Rent Scam for Ipswich Flat- Nearly Missed

Hi,
I nearly got scammed into renting a property at Ipswich. The guy contacting me via email with great attraction of the flat all inclusive bills and very low rent which got me attracted to the offer. I emailed back with my interest in the appartment and asked him to send me pics of the flat since i dont live in Ipswich at the moment and was looking for properties.

He sent me flat pictures, floor plan and template of the Rental Agreement to view saying that he is in Spain and that regular scam crap for the flat received in inheritance from his aunt. This made me trust the him more. At this point he asked me transfer the money to my partners name and send him the western union reciept to make sure i had the money on me. I even looked at the WU receipts to look at what it contained as i was familiar with ID theft scams. I didnt realise at that time that it is the MTCN number that gives it away and anyone having the MTCN anywhere can pick up the money from western union. It striked me a little later though and got saved from the scam.

So i never sent him the money but he actually made me believe that he was genuine for some time. Wasted my couple of hours on sending those emails to him. I could actually look for properties through agents during this time. However, Please please i think it's best to go through agents. A genuine person would never ask for anything to be done before viewing the property. Think before you send any ID document or money to someone you dont know.

I am not sure if i found this person on on gumtree or vivastreet as i used both for contacting people. I have reported on both sites. But this guy will use another email. Here is email he used to fool me. [email protected]

Beware people.
RK

Welcome, Rubabk - good that you were suspicious & did not lose any money

It could help others if you could please post the email you received - preferably with the headers (if you don't know how to get headers, please ask & we will advise). With them, we might be able to find where the email was sent from.

So how do i post with headers, need help please!

Which program do YOU use to receive email (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc)?

This was hotmail.

Thank you.

To see the full email including all header lines in Windows Live Hotmail:

* Click on the desired message in the list with the right mouse button. Do NOT open the message
* Select "View source" from the drop down menu.

Then copy & paste the headers & the message into a posting here!

*Hello,*
**
* My name is Jose Miguel Jimenez Medina and I am from Spain and the flat
is still available for rent. I had an aunt in UK and after her death she
left me her apartment from UK a few years ago.
The flat was redecorated last year and the flat is looking very nice
and clean. The property has a fully furnished kitchen,clean and well tidy
sitting rooms,laundry room,and fully furnished with home utilities like:
electric shower, Lounge,Vacuum Cleaner,Toaster, Owen and microwave, dryer,
iron, washing machine , refridgerator , dishwasher, powershower, heater,
cable ready,tv set and dvd player,internet connection, equiped kitchen and
everything a house needs. I m interrested in finding someone clean who can
take care of this house more then getting money from renting it if you know
what I mean.
Till last month the apartment was rented by some students from Germany
and now they left and the apartment is available again for rent. The price I
want is A3380 per month,bills and council tax included and I am intrested in
a long term agreement!
If you have the money I could come in the next few days to show you
the apartment and maybe sign the rental agreementif you like it but first I
have to be sure you are honest you really do need a place to live because
two weeks ago a person from Ipswich told me he is really interested and he
asked me to go to Ipswich to meet him and sign the rental agreement and when
I arrived there no person showed up to rent my place and I lost time and
money for nothing.
I will wait for your e-mail,Miguel Jimenez*

Removed domain keys and quoted for clarity - Ralph

I do hope that by quoting the source i have not compromised on my own hotmail account and that does'nt give away certain codes to access my email account. Please reply i am worried now

So what does the source tell about this guy and location?

Thanks again.

Sadly, as he's using Gmail as an email, it masks his location (I should have read your post properly!).

There is NO information in the headers you posted that gives away your location etc (& I notice Ralph has trimmed the irrelevant details).

However, should anyone do a search, they will be led here & you could have saved them from being scammed.

The guy returned with a similar email insisting to send money through Western Union. What do i do to get him off my back and report him to gmail? I already reported this to gumtree who removed him off their website, informing me in an email. How do i get him off my back, please help!

This is what he says now:

Hello,
Please note that I didn t asked for any kind of advance payment Regarding the Western Union transfer its very simple,you just have to go there with your ID and cash amount and send the money to your partner`s name filling on the paper his or her complete name! I will support the transfer fees and I will pay it when we will meet in person either you take the flat or not( I am 100% sure that you will love it)!
After we will sign the tenancy agreement we will go together and you will withdraw the money and pay me in hand because the Western Union agents are open in weekend too! I will buy the flight ticket only after I will see the receipt so I could be sure that you have the money deposited in Western Union and you have serious intentions in renting the flat!
When you will go to the Western Union Office to wire the money sometimes they ask you why are you doing that and if you tell them you want make the payment for renting a flat,when the receiver picks up the money he must pay another fees and if you don't want to pay anything else you must tell the Western Union clerk that you will send the money to a relative who needs the money (i think you don`t want to pay more money for this and surely I don't want to pay anything more either).
Please let me know if you will accept my terms otherwise I will tell the other person to make the reservation deposit tomorrow because its fair to let him know either I would prefer you as a tenant being a professional!

Best regards,Miguel Jimenez


Here is the text to his earlier emails for guidance for others not to fall victim of his scam:

Hello again,

I am in meetings all day and its imposible to sue phone call while I am in meetings and that s why it would be easier for me for moment to use e mail to communicate! The flat is on the first floor! There is one parking space coming with this flat! We could meet next Saturday to show you the flat and maybe sign the tenancy agreement, but you see these is due to previous predicament that I have gone through in the past trying to rent the property to some students,I have got to realize so many people are not really in need of an apartment all they do is secure a place in advance, My last experience in trying to rent the property to a particular lady had got me to predicate on these,she made me believe she was willing and ready to get the apartment she even went to the extend of showing me her statement of account,which made me took her for the viewing but after taking her for the viewing,she saw the apartment and got to love it and never wanted to loose it,so she kept pleading i retain it for her because she is not financially composed at the moment,which i did but end up disastrously.
So basically for me to be sure of you been willing and ready to get the apartment I will employ you walk into any Western Union outlet and send the total bill cash £1140(two months rent and one month refundable deposit) to your partener`s name(NOT to ME),or your partener should send it to you with location of Ipswich or any other city in UK! All I need is for you to get back to me with the receipt issued to you after making the transaction so I can confirm it! When we will meet in person to sign the papers we will go together to Western Union and you or your partner will withdraw the cash and pay me in hand or you can pay me on Monday by bank transfer! I just need to see that you do have the money available and you do have serious intentions in renting the flat! If the Western Union agent will ask you about the receiver you should tell him that is your cousin because the transfer fees will be cheaper! Anyway I will pay for it either you take the flat or not! I will book the flight for Saturday as soon as I have your positive answer because I can come only in weekends!
I do apologise for that but as I told you last time when I arrived to Ipswich to show the flat to a person everything was a stupid joke and I hope you understand me because I don`t want to waste my time and money on plane tickets..
Regards ,Miguel Jimenez

Hello,
I will attach some pictures of the flat,floor plan and also a model of the rental contract! The flat is located on 47, Patteson Road, IPSWICH, IP3 0AR but I can`t give you the exactly address because there`s no one living out there and I`m afraid of thief's and I do apologies for this but I hope you understand me because I`m in Spain right now! The property benefits from access to beautifully maintained communal gardens and comprises reception room, kitchen with washing machine/tumble dryer, master bedroom with fitted wardrobes and en suite bathroom, second bedroom with fitted wardrobe and bathroom.There is also a parking available!
In the kitchen there is a dishwasher and also a Big fridge freezer! Regarding the council tax I can tell you that it is included in the price of £380 per month and also Sky TV,internet broadband,gas and electricity are also included in this price! I am intrested in a minimum six month agreement and I request two months advance rent payment plus one month refundable deposit (£380) wich you will get it back at the end of the contract.
Regarding the plummets and all that kind of stuff I can tell you that the flat was recently renovated and all electrical part and plummets are new so that won`t be necessary any repairs anyway I have a person who can manage this starting from June.
We can sign the rental contract starting from next weekend but I need to be sure that you have serious intentions in renting the flat that`s why I attach here a model of the rental contract and also we can discuss the terms when we will meet!
If you are decided to view the flat let me know because there is another person interested in reserving it and its fair to let him know too!
Regards,Miguel Jimenez

Tell him that asking for payment, or proof of funds, using Western Union is the equivalent of telling a person that the apartment offer is a scam. Mention that everyone in Europe has a bank account, even children, and anyone who owns property must have one. The clearer you make it, that you are not fooled by his offer, the sooner he will concentrate on someone else. Of course, it's quite likely that he'll circulate your e-mail address for other scammers to contact you with other scams - lottery wins, next of kin scams and similar offers.

Spam and scam mails are a fact of life nowadays and are unavoidable unless you seriously control your mail accounts. My e-mail accounts that include my name will only allow mail from specifically authorised addresses, but that's the only way to be certain of not receiving mail from spammers and scammers.

Thanks for your reply. I simple wrote, you can give this to the other person, i am not interested (period) no more emails. I guess he knows i found our he's a spoof. I hope he doesnt spread out my email to others. The only problem is i was using my email address for real name and i am little worried about it. Lesson learnt dont use real names and emails to post adds on websites that are potentially dangerous for a scam. Thanks again!

I can assure you, there is nothing to worry about The worst thing that can happen is that you'll receive a bit more spam/scamming attempts, but if you just delete them at sight you have absolutely nothing to worry about. They don't put energy in victims that don't pay, they won't take revenge on someone that found out they are scammers.

Same person 3 years later at this moment!

[email protected]

Same infos with very low price great place to live in Ipswich! Here:

<style type="text/css">#mailbox-headers-inner-print {display: none;}@media print {#mailbox-view-short-subject-print {font-size: 1.6em;line-height: 1.1em;}#mailbox-headers-inner-print {border-top: 1px solid #A5DDFF;border-bottom: 1px solid #A5DDFF;overflow: hidden;padding: 4px;font-size: 1.1em;zoom: 1;display: block;}#mailbox-headers-inner-print .header { float: left;}#mailbox-headers-inner-print .detailed-header { padding: 2px 4px;}}</style><div id="mailbox-headers-inner-print"><div id="mailbox-view-short-subject-print" class="short-header"><span>Re: Spacious Bright Two Bedroom Flat Recently Renovated Only Lo-snx</span></div><div id="mailbox-view-detailed-from-print" class="from detailed-header"><span class="header">Od: </span><span>Johan Sauren &lt;[email protected]&gt; <span class="dropdown-arrow">&nbsp;</span></span></div><div id="mailbox-view-detailed-to-print" class="to detailed-header"><span class="header">Do:</span><span class="content"><span title="[email protected]" class="link mbox" rel="[email protected]" data-full="[email protected]">[email protected] <span class="dropdown-arrow">&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div id="mailbox-view-detailed-date-print" class="date detailed-header"><div class="header">Data:</div><div class="content">23 kwietnia 2013 16:57&nbsp;</div>

</div></div><html><head></head><body><div id="msg"><div id="msg-body"><div dir="ltr" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Hello,&#160;<br />&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; My name is Johan, I am from Denmark
and the flat is still available for rent. It was redecorated last
year is looking very nice and clean. Has a fully furnished kitchen,
clean and well tidy sitting rooms, laundry room and fully furnished
with home utilities like: electric shower, Lounge,Vacuum
Cleaner,Toaster, Owen and microwave, dryer, iron, washing machine ,
refrigerator , dishwasher, power shower, heater, cable ready,TV set
and DVD player, Internet connection, equipped kitchen and
everything a house needs. I m interested in finding someone clean
who can take care of this house more then getting money from
renting it if you know what I mean.<br /><div style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px">&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;The price I want is £480 per month,bills
included and I am interested in a long term agreement, minimum 6
months!<br />&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; If you are decided to view the
flat and&#160; have the money I could come in the next few days to
show you the apartment and maybe sign the tenancy agreement if you
like my flat (I am sure you will love it) but first I have to be
sure you&#160; really do need a place to live because two weeks ago
a person told me he is really interested and he asked me to go to
Ipswich to meet him and sign the tenancy agreement and when I
arrived there no one showed up to rent my place and I lost time and
money for nothing. Please accept my apologies if I am rude but I
hope you will understand me!<br />&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; I will wait
for your e-mail,</div></div><div class="yj6qo ajU" style="outline: none; padding: 10px 0px; width: 22px; margin: 2px 0px 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><div id=":4u" class="ajR" tabindex="0" style="background-color: rgb(241, 241, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; line-height: 6px; outline: none; width: 20px"><img class="ajT" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/9/images/cleardot.gif" style="background-image: url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/ellipsis.png); height: 8px; width: 20px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat"></img></div></div><br /><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 4:54 PM, Vivastreet <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a target="_blank" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0 0 0 .8ex; border-left: 1px #ccc solid; padding-left: 1ex"><div style="background-color: #f4f5f7"><div style="background-color: #f4f5f7; margin: 0; padding: 0"><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="max-width: 620px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 10px; padding-left: 10px"><tbody><tr><td><div class="im"><table align="left" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="max-width: 622px"><tbody><tr><td height="45" valign="middle" style="padding-left: 10px"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.vivastreet.co.uk?utm_source=anonymous_email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=logo&utm_campaign=vivamail&utm_content=hotmail.co.uk" style="color: #7d7d7d; text-decoration: none"><img alt="Vivastreet" title="Vivastreet"></img> <img></img></a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="clear: both; margin-top: 3px; border: 1px solid #e3e3e3; max-width: 622px"><tbody><tr><td width="100%" style="padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px"><font style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: #1b1a19">Hi <strong>GloryAhman</strong>,<br /><br />You have received a message about your ad:<br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://property.vivastreet.co.uk/rent+castle-hill/spacious-bright-two-bedroom-flat--recently-renovated-only-lo/66501775?login_email=GloryAhman%40hotmail.co.uk&utm_source=anonymous_email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=ad_view&utm_campaign=vivamail&utm_content=hotmail.co.uk" style="color: #407ec8; text-decoration: none">Re: Spacious Bright Two Bedroom Flat Recently Renovated Only Lo</a> published in the Property to Rent category.</font><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="clear: both; border-left: 1px solid #e3e3e3; border-right: 1px solid #e3e3e3; max-width: 622px"><tbody><tr><td><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#F0F0F0"><tbody><tr><td style="border-bottom: 2px solid #f5f5f5; background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-top: 5px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px" colspan="2"><strong>Contact Information</strong></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">My email address: <a target="_blank" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><br /></td><td style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">My phone number: 000000000</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="clear: both; border-left: 1px solid #e3e3e3; border-right: 1px solid #e3e3e3; max-width: 622px"><tbody><tr><td width="100%" height="40"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="20" width="100%" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" style="border: 1px solid #ccc"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px"><div class="im"><strong>Subject:</strong> Re: Spacious Bright Two Bedroom Flat Recently Renovated Only Lo<br /><br /></div>Hello,<br /><br />Is this flat still available? Can you send more photos?<br /><br />Im highly interested!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Charles<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#F7F7F7"><tbody><tr><td width="100%" rowspan="5" valign="top"><font style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #1b1a19"><strong>To send your response just reply to this email. Please note your
email address will be visible to the user receiving your reply.</strong><br /><br />If you no longer need your ad you can remove it by going to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vivastreet.co.uk/account_classifieds.php?utm_source=anonymous_email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=deletead&utm_campaign=vivamail&utm_content=hotmail.co.uk" style="color: #407ec8; font-weight: bold">your account</a> and clicking on the &#39;Deactivate&#39; link located in the
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Vivastreet.<br /></font></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="clear: both; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 20px; border: 1px solid #3369e8"></td><td style="width: 20px; border: 1px solid #eeb211"></td><td style="width: 20px; border: 1px solid #009939"></td><td style="width: 20px; border: 1px solid #d50f25"></td><td style="width: 40px; border: 1px solid #a4a2a2"></td></tr></tbody></table><font style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; color: #1b1a19; text-align: center">Make sure you can receive emails from us by adding <a target="_blank" href="mailto:[email protected]" style="color: #407ec8; text-decoration: none"><strong>[email protected]</strong></a> to your address book.</font><p>&#160;</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></blockquote></div><br /></div></div></body></html>

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