sites and pick the photos up from there and change the address, to make it harder to research.

It may be a shock to discover, but sites like Craigslist and Gumtree have their apartment rentals consist of anything up to 90% scams. If you're not a local it's hard to tell, but it you look at your own area you'll spot them from the ridiculous prices. Scammers always offer the best value.

The average consumer is wide open to getting fleeced by this sort of scammer. All a scammer needs is internet access.

Hello everyone

same thing happened to us! Also in the last 24 hours, same letters and this letter below is the last we got!

Hi again,
Thanks again for your reply. Before all I want to tell you that if you are ready to proceed with this transaction I will need to inform you the steps about how this service works and how we can bring it to an end. You will only have to deposit to TNT Service the first month of rent (1100 CHF), so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the keys and the contract.
Like I said, I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the Keys and the contract signed by me right away. I will explain to you step by step how this will work.
1 - To start this transaction I will need to know your full shipping coordinates and I am referring to your full name and full shipping address where you want to receive the package.How Many Months are you willing to rent the apartment?
2 - I will go to the TNT Office here in the UK and leave the Keys and the contract in your name as the intended receiver.
3 - TNT will check the envelope to see if everything it's OK with it and also the legal papers that will come along with the Keys.
4 - TNT will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the Keys and the papers in their custody, in which you will be told that they have the Keys and that they've checked it. TNT will give you further instructions about first month deposit!
5 - After you receive the package, you will go and check the apt and in 5 working days you must contact them and tell them if you keep the apt or not. If all is in order, you will instruct TNT to give me the money for the first month. Further rents will be sent directly to my bank account. If you don `t like the apt they will give you a full refund and you will give them back the keys and the contract.
I will pay the TNT Service for the shipping.
Thanks for understanding, but at this point just let me know if we can do this, so email me all your full shipping information in order for us to proceed in this deal.

Good luck,

PS Please read all the info and tell me if it's clear to you, or if I can help you with other explications..



GOOD LUCK???

Hi Guys
My friend and I have also been a 'victim' of this same E-Mail, too and we also did our researches but we couldn't find this Victoria person, either.
Do you think this actually is a person and has anyone of you tried to confront her with the fact that she is nowhere mentioned as a owner of the flat? Or has anyone tried to contact TNT about this matter? Or do you think that would be silly/unnecessary?

Thanks a lot and you guys have been a great help so far to save our money

Welcome to Scamwarners jellyberry.

Yes - it would be a waste of time to believe that anything the scammer has said is true. He is likely to be working from an internet cafe in West Africa and isn't too bright. A project engineer working in German speaking Switzerland for five years who can't speak German ? - and TNT don't check inside packages or act as intermediary in apartment rentals.

If a landlord says that they can't let you view the partment because they are abroad, take it as a bad sign. Scammers are always abroad and a landlord who doesn't make arrangement to allow viewing while he's away is strange. It can't be a problem over security as he's offered to post you the keys after receipt of just one month's rental.

Hi everyone!

I am also the one who was interested in this attractive price...

After receiving the second e-mail I understood that all this is very strange. I asked her to provide me with a document that would prove the ownership of the apartment, but she tells that it is confidential document.
As well she refuses to send me a draft contract since I have to visit the apartment first.

She writes that she owns the apartment and it is unoccupied since the time she left, so I decided that there should be her name on the post box and door bell at the entrance doors and visited the house today, but guess what - there is nothing about her. I asker her to comment on this, but I received an answer that we are spending time and talking about nothing. She is ready to send me keys so that I can transfer first 1100 chf to her.

I have requested certificate about the ownership of the apartment, draft contract and still waiting answer why I cannot find her name at the entrance doors.

I understand that it is just waste of time, but still interesting how far it can go...

Welcome to Scamwarners. We don't advise continuing to exchange emails once you know he's a scammer.
Scambaiting needs to be done safely, and not from your real life email address.
Our sister site www.419eater.com covers this aspect of dealing with scammers.

Welcome to Scamwarners Rambo5 and my own thinking is, how credible is it that a landlord doesn't have the facility set up to have someone looking after an apartment while they're abroad ?

An apartment would represent one of the landlord's most valuable possessions and it's difficult to believe that they wouldn't have someone able to take care of problems. pick up the mail, pay the bills and look after security. Keep in mind that when a landlord allows a viewing it not only enables the renter to inspect the flat, but also gives the landlord a chance to make a judgement on the renter, so it's not believable that they leave an apartment vacant without anyone able to have access.

Many scam victims are people seeking to rent an apartment in a foreign country and you are fortunate in being able to visit the property, which they can't do.

Most scammers are from English speaking nations and won't speak the local language. It's very unlikely that anyone working in a foreign country is not going to be expected to speak to locals in their own language. Tourists and scammers can be lazy but people who are paid a salary to work will speak the local language to get the job or be expected to learn it quickly.

The most imprtant thing is to understand the risks and dangers of coming across a scammer. Once you are aware of them, it's not hard to spot the signs. You can ask technical questions, like asking for a copy of his/her 'Eigenmietwert' statement, as even a non-German speaking person should know what that is and have a copy, but the problem is that by doing that you are educating the scammer for the next victim.

The scammer will probably drop you as you've asked too many questions and scammers don't plan to spend a lot of time on one person - they want quick money, and they will have plenty of other easier potential victims to scam.

If a scammer gets one victim a week he can live a very comfortable life without ever having to work.

That's right - I decided not to waste my time on this anymore.

It is sad that there are still people who allow to be tricked so easy...


I did not know about this web-page before I felt that all this procedure sounds too easy and decided to google her name.
You guys are doing a real good job! Thanks!

hallo
i'm in zurich and i'm looking for a flat and guess what i was into?now this scammers just change name now is Bella white same email leaving in liverpool etc etc so be aware ok
ciao

I have also exchanged several email with this Bella White and now I'm actually waiting for an email from TNT with payment instructions
I visited the place she was advertising, and there is no Bella White nor anyone who knows her.
This is "her" apartment http://www.immoscout24.ch/IS24Web/_V2/D ... 11&index=1

Hello,

My name is Bella White and I just got an e-mail regarding your interest in my apartment from Zürich.
I'm looking for someone to live in my apartment, because my company has won an auction for a big construction project in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
I'm a project manager in civil engineering, so my accommodation period here will be very large (more than 5 years). I'm a english engineer.
I bought this flat when I worked in Zürich,Switzerland as part of a 3 year contract, thinking it would be a better investment than taking in rent. I am the single owner, the apartment is fully paid and there is no legal problem. The apartment is unoccupied since I no longer live there.

I want to rent my apartment to some nice and responsible persons, so I would like to know more details about yourself : How old are you, if you are married, if you have a pet, if you have a car, occupation etc.. I must say that I have nothing against the fact that you're a student and I love pets and they are welcome in the apartment. You should also know that I appreciate the sincerity.
In addition to the rest, here is some information about myself and about the apartment, so we knew a little more.
The apartment is exactly like in the pictures, fully furnished, fully equipped, so you won't need anything to move in (you can also bring your own things furniture if you have).

The monthly rent is 1150 CHF (for the whole apartment), utilities included (water, electricity, internet, cable). You can rent the apartment for an indefinite period, but for a minimum period of 3 months.
About myself, I am 51 years old, single woman and as mentioned above I am a project manager in civil engineering, currently living in Liverpool, United Kingdom. You can move into the apartment the same day you receive the keys. The only problem is that I'm already in UK, but I already thought at a solution so you can get the keys and visit the apartment to make an impression.
I appreciate your interest in my apartment and I'm looking forward to our future collaboration and friendship.

Sincerely,
Bella White

Hey,

thank you so so much! I just received the same email recently from Bella White ( [email protected] ) about an apartment in Bergen, Norway. The pictures and price seemed to be little bit suspicious, so I decided to google the text from email and I found this thread. Thanks a lot!

Here's the email:

Hello,

My name is Bella White and I just got an e-mail regarding your interest in my apartment from Bergen.
I'm looking for someone to live in my apartment, because my company has won an auction for a big construction project in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
I'm a project manager in civil engineering, so my accommodation period here will be very large (more than 5 years). I'm a english engineer.
I bought this flat when I worked in Bergen,Norway as part of a 3 year contract, thinking it would be a better investment than taking in rent. I am the single owner, the apartment is fully paid and there is no legal problem. The apartment is unoccupied since I no longer live there.

I want to rent my apartment to some nice and responsible persons, so I would like to know more details about yourself : How old are you, if you are married, if you have a pet, if you have a car, occupation etc.. I must say that I have nothing against the fact that you're a student and I love pets and they are welcome in the apartment. You should also know that I appreciate the sincerity.
In addition to the rest, here is some information about myself and about the apartment, so we knew a little more.
The apartment is exactly like in the pictures, fully furnished, fully equipped, so you won't need anything to move in (you can also bring your own things furniture if you have).

The monthly rent is 6500 kr (for the whole apartment), utilities included (water, electricity, internet, cable). You can rent the apartment for an indefinite period, but for a minimum period of 3 months.
About myself, I am 51 years old, single woman and as mentioned above I am a project manager in civil engineering, currently living in Liverpool, United Kingdom. You can move into the apartment the same day you receive the keys. The only problem is that I'm already in UK, but I already thought at a solution so you can get the keys and visit the apartment to make an impression.
I appreciate your interest in my apartment and I'm looking forward to our future collaboration and friendship.

Sincerely,
Bella White

PS: If you do not understand english, you can use www.translate.google.com ,because my norwegian is not very good.