RENTAL SCAM IN SINGAPORE!! PLS WARN OTHER PPL

Welcome to Scamwarners, sporeacco.

Sorry you had a bad experience in renting in Singapore & that you lost money to the criminals.

Thanks. And i got to be there soon again (good to pop into that solicitor's office for a query about MY lost lease $$$, shall the office is still there. We were told that each claimer would be charged for S$100 only if our $$$ is collected by them. It could be an interesting experience...) that should explain why i received that email. Or I may never know there is this forum whilst tried to do some searching online...

I shall say I like good people there. when that women failed to pay house owner and utilities' bills, you imagine what will happen...and I remember help received from other locals as well...

Add to the list a Jose Juarez. Similar email sent.

Hi Guys,

I also received these e-mails. Though I knew from the beginning that there is something fishy. However, I already made up my mind never to wire transfer any money from people I just met in the internet.

I've also thought of a way for you to know if a person is real or fraud.

Ask him to e-mail you his scanned passport as well as a photograph with him holding the current newspaper.
There is no way he/she can produce a matching passport with a picture holding the current newspaper is he is a fraud.

What do you think about my idea?

Thanks and I hope it helps.

Hi jaronpatena, and welcome to ScamWarners.

I'm glad to hear that you have been suspicious of these types of emails, and also that you made the very good decision to never send money to people you 'met' on the internet.

It's also wonderful that you want to help others to avoid being scammed.

Unfortunately, scammers are quite happy to fake a passport, and it is easy for them to put their own photograph (or one of their scamming friend's photographs) on the fake passport, and produce a matching photograph of the same person holding a newspaper.

It is safer, therefore, to abide by some safety precautions:

- Familiarise yourself with rental scams, so that you begin to recognise a 'typical scam letter'.
- Look out for telephone numbers which begin +44 70.
- Google the landlord's email address.
- Google any distinctive phrases or descriptions from his letters.
- If the rental property is in the same country as yourself, insist on seeing the inside of it before committing yourself or sending any money to anyone (including to yourself or your friends). For personal safety, take a friend or relative with you for the viewing.
- If the rental property is in a different country to yourself, then find out which professional organisations letting agents usually belong to in that country, and choose an agent who is a member of one of those organisations.
- Do not use Western Union or MoneyGram to send money to anyone you have never met, nor to yourself or to a friend/relative to 'prove' that you have the money.

Hi,

It just happened to me too as well, and seem really fishy as for the address given. And possibly the rental in Orchard rd with such crazy low price......
it was [email protected] and [email protected] as well....

Lucky enough that i did not gone into that crazy trap.

Thank you for this scam warners, i come here before i can believe on that kind of offer.

Hi Watitan

Welcome to Scamwarners.

Thank you for posting this information, it will help others avoid being scammed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

i got this scammer's email address: [email protected]

Removed offensive content - Ralph

Hi Happy Honda, thank you for the additional information.

As discussed in the PM, please refrain from making offensive comments

hmm the mob tel no is an 070 number!!

This is fishy post.. 070 numbers don't exist and are redirectable used mainly by scammers so how did this girl get one.
Something isn't right.. bet the girl is a scammer too.. they are weird creatures can't spell for twofee or make a whole sentence and spout 'facts' all the time.

They pretend to be the victims sometimes too, probably to get better insight in how people find them out.

THis hpone is being used by
n.sandra2222: [email protected]
n.sandra2222: alright call me
n.sandra2222: +447035957785
erotic_loki: i have told you that is a redirectable line
n.sandra2222: no
erotic_loki: now you have me thinking you are not real and fake
n.sandra2222: that is my line

The contact web sites are awash with fakes.. it's hobby to waste their time string them along and report them.

NEVER call a 070 number in the uk and if someone gives you a yahoo email to add.. open up an im window by it self without adding them, then view the profile

if its registed to another country than their profile.. they are 99% certain a fake.
Same if they same glasgow and then have a photo of them with bamboos or palms behind them.
? Use common sense.

I think this thread has a scammer as its author.

Welcome eroticloki,

The original author of this thread is not a scammer--he is a victim providing the details on the scam he fell victim to. The 44-70 number is not the OP's number, but in fact was the number the scammer gave him to call.

We do not encourage educating scammers, or pointing out their mistakes, as this only encourages scammers to improve their scams. If victims start telling scammers that they recognize 44-70 numbers as fake, then scammers will find another phone number source, and the new numbers will make the scams harder to detect. We prefer to de-educate scammers--deliberately feeding misinformation that will lead them to give themselves away to future victims.

What you are talking about (stringing scammers along) is called scambaiting. We have a sister site, 419eater, that is dedicated to scambaiting. We are very careful to bait safely, which means not using any real life information--you can go to eater for lots of great tips on safe and effective baiting.

HI Ppl,
Thank god i found this forum as I almost fell into this scam.. and after reading the posting since like he is just copy from a template and change his name...this is the latest email i got from a guy name " ROMAIN JEAN"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for your mail and for your response.. The apartment is ready for immediate move in and like Singapore but before i start telling you about it, it is only right that I let you know more about me being your potential flatmate so that you can know somethings about me.My Name is Romain Jean and I am a easygoing male . My Hobbies are swimming,reading and traveling. In fact, I have being to the United Kingdom,USA and also recently in spain .I also like hanging out with friends and associating with people but I have not had the opportunity to hang out with my friends as I have being busy with my studies and also as I am looking to have my masters very soon.. My Dad used to live her in this apartment with my Family but we later moved to London where he passed away and I am the only one in this apartment although my mother is still in London over seeing my late father's business.About my apartment, It is a three bedroom apartment and as I live in one room of the apartment, I have two rooms ready for move in. The apartment is located in singapore and the rooms have the following amenities:

Internet connectivity.... (Broadband)
Heating and cooling system.
Electricity
Gas
Phone connectivity
Car Space, et..c

You will have free and unlimited access to all part of the apartment, the Kitchen, the living room and course except my room ) and you can also have your own visitors. The rent for the room is 400 and this includes the utility bills(all included) and you will be required to pay a security deposit of 600 . This security deposit will be refunded to you at the end of vour stay in my apartment Also its Negotiable .I hope it suits you well an d if you have anymore questions you can surely ask me, I would be glad to send you the pictures of my flat and also the tenement agreement so that we
can conclude and you can eventually move in.Regards

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

Hi All,

I googled the phone number that this person named Nancy Wink gave to me with an email that sounded too good to be true since I used to live in the area that she mentioned in the email she sent to me. I've corresponded with her 3x to date asking many questions etc but after the 3rd email where she asks for money to be sent over to her and that she would send over the keys by DHL service to me this caught my attention and that's when I googled the number she gave to me (+447024058814) and found this website with the posting concerning the scammers. The contents of her email was similar to the contents of a different person on this site that posted the same email sent by a different name. Below is the email I received the first time. I am thankful that this website is available and that I have not done anything besides correspondence with this individual whoever he or she is using the Nancy Wink alias. I will now stop all communication with this person. Thanks again all...

Title: DETAILS OF ROOM AVAILABLE FOR RENT

My Dear,

Glad to read from you. I really appreciate your interest in my apartment... My full name is WINK NANCY, I'm from Liverpool (Britain), i travel a lot due to the nature of my job. I work as a representative of my company, i work with a fabric company based in U.K., i was recently transferred to Singapore to gain a market for my Company.
In order to widen our market, i was saddled to bring our product close to people of Singapore, i was also given the job of handling the market.
However, I'm presently in Liverpool, i will be back to Singapore by 23rd August 2010.This is the reason I want to rent out two rooms out of my apartment, because I would still come down to Singapore to continue my job. Find my picture. I can reduce the rent for you to $500p/m with all bills included but you have to promise me that you will keep the apartment clean and tidy. Tell me more about yourself.
Therefore i want a trustworthy and reliable person so that my mind can be at rest when on business trips.
Reply me so that we can discuss on how to proceed.
Take good care of yourself and be a NICE FLATMATE...
Thank you for getting back to me once again.
I will be looking forward to read from you.
Best Regards
Nancy(+447024058814)

Welcome here Joysimon.

I'm glad you decided to do some research and found our forum. That +4470 number is a re-direct number that can get you connected to a phone anywhere in the world. And thanks for posting that email.

OH MY GOD!

THANK YOU ALL! You've saved me!

I get an email from [email protected] about the apartment in Farrer Park MRT and it was unbelievably cheap. I mean SGD1500 for a condo?! It's too good to be true.

The content of the email is all the same like what have been posted earlier in this forum, but in the first email (in March) she referred herself as Rita Swee and I responded that I would move to Singapore in August (in the first email it said it's available for June). She replied like this:

Hello XXXX,


I will like to let you know the unit can be available for the said period but you will have to secure it ,
Kindly let me know how you intend top take this further asap

After I explained my situation she offered me to pay the down payment (the SG$1000 deposit + one month SG$1500 rent) to "secure the place"and afterward she will mail me the keys.

At that time, I thought it was strange about mailing the keys. Because as far as I know (I've been living in Singapore for 5 years and had my fair share of bad experiences with agents and leasing in Singapore) even if the owner renting the place is overseas they will have an agent or even a maid to handle all viewings, NOT mailing the keys.

After thinking that it was not worth it to pay over SG$2500 since I only will be moving to Singapore in the next three months.

I almost forget about this, when suddenly she emailed me the same offer TODAY!

This time she referred herself as 'Ms. Swee'. And the availability of the place is pushed back to August.
I thought it was a good timing.

Then I again strange things:
1. Why a 'single professional lady in her early 30s' would refer herself as Ms. SWEE?
I mean MS. and then family name? In Singapore and even in the south east Asia region, that is not a common way to introduce yourself when you are still young and single. Even I don't want to introduce myself as a Ms. You usually put your full name or even just your first name. Rita Swee, or just Rita.

2. How come in this soaring real estate market in Singapore, a well furnished CONDO in the city with only SGD1500 (even the HDB in the heartland is higher than that) was still up for grabs after THREE months?

Still I email her and ask about it. And propose to her to rent her place daily for 3 days as I'm coming down to Singapore in 3 weeks. So I can have a look of the place.

I even propose to her to pay the full amount in advance. And attach my family photo so she can see who will be staying at her place!

I'm afraid that I just gave the scammers a new idea about renting it daily to holiday tourists.
Also I hope they wont use my photo for their future scams.

I was about to search for Rita Swee to look how she looks like, and instead i found THIS! Totally saved my life!

THANK YOU ALL!

Welcome here monalisaisme

We are glad we could save your life. And thanks for posting.