Rev Ronny Gollob

Hi all, first post and I thought I would reopen what looks to be a regular can of worms !!!

I am moving from Scotland to Basel Switzerland for a new job and after hunting for an appartment thought my luck was in wwhen i seen this http://www.expatriates.com/cls/4473551.html

As you can see the website is http://www.expatriates.com

Nowm I emailed the person on the advert and got a reply within 5 mins. Considering that it was 11pm here when I sent it I was surprised.

The email basically read like this:

Thanks for your email and it is glad to read from you.I am Rev Ronny Gollob,the owner of the 2 bedroom Apartment you are making enquiry of at:120,In den Ziegelhöfen 4054 Basel, Switzerland..Actually I resided in the apartment with my wife before.Presently we had Moved out due to my transfer from my Missionary work now.I was transferred to England and presently my apartment is still available for rent for 600CHF per month including all bills like good Heaters, Iron and Iron Board, Hair Dryer, Vacuum Cleaner, Equipped Kitchen with Cooking and Eating Utensils, Oven, Microwave, Toaster, Coffee Maker, Kettle,fridge,broadband Internet, TV,Land line phone and Electricity..etcYou will make a security deposit of 2400CHF

More so now, I will be going for a Christian Missionary Mission in New Jersey and i will like you to get in touch with me for more details as soon as possible so that I can easily contact my lawyer for the legal document regarding the apartment before l travelled.Please I want you to note that I am a kind and honest man and also I spent alot on my property that i want to give to you for rent,so i will solicit for your absolute maintainance of this Apartment and want you to treat it as your own,is that taken ? it is not the money that is the main problem but i want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i come for check up which i do once in a while and give 1month notice before i come for check up.I also want you to let me have trust in you as i always stand on my word....
I have attached the few pics I have here for you to have an idea of the apartment...

Speacial Notice : Pls note that neither I nor my wife will be ready to show you the apatment in person without confirming your seriousness.This is due to my bad experience two months ago by meeting tenants without confirming their seriousness and readiness, it was later I realised that most of them have no money ready for the rent but to view the apartment because they love the apartment from the pics...I wasted my time and money,all these happened two months ago.Since then I have been advised by my lawyer not to meet any tenant without confirming his or her deposit payment and one months rent in advance.So I will have to confirm your security deposit via western union money transfer immediately after you must have signed the legal contract documents.Remember that the security deposit is not meant for me but to be kept by my lawyer and return back to you at the end of the contract when there is no damage done on my property.This is more reason why we must sign the legal contract documents before you make any payment.

I can as well POST YOU THE KEYS VIA:DHL COURRIER SERVICE ON A NEXT DELIVERY TO YOUR DOOR STEP as soon as I confirm the western union money transfer receipt of the security deposit payment from you to my lawyer.You can then move in at your own convenience.if you are ok with this pls email me back with the details below so as to forward it to my Lawyer for the legal contract documents which we will have to sign before you actually transfer the security deposit.

Name in Full..
Address...
Nationality...
Passport Id number...
Date of move in and out...
Phone number....
Sex..................Male or Female.

Thanks and God Bless You.
You can ring me on my mobile: +447024084977

--- On Tue, 3/17/09, steve brown <[email protected]> wrote:


From: xxxxx xxxxxx <xxxx@xxxx>
Subject:
To: [email protected]
Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 10:18 PM


Hello
Noticed your advert on the expats website for an apartment.
I am moving to Basel for 2 years minimum to work at the airport and I am looking for short or long term accomodation for rent.
Are you able to tell me a little more about what you have please ?
Many thanks and Kindest Regards
Steve Brown

This is a scam ! same bloke as other posters have pointed out and I decided to google his name and 'Viola' found you lot. The rest as they say is history.

What really annoys me now that I am still looking for an appartment in Basel and have been kinda dismayed at what I found !

Hope this helps someone from getting stung.

Steve.

Mod edit: removed name and email address of member -Jillian

Hi Steve,

Welcome to Scamwarners.

Thank you for posting and for your kind words.

I am sorry you have been unconvenienced by the scam but happy that you realised early and were not too badly inconvenienced, I am sure you realise, things could have turned out much worse

Hi Monty!

Glad you weren't scammed--unfortunately it seems as though these days, there are as many scam ads as real ones. A few other red flags in the ad--each individually is not evidence of a scam but when you see them, it should lead you to scrutinize the email more closely.

The English and errors are more typical of African speakers than Swiss.
The 44-70 number is a UK "follow-me" number--these are frequently used by scammers to hide their true location.
The religious references and the reference to being a missionary are also typical--lads use religion liberally, and often claim to be pastors or missionaries.


You also might want to remove your personal email from the post, though--when publicly reporting scammers, it is generally safer to remain anonymous.