Room for Rent Scammer - Lora Colin

Calling themselves Alison Ainsley
Flat in Leighton Buzzard, same as all the rest, bad english, insistance on paying etc

mail : [email protected]

nah dont do it, top site btw x

Hello Wotevaz

Thank you for posting.

Would you kindly post the complete e-mail that you have received from [email protected] . - You just need to ensure that your own details are removed before submitting.

as I forgot to post the email of the so called Lora Colin:
[email protected]

And I just found another scammer in Plymouth who contacted me due to my "room wanted" ad on gumtree:
[email protected]
his mail:
Hi,
How are you doing?Thanks for your interest and I'll like to tell you more about the property.

It is a single room in a flatshare.It is located in Gibbon Street, Plymouth, PL4 8BT

Amenities include. Central Heating,Desk,Good wireless internet Connection,Gas hob,Washing machine,Dishwasher,Microwave Oven,Television with Built-in DVD Player,Garden and Parking space.

The monthly rent is £350 including utilities bills and inc. council tax.A security refundable deposit of £400.However,The deposit will be refund back to you two days before your tenancy expires.

The property is available for both short and long term contract.

I lost my phone at a friend party some few days ago so i won't be able to call or receive calls for now but i would let you know once i get another one soon and I believe,we can have a better conversation on mail to mail which i believe it will be more understandable for both of us to get each other right.

I am new to this and you will be my first tenant if things work out between us.I am renting this out because of my new Job in Edinburgh However i am a contractor, currently supervising the building construction of an hotel in Newcastle,I am looking for someone that will help me take good care of the place like is own.someone that will make the place clean and tidy.Let me know if you are still interested so that we can proceed.

Find the attach picture of the property and let me know what you think.

Hope to hear from you soon
Ciaran

I just found out because a friend of mine is looking for a room in Manchester and got almost the same text and the exact same pictures!

Change of telephone number

[email protected]

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me so that i can forward it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing. Note that my lawyer must confirm the transfer valid before the receiver picks up the money. Nevertheless, i will refund to you the cost of transfer when we meet.

I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin
+447031875586

Greetings everyone. My name is xxxxxxx xxxxxxx Admin edit: name removed for safety -Jillian, I'm from Bulgaria, second year student in Coventry University. It appears, that I'm the next victim of the persons (if you can call them this way) Lora Colin and Vivianne Maxwell. I have been mislead by the too-good to be true offer and transferred the money as required. From today no sign from the particular "landlord" - virtual robbery. And you think it'll never happen to you, but it's never too late. I'm still in Bulgaria and I really don't know what to do. I'm totally lost.

Please, if anyone has any idea how should I proceed, let me know. The sum is equal to my survival for half a year and i really can't afford to lose it!!!

Oh I almost forgot... Does anyone have any idea how the police is proceeding with this case and has anyone turned to it at all yet?

I'm sorry you were scammed, and even more sorry to have to tell you there is no way of getting your money back.
I don't know if anyone has reported the scammer to the police, but all they would do is make a record of it.
Western Union payments can be picked up anywhere in the world, and anyone in a West African Internet cafe can operate this scam anonymously.
It's not a crime that your local police can investigate with any hope of success.

Now using this number:-

[email protected]

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin
+447031834552

Thanks a lot for this!!!

I was about to be scamed too! This person uses several names, so please be all aware! He/She posts several adverts for flats on Gumtree.

Here are the ones i came across with:
http://portsmouth.gumtree.com/portsmout ... 44947.html
http://portsmouth.gumtree.com/portsmout ... 41567.html

the names they use are also: Nessa Watson , Mr/Mrs Watson, Lora Colin
and they reply with these emails:

""Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is available and i am more than willing to have you in my flat. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit:

Rent : £ 75.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Refundable at the end of your first week stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive (water, gas, council tax, electricity and broadband internet with Wi-Fi) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, i would like to ask few questions from you, can you take care of my flat as it is? How many weeks or months do you intend to stay or pay for? Do you have references in Portsmouth?

Kindly reply for further information.

I look forward to your reply soon.

Kind Regards
Mr/Mrs Watson""

If you are not sure a good tip is to phone them and also ask them to call you back from a number that can be verified...

Thank you very much guys - it looked very suspicious, but if you hadn't posted your reports i might had got scammed...

and when you reply (not having realised it is a scam yet..) they reply back:

"Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. I am willing to rent out my flat for you but it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work with M. Gould (Scunthorpe) Ltd.

Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are in Portsmouth, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by their employers.

Henceforth, my lawyer and i have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to pay for my rent before coming for viewing. I would not ask you to send your bank statement. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 400 which is refundable after your 1 month stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through Western union money transfer agent. You can make the transfer with your friend or family member's name as a sender name and your name as a receiver to an address in Portsmouth and you can as well use my flat address.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing and you can easily pick up the money at the nearest western union outlet when you arrive to Portsmouth and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.

Kindly let me know if the procedure is well understood.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin
+447031817866"

Please be aware! and please report these adverts on Gumtree or wherever they appear.
Many thanks again!
Marc

This person is in the process of an attempted scam right now. It's new email address is [email protected].

Hard to believe that there is no comeback possible.

Will update with phone numbers etc as they come in.

good work,
Mark

All in the same week I have received IDENTICAL emails regarding different flats to let - obviously all scams. As well as [email protected] I have had:
[email protected] CYNTHIA STEWART
[email protected] GRACE STUTT
[email protected] LORA COLIN
[email protected] STELLA CARRICK
also [email protected] FREDDERICK WINBERG (this reply was slightly different, claiming to be in Denmark but went downt the same lines)

DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE! I'm losing the will to live now trying to find somewhere to live, these people/person need to get a real job and stop wasting our time! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Nearly forgot. All adverts were posted on Gumtree.

Looks like Lora Coline is still doing the rounds

Saw this advert for a Cardiff flat on gumtree this morning. It seemed too good to be true and obviously it was.I was glad I googled the name although I would like to think I wouldn't have fallen for it if they had asked me to transfer money

The following are the basic details you need to know about the flat.

The rent is £ 93.00 per week and Security Deposit is £ 400.00 which is refundable after 1 month stay in my flat.

Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license, wireless Internet, Electricity. Except house cleaner bill) Utility Cost : £ 5.00 pcm

Moreover, the flat is one bedroom fully furnished and equipped with all necessary house facilities also benefits a secured parking space but i can make it unfurnished if prefer. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to ask you few questions . Can you take good care of my flat as it is? How many month do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have any reference in Cardiff?

Kindly reply for further information.
Regards
Lora Colin

Hi,

I found her add on gumtree too, and she got back to me on a very early hour. After my reply, she was online and replying almost the whole day. It must be more then one person.
Bellow are her mails.
What rang my alarm bell was, that she sent mail very early (3AM UK time), then during the whole day, and that the offer was too good too be true. She didnt accept any other kind of financial proove, only western union transfer. I also didnt understand, why my friend cant collect the money only after her "lawyer" checks the validation. So i went to western union, and asked the guy. He told me, that it is a scam, lots of people failed into such. Thanks God, I asked him... I didnt know it was so easy to get the money from western union.
How these people are doing it? Creating fake IDs??? I think Western Union needs to put some more security rules into their business....

I will contact them as well as gumtree and the police.

The following are the basic details you need to know about the flat.

The rent is £ 93.00 per week and Security Deposit is £ 400.00 which is refundable after 1 month stay in my flat.

Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license, wireless Internet, Electricity. Except house cleaner bill) Utility Cost : £ 5.00 pcm

Moreover, the flat is one bedroom fully furnished and equipped with all necessary house facilities also benefits a secured parking space but i can make it unfurnished if prefer. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to ask you few questions . Can you take good care of my flat as it is? How many month do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have any reference in Reading?

Kindly reply for further information.
Regards
Lora Colin

Thanks for your reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. I am willing to have you in my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due but it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled and this has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where I work with M. Gould (Scunthorpe) Ltd.

Some potential tenants do not have the money to pay their rent and yet they disturb the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are in Reading, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in their place of work by their employers and can’t afford to find myself in a similar position.

Henceforth, my lawyer and I have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to pay for my rent before coming for viewing. I would not ask you to send your bank statement and i wouldn't want to collect any money from you before the viewing, but you will be required to transfer minimum of 1 month rent together with a security deposit of £ 400 which is refundable after your 1st month stay in my flat through the Western union money transfer. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK as the receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me so that i can forward it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing. Note that my lawyer must confirm the transfer valid before the receiver picks up the money. Nevertheless, I will refund the transfer charges by western union to you.

I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Lora Colin
+447031817866

Thanks for getting back to me. The idea of making a confirmation of your financial ability is not only my idea, my lawyer and i decided to use that process and i can't violate my lawyer procedure.

However, i didn't want to collect any money from you as long as you have not sign a contract neither have i taken you round my flat. All what i request of you is to transfer the deposit to someone close to you through Western union money transfer agent, once you've done that, you get back to me with a scan copy of the transfer receipt so that i can forward it to my lawyer to confirm if the transfer is valid.

After the confirmation might have been made by my lawyer, i will ask you to tell you friend to pick up the money and schedule a convenient day for the viewing. If eventually you don't want to proceed with the rent, i promise to return the cost of the transfer without any deduction. Note that you can as well ask your friend to transfer the deposit to you through the Western union and forward the receipt to you. Western union is a money transfer in a minute and the fastest way to send money.

1.Locate the nearest Western union outlet around you.
2.Pick up the form of transfer and fill in the details which needs to be filled and return back to the post master.Details needed on the form are {sender name;your name and address.}{receiver name and address}
3. Return back to the post master with the cash you are transferring to your partner or friend and wait for the receipt to be returned back to you.
4. Scan the receipt to me so that i can forward it to my lawyer to check it if its truly genuine and available in your friend's custody.
5. After it has been confirmed valid, i will send you an email so that you can inform the receiver to go an pick up the money and thereafter, you'll schedule a convenient time for the viewing.

Kindly let me know if the procedure is well understood.

Regards
Lora Colin

Thanks for the swift reply and i understand your message, i would have love to schedule a viewing with you without any financial text but i wouldn't want to violate my lawyer lay down procedure. The tenant that left my flat pass through the same process and there wasn't any problem, i still return the cost of the transfer back to her without any deduction.

At this stage, i would like to know your opinion toward the financial text and if you're not comfortable with that, i suggest you'll have to look for another flat in other for me to allow someone else. I look forward to receive your message soon.

Regards
Lora

OK! I will be looking forward to receive your message soon. More so, i would like to know when you'll be able to come for the viewing after the confirmation of the transfer valid and also, note that my lawyer must confirm the transfer valid with the western union before the receiver pick up the transfer.

Hope to read from you soon.

Regards
Lora