Accommodation Scam In London

Hi White Tiger,
they have done a great job..GodBless the them..
they even helped me to chck other site as well..and great advices too from other forumer..
i'm sorry those who got scammed..i know how it feels..
thats why i keep coming back here referring and chcking the credibility of the renter..
Thanks again Scamwarner

rgds

Hi Michael,
caution
http://www.steadyholidayvacations.com/id1.html
is back in action
rgds

All sites labeled as fake are reported and should be offline by the end of the week (I believe two of them already are).

I'll be moving to London next month and was searching for a flat...came across the unbelievable prices at winterandsummerflats. Pretty convincing website and other collateral, but the prices were just too good to be true. 350pw in a mews house that's also listed for sale for 2.5 million GBP? That was too obvious. Still, I had to ask...

I see that today their site name is for sale!

Here are my emails from winterandsummerflats:

Dear Sir /Ma,

Thank for the enquiry.

Please note that our Pembridge Mews, Notting Hill, W11 3JZ 2 Bedroom will be available for the period you requested.

The rate is £50 per night / per apartment not per person.

The price for this period ( 2 months) is £2800.

We accept 40% deposit and £200 security deposit at the time of booking.

40% deposit from the rent rate is £1120

Total deposit required is £1340.

You can view the apartment pictures and full details on the link below.

http://www.winterandsummerflats.com/id5.html

Let us know if you wish to proceed.

If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Rajan & Muthu

http://www.winterandsummerflats.com


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Your Booking Reference: Masf232019

Total deposit required is £1120.

To proceed with the booking of the apartment.

Please complete the apartment booking arrival form attach with this message

Below is the information to make the deposit of £1120:

bank name : secure trust bank
IBAN:GB21BARC20078233479536
BIC: BARCGB22
Account NUMBER : 01101935
Sort CODE; 23-54-51
ACCOUNT NAME: D.KALI MUTHU
Bank Address: One Arleston Way Solihull West Midlands,B90 4LH
Address:50 HIGH STREET, EGHAM, SURREY, TW20 9EU.

We will need the copy of the transfer confirmation from your bank, the scanned copy,very important.

We will send the booking confirmation and how to receive the keys once we have received your deposit and confirm your booking.

Regards,

Rajan & Muthu

hi again

You up to date on what's happening
I sent an email to our Mr. Parness told him I thought it was all a scam and that traveling with his wife and children could not get to London without risking apartment. I asked him also an effort of honesty and asked him to tell me if it was actually a scam to allow me to seek another home.
He told me why I thought these things and if I wanted I could delay the payment by sending my bank details.
Clearly, before sending it to my bank I asked if he could be dangerous and the bank assured me that there is no danger.
To date, Mr. Parness told me that as soon as possible, saying he would send me back my deposit.
I do not believe but you never know!
If I get the money you update

What a great surprise to find the Scamwarners website earlier today. I posted something on another Scamwarners thread in the hope that someone may be able to save my sanity as well as prevent me from losing money. We are looking to rent an apartment for two weeks in London early next year and found one on Tripadvisor. The same landlord has also listed it on the Flipkey website. However there are a few things which don't quite add up. The owner does not list any phone number and is shown on Tripadvisor as having been with them for only a few weeks. Also there is no pic of the building, the street address is not provided and pics of the 2-bedroom apartment are mainly of views from the area. Also the rent of US$1000 a week seems quite cheap compared to some other rentals in the same area of London. Does anyone know if apartments let through either Tripadvisor and Flipkey carry some sort of guarantee regarding the legitimacy of the property owner? We're not in England yet and I'd be grateful if anyone can advise us of a way to find out if this is genuine or a scam.

Hi Ozcharlie...welcome,
You hv come to the right place but you didnt mention the name of the company or the website..
That can help Scamwarners to assist wherever possible or we the forumer can let you know should we came across it before..whatever it is avoid payment via Western Union n bank transfer.
Rgds

Thanks for responding. Only problem is the listing on Tripadvisor does not give the name of a company. Just the owner's name with no phone number. Contact has to be made by email through the "Contact Owner" link on the TA listing. I'd rather not put the owner's name on here though I have put in in the Scamwarners search engine which found nothing. Thanks too for the warning about making payments through Western Union. Much appreciated

Welcome here Ozcharlie.

Like Leenfahmy already said, avoid people who ask you to make a payment through western union, they are scammers for sure. This advert you were talking about smells like scam. Low price, insufficient information, and your doubts give you enough to stay away from this scammer. Did you search for the address? Is there an appartment on that address? Can you see the street with google streetview? Such clues can also be used when checking out an appartment. There are lots of scammers putting up fake adverts for London appartments, and sometimes it's hard to avoid them. Try to find legit companies who have appartments to let. You can always ask here if in doubt.

@Ozcharlie

Please take a look at our overview of Rental Scams

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=12278

You might like to drop me a note to the e-mail address in my signature line with a link to the suspicious listing and I'll will take a look at it for you.

Hi Ozcharlie..
I hope it helps...
You dont have to provide the owner's name just the company or website..
But it does sound like a scam u cant get rental that cheap in London.
Once you start communicating the scammer will do anything to lure you to make payment,like being so nice and promptly reply your mail and whatever you need.Good thing about Google use the street view to find the address even their office address.I've check mine and found a Bank Branch instead of the apartment..i even fly up to London while on duty and chck out address was fake its really a Barclays Bank Branch!!!how dissapointing luckily we still hv time to find another place..for sure i lost money for the deposit..
Its lesson to learn and to share not to fall into their scam..
I hope London or UK Tourism aware of this..
Good luck n stay cautious
Happy Holiday
Rgds

Thanks David. I'm doing some research on the internet and have found that the building does exist. I also found it on Googleview but I still have an inner feeling that a few things are not quite right, even though the property was advertised on a respected site such as TripAdvisor. Hence my decision to investigate further.

Incidentally this Scamwarners website should be read by anyone booking accommodation in the UK (or probably anywhere else). Some of the unfortunate experiences of fellow posters makes for sad reading and I salute them for sharing their tales so others are aware of the crooks out there.

Thank you for the kind words Ozcharlie. We hope that many people will learn about ScamWarners and fewer and fewer people will get tricked into sending money to scammers. We appreciate your participation and encourage you to tell others about what we do.

Feel free to continue to participate and post up any scams you come across.

<Mod edit: site will be reported soon. - Michael>

It's a good thing I Google search everything before I buy anything:
http://www.londonlettingsapartment.com/

Same scammer as the one you all are talking about.
Here's the e-mail I recieved:

Your Booking Reference: LLA232019


Total deposit required is £342.


To proceed with the booking of the apartment.

Please complete the apartment booking arrival form attach with this message

Below is the information to make the deposit of £342:

Account Nmae: Kali Devandran
ACCOUNTNUMBER; 76155019
SORT CODE; 30-00-87
IBAN; GB61ICIC30008776155019
SWIFT: ICICGB2l
Bank Name:ICICI Bank
Bank Address: 46-48 High Street Nth, East Ham, LONDON, E6 2HJ
Contact Address: 3 Espin Walk,Newton Aycliffe,County Durham,DL5 4JT.

We will need the copy of the transfer confirmation from your bank, the scanned copy,very important.

We will send the booking confirmation and how to receive the keys once we have received your deposit and confirm your booking.


Regards,

Rajan & Muthu

http://www.londonlettingsapartment.com

The two bank accounts quoted provide very interesting information.

I speculate that they are both held by the same person.