by Michelle
Sun Jul 11, 2010 5:09 pm
From: hanny stephen < [email protected] >
To: Michelle
Sent: Sun, 11 July, 2010
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Beautiful, Very Spacious,Fully Furnished 1 Bedroom Flat with New Furnitures in Southampton
Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.My flat is fully furnished in and out and its on the first floor and also has garden and there is parking space in my flat,I spoke with my lawyer some couple of minute ago concerning the interest you have in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat.
However 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 (P. Elliott & Company)
Some 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 Southampton so 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 have asked you to provide your bank statement but some prospective candidate has misused the opportunity in the past providing fake document. At least 1 Month rent and security deposit which is £ 500 which is refundable after your first week stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through western union money transfer, You will make the transfer with your name as a sender and someone close to you as a receiver (Partner/Friend).
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 it's stated on the transfer receipt and will send it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your custody, after verification, then we can Schedule convenient day for the viewing on and you can as well tell your Receiver to pick up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.
Kindly let me know when the transfer would be done so that i can schedule my journey to Southampton from my place of work in Ireland for the viewing .
Regards
Mr/Mrs Stephen
+447024065809
The thief will tell you that you can rent his accommodation only if you can prove that you have genuine interest. He will ask you send money by wire transfer (normally Western Union) to yourself or a member of the family to show that you have sufficient finances and that you are not a "time waster".
Another variation of this scam is that you need to send (by Western Union) money in order that the keys and other documents can be couriered to you
He will ask you to send him the transfer details.
Make no mistake ! Western Union Transfers can be picked up virtually anywhere in the world and with the minimum of identification. They are almost impossible to trace once the money has been collected. You will never get to see the accommodation or your money again.
If you are reading this because you are looking for property to rent, and you are in contact with this thief you are probably searching Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment by Western Union before viewing, then it will also be a scam. Please forward the mail to me at the address in my signature line and I will investigate and list them if necessary.
