Rental Scam Toronto

This guy "CHRIS" responded to my email for the ad he posted of his condo for rent. I pretty much new it was a scam because it sounded to good. And I was obviously right because this email [email protected] has been used for many rental scams (SO BEWARE!) that are posted on this website. He also used this email too: [email protected] and these are the two emails he sent me:

Email 1:
Hey,

Thank you for your interest in my apartment located in 761 Bay St, Toronto, ON M5G 2R2. The apartment is in excellent condition and it's just like in the pictures, very clean and very well taken. Honestly from point of view I'm sure that you will rent it on spot. I'm not looking to make a business or a profit with the apartment, I'm just trying to find a good and trust person to take good care of the place. The apartment has 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom. It is furnished but if you want you can use your furniture and deposit mine in the storage unit that is located near the building not far away. The rent is 860 CAD/month with everything included (heat, hydro, water, electricity, cable and internet-full package from Rogers, 2 parking spots, laundry in-suite, washer and dryer). You will have full access to all the amenities of the building. Pets are allowed. I stayed in the apartment with my wife for 3 months. I'm a civil engineer and I work for a company that has an auction for a project in construction in London, United Kingdom, so my accommodation period in United Kingdom will be about 4 years. Everything in the apartment is new so there will be no need for repairs.

Thank you and look forward hearing from you!

Chris

Email 2:
Thank you for your reply. As I told you before the rent for 1 month will be 860CAD and damage deposit 430CAD ( last month) with no extra fees and you will have full access to all the amenities of the building. The price will not increase for the whole period that you will stay there. I would also like to know how many people will live in the apartment and also which rental contract do you prefer- 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal. The monthly payments can be wired to my Canadian Bank Account (TD Bank) or we can setup a payment method that is suitable for both of us.

The apartment is in excellent condition, you only need to receive the keys and the contract so you could check it out, and see if you like it. Since at this moment I'm in London, United Kingdom and obviously we need a safe way to complete this deal.The solution is a worldwide third party company called LandLordStation (http://www.LandLordStation.com) ,they will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the rental package

We use this company to see that you are an trusting and serious person. They will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the rental package . With this procedure you will be able to check the apartment before I receive the payment. Please be aware that is NOT necessary for you to register with LandLordStation given that I'm a registered user for 4 years and I've made over 30 transactions with them so far. They are really professional and they have great services.

My phone number is +44 203 289 61 13 (if you are calling from Canada you may need to dial 011-44 203 289 61 13). You can call me or e-mail anytime you wish.

Let me know if you are interested so I can provide with all the steps of this transaction . You need to know everything about this process before we get this started. I think is right for both of us.

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon!

Chris

Ugh, damn. I knew it was too good to be true.

Got contacted by "Chris Andersen", [email protected], Same old song and dance as before.

Hey,

Thank you for your interest in my apartment located in 273 Sackville St, Toronto, ON M5A 3G1. The apartment is in excellent condition and it's just like in the pictures, very clean and very well taken. Honestly from point of view I'm sure that you will rent it on spot. I'm not looking to make a business or a profit with the apartment, I'm just trying to find a good and trust person to take good care of the place. The apartment has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is furnished but if you want you can use your furniture and deposit mine in the storage unit that is located near the building not far away. The rent is 1150 CAD/month with everything included (heat, hydro, water, electricity, cable and internet-full package from Rogers, 2 parking spots, laundry in-suite, washer and dryer). You will have full access to all the amenities of the building. Pets are allowed. I stayed in the apartment with my wife for 3 months. I'm a civil engineer and I work for a company that has an auction for a project in construction in London, United Kingdom, so my accommodation period in England will be about 4 years. Everything in the apartment is new so there will be no need for repairs.

Thank you and look forward hearing from you!
Chris

PS : I attached you all the pictures that I have with the apartment ( as you can see everything is in absolutely perfect condition )

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He then approached me with this email:

Hello Miranda ,

Thank you for your reply. As I told you before the rent for 1 month will be 1150CAD and damage deposit 1150CAD ( last month) with no extra fees and you will have full access to all the amenities of the building. The price will not increase for the whole period that you will stay there. I would also like to know how many people will live in the apartment and also which rental contract do you prefer- 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal. The monthly payments can be wired to my Canadian Bank Account (TD Bank) or we can setup a payment method that is suitable for both of us.

The apartment is in excellent condition, you only need to receive the keys and the contract so you could check it out, and see if you like it. Since at this moment I'm in London, United Kingdom and obviously we need a safe way to complete this deal.The solution is a worldwide third party company called Airbnb (http://www.airbnb.com) ,they will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the rental package

We use this company to see that you are an trusting and serious person. They will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the rental package . With this procedure you will be able to check the apartment before I receive the payment. Please be aware that is NOT necessary for you to register with Airbnb given that I'm a registered user for 4 years and I've made over 5 transactions with them so far. They are really professional and they have great services.

My phone number is + 44 203 28 961 60 (if you are calling from Canada you may need to dial 011-44 203 28 961 60). You can call me or e-mail anytime you wish.

Let me know if you are interested so I can provide with all the steps of this transaction . You need to know everything about this process before we get this started. I think is right for both of us.

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon!

Chris

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Then he walked me through the process and attached 'his passport'

Hi again Miranda ,

This transaction is not made face to face, this is the whole reason for using Airbnb, for both of us to be 100% protected. For security and for your peace of mind I had attached an copy of my PASSPORT to see that I am very serious about everything.

Regarding the process, you will only have to deposit to Airbnb the first month of rent from contract and damage deposit 1150 $ + 1150 $ = 2300 $ CAD so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the rental package (keys and documents). 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 you step by step how this process will work:

1 - To start the process all I need is your full info(full name, address and a cell phone number).
2 - I will go at Airbnb to deposit the keys and the contract on your name as the intended receiver.
3 - Airbnb will check the package to see if everything is in order and also the legal papers that will come along with the keys and proof of ownership with their Real Estate Professional Department in London. They will also confirm with the building manager that I'm the legal owner of the apartment I'm renting to you.
4 - Airbnb will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the keys and the papers in their custody. They will also send you all the payment instructions to complete the rental transaction.
5 - At this point you will have to make a money deposit on the Airbnb bank account for the amount we agreed, the total amount you shall deposit for the first month of rent ( and damage deposit ) . The payment needs to be sent within 24 hours after you receive the transaction details or else they will charge me an additional fee.
6 - After you make the deposit you will have to send the payment details to Airbnb .
7 - Airbnb will verify the transfer and if everything is in order they will start the shipping procedures using UPS or TNT Next Day Shipping Service .

8 - After you receive the package, you will go and check the apartment and in 5 days (inspection time) you must contact Airbnb to inform them if you keep the apt or not and if everything is in order you will instruct Airbnb to send me the information about the money deposit and I will be able to receive the funds. If you don`t like the apartment they will be sending the money back to you and you will send back the keys and contract. Airbnb can't release the funds without your approval.

Let me know if you have the funds available (2300 CAD$) so we can move forward and e-mail me your full information I requested. Any further questions regarding the transaction you can call or e-mail me.

Thanks
Chris

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Thanks guys, I could've gotten into some deep shit.

Update! Just got another email from him on another account ( OLEG GORBACHEV < [email protected] > ) Exact same one advertizing 273 Sackville St, Toronto, ON M5A 3G1. I found the man who owns that apartment, and he knew nothing about this - his photos were stolen off airbnb.

I just tried to rent an apartment through craigslist but the guy said the payment would be through airbnb email, and that I would pay the first months rent and the damage deposit.

He might as well have copied and pasted from your Toronto scam because the emails were the exact same, except for Vancouver..

He used the name Chris, but his email was [email protected]

He also attached his passport and got "airbnb" to email me a confirmation form which had all the banking info.
A closer look at the Airbnb info was the bottom address had United Kingdom spelt wrong. Kind of a dead give away.

Hello emcrav and welcome to Scamwarners.com

Kindly forward the e-mail contain the Banking details to the address in my signature line and I will report them to the appropriate authorities.