BAY STREET CONDO FOR RENT-AMANDA MARSHALL

SCAM....
I VIEWED AN AMAZING DEAL ON VIEWIT.CA OR ONE OF THOSE RENTAL SITES, AND CAME ACROSS A CONDO FOR RENT AT 750 BAY STREET-2 BEDROOM ETC $800/MONTH.
LOOKED UP THE ADDRESS AND NAME ON GOOGLE AND IT SENT ME STRAIGHT TO THE SCAM SITE-BEWARE!!!
AMANDA MARSHALL-750 BAY STREET CONDO FOR RENT-TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!! ITS A SCAM!!!

So, of course...to good to be true. As soon as I saw this on Craigslist I was pretty fascinated...an Googled to here. But I'm kinda angry cuz somebody who's that desperate could get really messed up...and there are SO MANY of these! So I'm just seeing what happens next so I can show you. Here it is:

From:
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 19:17:50 +0000

Hi Amanda,

Thanks so much for all the details!

I'm a single mother with a 5 year old daughter (not true) and I'm looking for something affordable (this price is perfect!) for at least a year.
This is the kind of apartment we could stay in for longer though......
........................
A little background:
.......
Right now we're at ......

At any rate, the terms you've laid down so far seem pretty appropriate...it's actually the kind of situation I was hoping to find because I knew it would be hard to find something suitable for a low price. ...I guess it's just about understanding how the rest will work.
I'm looking to move for July 1st.
If there's anything else you'd like to know about me, please do feel free to ask !

Thanks so for your time and consideration,

From: [email protected]
To:
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 18:55:56 +0000

Thank you for your reply.
Before going further with anything I must tell you that for payments I will use the eBay Company, they will secure the transaction of payments. I will open a CASE ID# at eBay Company for this transaction and I will give them your full name, shipping info, phone# and indicate you as my tenant. After that, they will contact you with the payment details, and they will ask you to send them a refundable deposit, $1600 in 24 hours(the money will be for the first month of rent + the security deposit). After they receive your deposit, they will notify me immediately to start the shipping of the keys and the contract. You will receive a tracking number in max 24 hours after they receive your deposit. The keys will reach to you in 3-4 days. After you'll receive the keys and the contract, the 14 days of inspection period will start( you'll have 14 days to see the condo, read the contract, decide if you keep the condo or not.After the inspection you will contact them and tell your decision: TAKE THE CONDO or NOT TAKE THE CONDO! In case you'll take it you'll have to send them a copy of the contract signed by you and they will release the money to me, if not you'll have to send them the contract unsigned and they will refund your money($1600), the contract and the keys will be shipped back at my expenses! I will pay the shipping and you'll have to pay the money transfer fee for the refundable deposit.
Once again:
1. If you have the money $1600 and if you want to rent it send me your full name, your shipping address and your phone#
2. I will open a CASE ID# at eBay Company for this transaction , and I will give them your info, and indicate you as my tenant.
3. After that, they will contact you with the payment details(you'll have to send them $1600 via money transfer in the next 24 hours-you'll need cash)
4. After they receive your deposit, they will notify me immediately to start the shipping, and you will receive a tracking number in max 24 hours after they receive your deposit.
5.From the moment you receive the keys the 14 days inspection period will start.I will make the transaction only in this way so if you have the money and if you want to rent my condo send me your full name, your shipping address, your phone# and I'll start the procedure.
Thank you.

(Just me - or does that sound like a completely different person now?)

From:
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 22:10:33 +0000

Hi there,

So, I'm confused. First - I wanted to ask you about the furniture...surely you wouldn't want us to use your furniture for 6 years. It would be great if we could use it in the beginning as we slowly replace with our own...but do you have storage? How would we do that?

From: [email protected]
To:
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 18:31:44 +0000

I said in my first email that you can use my furniture or yours, as you like also, there's a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture. Once I receive your shipping info eBay will contact you with all the details. I need your answer asap. Thank you.

(Cranky much?)

From:
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:31:30 +0000

Ok - we really need a place so:

XXXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXX-XXXX

thanks,

From:
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 19:17:50 +0000

I started the official procedure and eBay will notify you about this matter via email( please check your email address including your bulk/junk folder and let me know if it's there....if you will not receive the email in 2 hours max please email me asap).You'll also receive important guidelines plus instructions from them in 2 hours max(please go through them exactly). Now you must send them the money in the next 24 hours. I used before eBay and I used Western for the money transfer. I suppose that you'll use the same service. If so, I can tell you two secrets about Western:
1. I filled my phone number on the transfer form and I can tell you that I've been called by them every day for commercial purposes until I had to change my phone number.After that I filled a WRONG phone # on the form and resolved this issue(I changed my last digit of my phone number).
2. It's better to tell to the Western agent that you send the money to a relative so the transfer will be approved in 15 min and you'll have to pay 90-110$-Western fee(the transfers for friends or
relatives are approved in 15 min, it's cheaper...). If you tell them that you are sending the money to a commercial agent the transfer can take up to 20 hours until will be approved and maybe you'll be unable to complete the transaction in time, they will also charge you with an extra fee of 70-80$( totally about 190$).


Thank you!


(didn't even check my partially bogus address...so far "Amanda only makes contact at the same time every 24 hours. Until I bite...that last message and this next came within hours of my acceptance email)

....It looks like I need to go upload the images to show you what happens next...in the meantime

Here's a search for eBay rentals on Ebay:
http://shop.ebay.ca/i.html?_from=R40&_t ... Categories

And here's eBay motors security centre:
http://pages.ebay.com/ebaymotors/buy/se ... index.html

O - and here are the details...I think they're also in an older post here...

Thanks for taking the time to look at my property. My name is Amanda Marshall, 49 years old and I'm the owner of this condo. I lived in it for over 2 years, loved every day of it. It's located at 750 Bay Street, minutes away from Eaton Centre, Hospitals, Ryerson University, Toronto University, Government buildings, it has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1246 square footage, close to stores, main road. The condo is fully furnished with all necessary amenities(exactly like in the pics), the unit is equipped with recessed lighting, central air and heat, the condo comes with two parking spots, a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture (if you don't like it and you want to use your furniture)...Pets allowed.
The kitchen eating area is a large piece of granite that serves as counter space in the kitchen, and as the table in the Living Room side. The counter seats 4 comfortably. The entertainment center is a beautiful credenza that is topped with a brand new 55' High-Definition lcd tv. The stereo acts as the 5 speaker surround sound for the tv, the radio and cd player. The stereo also is a dvd player and is capable of having an i pod plugged right into a usb port. The Master Bedroom is large with high ceilings, has two windows, a walk-in closet and it has it's own bathroom. The room has a large, very comfortable Cali-King bed. There are several dressers with an ample amount of drawers. The room also has a desk with several drawers and a file cabinet. The walls are decorated with nice artwork and floating shelves. The bathroom has a large, tiled shower stall behind a glass door. The vanity is covered with a beautiful piece of granite and between the vanity, shelves and medicine cabinet, there is plenty of space for toiletries. The Guest Bedroom is actually larger than the Master. It has high ceilings, two large closets and a dresser with two matching nightstands. There is one window, a coffee table and a brand new chair and ottoman. Just outside the door two the bedroom is the Guest Bathroom. The guest bath features a large jacuzzi tub and shower. The vanity is large and is covered with granite. There is also a linen closet, and most importantly, a new front loading stacked washer and drier. The area is clean, safe and beautifully. I've moved to United Kingdom with my job and decided to rent it because the rent is very expensive here. The price is so low because I'm here and is very hard to find a tenant. I can rent you the condo for min. 1 month and max. 6 years(or more). I really want to find a good and responsible tenant for it, and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself. The rent for the whole condo for 1 month is $800 including all utilities(water,electricity, internet, cable, parking , airconditioning, fireplace, dishwasher, garbage) and the security deposit is $800(you'll get the deposit back at your departure-or you can use it to pay your last month of rent) and I want to receive the money monthly in my bank account. You can move in the condo in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m the only person who has the keys and I have nobody in Canada that could show you the condo. In order to check it, see if you like it(I'm sure that you'll love it), you need to receive the keys and the contract. If you want to rent the condo, please e-mail me back and I will explain you how the payment and shipping will take place!

Here are a few pictures:

http://www.mypicx.com/01072011/Toronto_On/
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/1.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/2.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/3.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/4.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/5.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/6.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/7.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/8.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... G1N6/9.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... 1N6/10.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... 1N6/11.jpg
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... 1N6/12.jpg


Have a nice day

And here are screenshots of the spoof and some wise words from eBay security centre:
http://amandam.smugmug.com/Other/amanda ... 03_66j7wMK

So do I go on? I thought not actually and tried to let him/her down easy:

To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: $800-------Bay Street Condo
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:12:39 +0000


Sorry - I changed my mind. Also, there's no suite number. 750 is a huge building - were you planning on giving me the keys to the whole thing?

Not to be turned away (i've never known anyone in downtown TO to be so desperate to rent a place:

The full address is 750 Bay Street,Toronto,ON M5G1N6,Canada, The Penrose Building, unit #1509. Please try to complete the payment ASAP because eBay will charge me with a late payment fee of 38 pounds per day.

Quick Google says! Leased at $1900 - not long ago, I'm guessing...
http://www.ottna.com/preview_property.php?nxP1990871C

But the only thing I can really glean from that is the windows are all wrong. There's just one pic...but up against the 10 or so I first got...

I dunno - should I call the realtor (clearly listed) and see if he sold to Amanda Marshall? And maybe let him know the address is being used...?

Your first instinct was right, no need to second guess it. It is a scam. There is no doubt about it.

Ignoring the problems with the condo price, etc:
-there is no such thing as ebay payments any more. The official payment service for ebay is paypal--not exactly a surprise since they are the same company!
-eBay does not provide a service anything like this scammer is describing. They do not get in the middle of a transaction and act as intermediary. They don't hold money pending inspection, shipping, or anything else.
-Even if they did provide a service like this, they would not provide it for Craigslist transactions, considering the fact that Craigslist is direct competition to ebay.