RENTAL SCAM IN SINGAPORE!! PLS WARN OTHER PPL

I was scammed last week. I signed up to a room rental website which puts ur profile publicly and other ppl can view ur info and contact you. I was emailed by a guy named richard willem tibor ( his email is [email protected]). He claimed that his late father owned an apartment in singapore and that now he and mom stay in UK where his widowed mom is overseeing his fathers business. So they are planning to rent out two bedrooms while they keep one for their personal use. I was asked to scan a copy of my passport and send it to him by email so that he would know where to go after me if I caused any damage to his property. So I scanned a copy of my passport and mailed it to him. I asked him for a copy of his passport too. Which he did send!! ( Im pretty sure its someone else's!!!!). Then he sent a rental lease contract online and asked me to read it carefully and wire transfer 1500Singapore dollars through western union. I transferred the money in his mothers name as requested by him. these are the details of the western union transfer i made:
receiver: ruth willem
address: 60-66 saffron hill EC1N 8QX
London
England.
After i made the transfer and gave him the mtcn details he said that his mother received deposit from another student n that she would refund my money back. I replied asking him to transfer. Then he replied saying that his mother would agree to retain me as the original tenant if i transfer another 500SGD to his lawyer in west africa . He said the lawyers name and details are:
Western union Transfer Information.

Receiver Information

Name : Omike Calistus
Address : 12 Olorunsogo Street Mushin Lagos Nigeria 23401
i dint send him this money and i told him that i want my money back. by then i was reli nervous and was at his mercy. he emailed me n came on web chat in yahoo and said that he would transfer my money as he is a "GOD FEARING PERSON" but before that he needed a favor from me!!! he asked me to buy a nokia 5800 phone and send it to his lawyer and he said that he would give me the western union wire transfer details as soon as i buy the phone and show him on webcam. he also gave me a phone no in london to call n tell him when i purchase the phone (+447035957785).. i was desperate by then... i had no other choice to recover my money i ran to the store, did as he said, ran back home n showed him the phone on webcam. he gave me only half of the wire transfer details. he asked me to send it to the lawyers address in nigeria and show him the dhl receipt on webcam. I refused saying i cant. He said then he will delay in disclosing my wire transfer details for the reimbursement of cash that he made. i begged him.. i allowed myself to be put in his mercy. Finally he gave me a fake mtcn no. when i went to western union they said they didnt have such a no.. so i called him on that UK no which he initially gave me and i cried and begged with him. I told him that i was a student on an education loan and also i earn a living by part time work. I told him that my salary every month is only 300$ and begged him to not f*** around with my money..he just stuck to his stance and said" send me the phone now and i will give u the transfer details". i just abused him like mad and banged the phone down n lodged a police complaint!!! i guess im the most dumbest person alive. i put myself at his mercy and allowed him to emotionally blackmail me. i felt like killing myself at that point of time when he was blackmailing me.. i am still at shock and spending sleppless nights. im totally shattered because the money i gave him as deposit comes from my education loan funds. it reli hurts bad. hope this doesnt happen to anyone else.

Hi and welcome to Scamwarners. Although I'm sorry about the circumstances that brought you here.
It's a typical scam, and you aren't the first victim. And you won't be the last I'm afraid.
IUt's not your fault you were scammed. They are very convincing, and as you say have absolutely no compassion.
You do need to watch out for the recovery scam now. He may contact you again from a difference email address, claiming to be police, FBI, etc, and saying he can get your money back. For a fee via Western Union. If thid happens just ignore him.

i want to be of use to this forum. great work being done here. if u need any help from my side just let me know. i am willing to help in any way i can to prevent other innocent people from being scammed!!!

Thanks for your offer and welcome here. We are glad for everyone who wants to help. But first of all, if you need help yourself just ask here. If you need to talk to someone just let us know.
You could be of help if you post one of the scammers emails here with full headers, leaving your personal details out. This could help prevent others to fall for this scam.

There's also our sister site www.419eater.com, devoted to baiting scammers (wasting their time by posing as potential victims).

THIS IS THE MAIL WHICH THE SCAMMER SENT ME:
Sent: Sun, 13 December, 2009 5:36:53 PM
Subject: Pictures and Details

I read your add online and if your interested,my apartment has 3 rooms and a living room,so i use one room while two is for rent and if i finally get a renter for just a room,then the other room could be used as guest room..i have scanned the pictures of my apartment and you should find them below; the living room,bathroom and toilet that is in the rooms that I have for rent and would be for your private use and also pictures of the Kitchen where we deal with our stomach....!!!:).The rent for the apartment is 500 while you would also make a security deposit of 1500.This deposit would be refunded to you at the end of yourstay in the apartment if nothing is destroyed during your stay. there transport system is quiet very good as it is in a good location very close to train stations and bus stations as well such as Gas stations,very close to cinema and the commercial gallary and like you know its on a shopping area. no problem and the market is just a few walk from the house.. Before we proceed though,there are some conditions and rules and I would like us to decide on and it just requires your consent and after wards we can proceed with the contract and for you to reserve the room and to move in soon:

1.You shall sign a document confirming that the room has been reserved for you.

2.You shall make your first month payment to me .....

3.You shall have to read the agreement contract which i shall send to you firstly as an attached mail before you make your payment.For the document to be prepared successfully,I would be needing the following details.

(1) Your move in and move out date;

(2) Your current address and also the address where you would like the keys to the apartment,the Original copy of the contract and also the receipt of payment sent to after confirmation of payment from my mother,which you shall sign and bring along with you when moving in finally as my room mate


(3) Your scanned ID passport for identification..



Apartment is located at 150 South Bridge Road, Singapore 058727



You can come and see the apartment and look around the environment.I am not around for now and would not be back for sometime...I am inLondon now on a internship project attached to a firm and I have being sent by my firm to supervise and would be back in feb , 2010 .Well i must warn you to be very careful when you try to visit the location to view the flat, As the matter of fact the security might prosecute you if you Are looking into someone property with a proof of a paperwork that you have rented the place . so the paper works and document will be issue to you after you have seal up this transaction. As soon as i have confirmed you as my flatmate, I would send you the Keys to the apartment by mail and also send the contract documents and receipt as well..I would scan to you my ID for identification.I I mean your passport , why i need your identification bcos if you damange any of my property and i can't find you before i get back i can use the identification to report you , I hope you are a kind of flatmate i can trust as much as i can't see you at the moment but i believe you will alway keep your promise to me to be a nice and clean flatmate an be honest. hope you quite understand me and everything?There is also a washer and dryer in the apartment for the laundry needs and also to the apartment has a car park....In fact,it has being allotted two car spaces.I wait to read from you soonest to continue the contract and further details about the documents towards having you as my room mate.Warmest regards,

this is the email he sent when i replied to the original one:
Hello Friends ,
I am extremely happy that we have come to the end of the whole processes of the rental protocols and i have thus attached the copy of the rental agreement contract copy for you to read and understand the terms and conditions before you can go ahead and make the payment. Immediately you receive this copy,and have understood all clauses indicated therein,you are to transfer the said amount withing the next 48hrs by western union money transfer to my lawyer whose information appears in the contract and for verification purposes,i state it again below:

Name : Mrs Ruth Willem
Address: 60-66 Saffron Hill, EC1N 8QX, London, England, UK

Immediately the payment is done,you are to get back to me with your payment details such as:
1. Money transfer control number
2. The senders first and last name
3. The total amount transferred

NB: The requested details shall be based as it appears in the receipt given to you at the western union agent from where you made your payment,this is for effective verifications by western union and details shall appear in the receipt that shall be sent to you as a confirmation that a certain amount was received from you by my mother as such details given.

Immediately your payment has been confirmed by my mother,i shall at once send to you copies of the original contract and your receipt of payment already signed and this is what you shall sign and bring along with you when coming to be my flatmate. However,i will like you to reconfirm me the address where you want the keys and the document send to after your payment has been confirm by me



You can go to any of the western union agent to make your payment from there and,you can go to the link below and search agents closer to you in your city www.westernunion.com/location Once again,thanks for choosing me and my room as i hope to receive you warmly when you arrive as my flatmate. I hope to receive a confirmation from you with payment details as soon as possible to facilitate the processing of the whole issues. Warm Regard

Warm Regard

Thank you for posting this toybox, as it could safe others. This is a typical example of letters these scammers use. Even by reading the emails i can see this is an African scammer and i'm pretty sure he's never been in Singapore. There is a small chanche he's in England but my best guess is Nigeria. If you could post the full headers of these emails i could trace him.

I know you are very aware of this scam, but I am pointing this text out to illustrate one of the bigger flags all renters should look for:

Well i must warn you to be very careful when you try to visit the location to view the flat, As the matter of fact the security might prosecute you if you Are looking into someone property with a proof of a paperwork that you have rented the place

In scams of this kind, the property being "rented" often does not exist. Occasionally, the property is real, but the scammer does not own it. If a victim actually travels to the location of the property, he or she will quickly learn the truth. Therefore, the scammer needs to keep the victim from visiting the property. He will quickly give some kind of excuse or use some kind of threat (in this case a totally bogus threat of prosecution--I don't know what the law over there is, but I can pretty well guarantee you can't be prosecuted for knocking on a door). The truth is, if an owner has property available for rent, he WILL make it available for viewing, and you should never have to pay to view a property. If the "owner" is clearly avoiding showing the property, or requests money be wired to someone in order to view it, just walk away immediately.

HERE IS THE HEADER:
rn-Path: <[email protected]>
X-YMailISG: xjEymiYWLDtmpoQjEnofwwlgmpyRT7MYzQMJXyGP9uPrnhoq9cXRweW_ddYYYU8duN8tBI.HT7S95D0N6BAsJ3eZmfmaUS.OACfXlpFMLHmEGWnJLCKLMlAoHjV.N9hPrlx7D3yklAU58o2sxYSqS_hfgJTo_qtSLDHDDEpqzB.n2WvYuNfr_N28Snz8HOuLkbPuraC0E.httr5HnOCz1TfMlgiprqnHr_tdsqgxhr9hCvIIj45dm.9Z_nf_yjnxg4KGuTlydGrHY6J4.XegtXP_rfMf7SOwjPvljdByLkQwnc_.SfmZcql9WD.RRq5lDBmZ7t3WPwB68Qx.TjKhAq3OxGkLG9xrak4t6vbskcw7KW2PJdjNY7nKO2BEpBeI.LchlpVdQ6guRUrmFgK1jkKlq4m06edu6m1DuilQSzWNTZ_3sFlstOjGh0GZa1nK.GXiTX1qBdqYw5NxaStMJBHuL.n.8pB99WPG5f2k
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References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:32:16 -0800 (PST)
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified Richard Willem Tibor <[email protected]> View contact details
Subject: Urgent Respond

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Thank You toybox for posting this information - it will alert and save others from being scammed.

In header - noted NNMFP - by n4.bullet.mail.ac4.yahoo.com with NNFMP

IN SOME CASES Yahoo use a special protocol "NNFMP" to denote sender MAY be in a list of known scammers, or is using special software to hide their own IP address and details.

Note - it does not necessarily follow that if this protocol is not in a header - it should be assumed that the mail is NOT from a scammer.

Hello,
I have the same problem. I received an e-mail from Richard Willem Tibor a few weeks ago. But I don't trust what was in the message. I deleted that message. But tonight someone I have contacted by e-mail, two weeks ago write me that this guy write her an e-mail with a proposal of flat but with my name on it.
I'm a little worried.
Thanks for your website wich help me to face that.

Mara

hi mara,
good that u didn't trust his email and reply back to him... but if u are in singapore now, i think u should report this to the authorities. thats what i did after i was scammed. maybe if u also report this to the authorities they will take it seriously and we could prevent other innocent ppl from being scammed

Thank you very much for your posting this information to me.
This is really useful to me that, this damn guy also send me this email to me. He said there is a flat in singapore for rent, asking for 500 $ for monthly payment and 700$ deposit. I really cannot believe this is true, as the price is too low for such a good flat. So I googled his name. fortunitely, I find your post and find the true.
Thank you very much for tell us your story.

I know you are very aware of this scam, but I am pointing this text out to illustrate one of the bigger flags all renters should look for:

Well i must warn you to be very careful when you try to visit the location to view the flat, As the matter of fact the security might prosecute you if you Are looking into someone property with a proof of a paperwork that you have rented the place

In scams of this kind, the property being "rented" often does not exist. Occasionally, the property is real, but the scammer does not own it. If a victim actually travels to the location of the property, he or she will quickly learn the truth. Therefore, the scammer needs to keep the victim from visiting the property. He will quickly give some kind of excuse or use some kind of threat (in this case a totally bogus threat of prosecution--I don't know what the law over there is, but I can pretty well guarantee you can't be prosecuted for knocking on a door). The truth is, if an owner has property available for rent, he WILL make it available for viewing, and you should never have to pay to view a property. If the "owner" is clearly avoiding showing the property, or requests money be wired to someone in order to view it, just walk away immediately.

That's true.
Another thing is when the rent fee is extremely low, pls be very careful about this. Becasue In Chinese, cake won't drop from sky!