by GeordiePrincess
Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:20 am
Hi guys, new to this site but have found a few of the threads super helpful so thought I'd share my experience to act as a warning when using Gumtree. My family & I are currently seeking a private rental property in a more suitable area (we have prob;ems with antisocial behaviour where we are at the moment) and so innocently (and perhaps naively) placed an ad on gumtree.com, asking propspective landlords with suitable properties to get in touch and give me a little more info about their rental properties. to date, I've had 5 replies, 2 of which being from genuine landlords, 3 of which I believe are scammers. Anyway, I have an e-mail conversation to share with all of you (I must point out, my suspicions were raised right from the start but was curious to see how far they'd go, so I played along):
Received from [email protected]
Hello, I've just seen your ad on Gumtree and...Just saw your message.I have a 2 bedroom flat very affordable it very beautiful and calm.located in Newcastle.
* Fully Furnished property
* VERY SPACIOUS
* Large Bedroom With 2 Wardrobes
* Power shower with light and sound
* Conservatory Overlooking Large Garden
* Central Heating & Double Glazed
* Kitchen appliances included
* Jacuzzi bath
* Car PARK
* Close To All Amenities
Available Now.
My reply:
Hi
Thanks for getting back to me! Just a couple of questions;
1) Where abouts in Newcastle is the property situated?
2) Do you have any pictures of the property?
Many thanks
Their reply (By this stage, they said their names were mr & mrs Kelvin):
Thanks for the interest you have in my flat.My flat is located at Lavender Gardens, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 .My flat is still available for rent and you can stay in my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.
Rent £300 pcm : £ 75.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 500.00 (Returnable at the end of a week stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm.
However, At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you.Can you keep my flat clean and tidy? Do you have references in Newcastle?. Kindly reply for further information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.
I look forward to reading from you. Have a wonderful week ahead of you.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
Me (by this point, I'm starting to think the property looks too good to be true as the pictures as I was sent showed a high spec apartment and the monthly rent just didn't reflect that at all):
Hi again
Yes we would keep the flat clean and tidy and can provide references. Can I just confirm though, is this a house share or would we have full use of the full property?
Many thanks
Them:
Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.Yes of cause you will be having full use of the property.My flat is fully furnished in and out as you can see in the picture and there is a garage and a off street parking 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 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 house because that's where i work with (P. Elliott & Company).
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 Newcastle,also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.
Henceforth my lawyer and i have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to send the deposit and at list a month rent to a friend before coming for viewing or before making a reservation for any interested candidate. I would not ask you to send your bank statement neither your pay slip because it will be inappropriate for me to collect any money from you neither my lawyer. 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 the Money gram post office. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.
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 friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing.
Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.
I look forward to reading from you soon.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447086463727
Me:
Sorry, I appreciate what you are saying about time wasters but I won't transfer any money until I have viewed the property and am happy to go ahead. At this stage, I would need to be sure that the property is an appropriate size for 2 adults and 2 children and see contracts and terms before agreeing to go ahead and making a financial commitment to you. I am happy to provide wage slips/references etc. before signing a contract and am happy to pay a deposit upon reading and signing said contract, as stated in my ad, but will not part with any money prior to viewing the property and meeting you. I am sure you can appreciate my caution in this matter and hope you are not offended by this.
I would, however like to arrange a viewing
thanks
Them:
Thanks for the reply.I would not want you to get me wrong the 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 Money gram, 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.Money gram is the fast and easiest way to send money.Here is the Money gram transfer procedure below"
1.Locate the Money gram post office 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 and give me a call so i can check it if its truly genuine and available in your friend's custody.
5. After it has been confirmed on the website,then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick up the money
Kindly let me know your opinion in time in other to avoid time wasting.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
Me:
Sorry, I'm not interested. I'm not divulging personal details of my own or that of a close friend/family member to a stranger and I certainly won't be giving said stranger the details of a cash transfer. I'm sure you will appreciate that this is opening myself up to being scammed. If you were able to offer me a viewing and I liked the propery, I would be more than happy to go ahead. However, I am more than a little suspicious as I have had dealings with many professional landlords and none have ever asked to see details of a cash transfer from me to a close friend. They usually ask to see 3 months payslips in advance, have references from current landlord/employer.
Them (I have to admit, this one made me laugh!):
Thanks for your quick reply.However i want you to know that am a professional woman as i have my own work in Ireland and i do help the less privilege so i no what it takes to earn a living and also i want you to know fully well that am not after your hard earn money nor my lawyer.
However am not telling you to send any money to me as you have not come for viewing,so what i requested of you is to transfer at lest 1 mouth rent and security deposit of 500GBP to a friend after the transfer of the fund then you forward me the scan copy of the receipt so that i can forward it to my lawyer for confirmation in the interment if truly is valid.After the confirmation then i will send you an email to tell the receiver to go and pick up the money then we can schedule a convenient time for the viewing or at your own convenient time also note that the transfer most be confirm valid before the receiver picks it up and also note that the cost of transfer will be given back to you when we meet for the viewing if you still decide not to go ahead with renting the flat the cost of transfer will still be giving back to you.
I understand that many people in this country are claiming of having flat i was to by my husband last week that they do use the western union and lawyer as an excuse to their candidate so that realy make me sad because my lawyer and i have decided not to take any body round my flat until is financial ability is been confirmed before i can do so.You know that i have explain my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view 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).
However i would have accept your bank statement but past candidate do provide fake so that is the reason why we do not allow bank statement.However i know that the bad eggs have spoild the good once so we don't really know the good from the bad i will want you to count on me because am not after your hard earn money as am proud of my own work.
I look forward to reading from you if you're well understood.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
Me (Please note, I had no intention of doing what I say in this message, just wanted to see how far the scammer was willing to go):
To be honest, I'm struggling to make sense of the e-mail, the English is a bit jumbled, but I think I got the general idea. How about I make the transfer to my friend, get her to collect it and one she has collected it, you can see the receipt? That way, you can see I have the money to hand and I'm not in danger of being scammed. I appreciate you need to cover your back, but I'm sure you will appreciate I need to cover mine also, unfortunately I know that to collect money from Western Credit Union, you need very little identification to collect money that has been transferred so would only show the receipt once my friend has collected the money.
Them (seriously?! I was startng to get hacked off when I read this one):
Thanks for the sincere interest you have in my flat .However there is nothing to confirm again if the money is being picked up just as you have said so far.it becuse past candidate do provide fake so it must be confired valid before the receiver picks it up.Well i know it is easy to remove if the details is been transfer to one another that is why we said the receipt should be between you and me only,so i have nothing to do with your money as i have my own work and i do help the less privilege sorry for my doxology.If you know you can't trust me i advise you can look for other flat so as to avoid time wasting as there are other candidate disturbing me that they will even like to pay ahead but you were the first person that reply me from the gumtree that is why i want you in my flat.
Kindly let me to know your opinion in other to avoid time wasting.
Regards!
Me (sorry, it had to be said lol):
Please don't accuse me of time wasting, YOU replied to MY gumtree ad, not the other way round. It is my opinion that YOU have wasted MY time. Shame on you for preying on a genuine, hard working, young family. You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. I will be forwarding our correspondence to the relevant authorities and you should know, I have a high IQ and feel you have insulted my intelligence. I did some research and found that many others have been scammed in the exact same way with the exact same e-mails you sent me and I am nowhere near stupid enough to fall into the same trap.
I must say since these e-mails, I have received e-mail correspondence from a further 2 suspicious "landlords" and their e-mails have practically the same layout & format, along with the same level of attrocious use of the English vocabulary!! They said their names were Lori Grant ([email protected]) and Peter Jesus ([email protected])
P.s - Peter Jesus has just e-mailed me again, he sent me pics of a property "he had to offer" and when I told him the property wasn't in the right location, he e-mailed back saying "Describe the exactly location you are looking for.. And let us find your the area suit your accommodation for you"..... these people clearly think I have my head sewn on backwards.
Received from [email protected]
Hello, I've just seen your ad on Gumtree and...Just saw your message.I have a 2 bedroom flat very affordable it very beautiful and calm.located in Newcastle.
* Fully Furnished property
* VERY SPACIOUS
* Large Bedroom With 2 Wardrobes
* Power shower with light and sound
* Conservatory Overlooking Large Garden
* Central Heating & Double Glazed
* Kitchen appliances included
* Jacuzzi bath
* Car PARK
* Close To All Amenities
Available Now.
My reply:
Hi
Thanks for getting back to me! Just a couple of questions;
1) Where abouts in Newcastle is the property situated?
2) Do you have any pictures of the property?
Many thanks
Their reply (By this stage, they said their names were mr & mrs Kelvin):
Thanks for the interest you have in my flat.My flat is located at Lavender Gardens, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 .My flat is still available for rent and you can stay in my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.
Rent £300 pcm : £ 75.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 500.00 (Returnable at the end of a week stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm.
However, At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you.Can you keep my flat clean and tidy? Do you have references in Newcastle?. Kindly reply for further information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.
I look forward to reading from you. Have a wonderful week ahead of you.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
Me (by this point, I'm starting to think the property looks too good to be true as the pictures as I was sent showed a high spec apartment and the monthly rent just didn't reflect that at all):
Hi again
Yes we would keep the flat clean and tidy and can provide references. Can I just confirm though, is this a house share or would we have full use of the full property?
Many thanks
Them:
Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.Yes of cause you will be having full use of the property.My flat is fully furnished in and out as you can see in the picture and there is a garage and a off street parking 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 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 house because that's where i work with (P. Elliott & Company).
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 Newcastle,also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.
Henceforth my lawyer and i have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to send the deposit and at list a month rent to a friend before coming for viewing or before making a reservation for any interested candidate. I would not ask you to send your bank statement neither your pay slip because it will be inappropriate for me to collect any money from you neither my lawyer. 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 the Money gram post office. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.
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 friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing.
Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.
I look forward to reading from you soon.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447086463727
Me:
Sorry, I appreciate what you are saying about time wasters but I won't transfer any money until I have viewed the property and am happy to go ahead. At this stage, I would need to be sure that the property is an appropriate size for 2 adults and 2 children and see contracts and terms before agreeing to go ahead and making a financial commitment to you. I am happy to provide wage slips/references etc. before signing a contract and am happy to pay a deposit upon reading and signing said contract, as stated in my ad, but will not part with any money prior to viewing the property and meeting you. I am sure you can appreciate my caution in this matter and hope you are not offended by this.
I would, however like to arrange a viewing
thanks
Them:
Thanks for the reply.I would not want you to get me wrong the 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 Money gram, 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.Money gram is the fast and easiest way to send money.Here is the Money gram transfer procedure below"
1.Locate the Money gram post office 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 and give me a call so i can check it if its truly genuine and available in your friend's custody.
5. After it has been confirmed on the website,then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick up the money
Kindly let me know your opinion in time in other to avoid time wasting.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
Me:
Sorry, I'm not interested. I'm not divulging personal details of my own or that of a close friend/family member to a stranger and I certainly won't be giving said stranger the details of a cash transfer. I'm sure you will appreciate that this is opening myself up to being scammed. If you were able to offer me a viewing and I liked the propery, I would be more than happy to go ahead. However, I am more than a little suspicious as I have had dealings with many professional landlords and none have ever asked to see details of a cash transfer from me to a close friend. They usually ask to see 3 months payslips in advance, have references from current landlord/employer.
Them (I have to admit, this one made me laugh!):
Thanks for your quick reply.However i want you to know that am a professional woman as i have my own work in Ireland and i do help the less privilege so i no what it takes to earn a living and also i want you to know fully well that am not after your hard earn money nor my lawyer.
However am not telling you to send any money to me as you have not come for viewing,so what i requested of you is to transfer at lest 1 mouth rent and security deposit of 500GBP to a friend after the transfer of the fund then you forward me the scan copy of the receipt so that i can forward it to my lawyer for confirmation in the interment if truly is valid.After the confirmation then i will send you an email to tell the receiver to go and pick up the money then we can schedule a convenient time for the viewing or at your own convenient time also note that the transfer most be confirm valid before the receiver picks it up and also note that the cost of transfer will be given back to you when we meet for the viewing if you still decide not to go ahead with renting the flat the cost of transfer will still be giving back to you.
I understand that many people in this country are claiming of having flat i was to by my husband last week that they do use the western union and lawyer as an excuse to their candidate so that realy make me sad because my lawyer and i have decided not to take any body round my flat until is financial ability is been confirmed before i can do so.You know that i have explain my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view 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).
However i would have accept your bank statement but past candidate do provide fake so that is the reason why we do not allow bank statement.However i know that the bad eggs have spoild the good once so we don't really know the good from the bad i will want you to count on me because am not after your hard earn money as am proud of my own work.
I look forward to reading from you if you're well understood.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
Me (Please note, I had no intention of doing what I say in this message, just wanted to see how far the scammer was willing to go):
To be honest, I'm struggling to make sense of the e-mail, the English is a bit jumbled, but I think I got the general idea. How about I make the transfer to my friend, get her to collect it and one she has collected it, you can see the receipt? That way, you can see I have the money to hand and I'm not in danger of being scammed. I appreciate you need to cover your back, but I'm sure you will appreciate I need to cover mine also, unfortunately I know that to collect money from Western Credit Union, you need very little identification to collect money that has been transferred so would only show the receipt once my friend has collected the money.
Them (seriously?! I was startng to get hacked off when I read this one):
Thanks for the sincere interest you have in my flat .However there is nothing to confirm again if the money is being picked up just as you have said so far.it becuse past candidate do provide fake so it must be confired valid before the receiver picks it up.Well i know it is easy to remove if the details is been transfer to one another that is why we said the receipt should be between you and me only,so i have nothing to do with your money as i have my own work and i do help the less privilege sorry for my doxology.If you know you can't trust me i advise you can look for other flat so as to avoid time wasting as there are other candidate disturbing me that they will even like to pay ahead but you were the first person that reply me from the gumtree that is why i want you in my flat.
Kindly let me to know your opinion in other to avoid time wasting.
Regards!
Me (sorry, it had to be said lol):
Please don't accuse me of time wasting, YOU replied to MY gumtree ad, not the other way round. It is my opinion that YOU have wasted MY time. Shame on you for preying on a genuine, hard working, young family. You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. I will be forwarding our correspondence to the relevant authorities and you should know, I have a high IQ and feel you have insulted my intelligence. I did some research and found that many others have been scammed in the exact same way with the exact same e-mails you sent me and I am nowhere near stupid enough to fall into the same trap.
I must say since these e-mails, I have received e-mail correspondence from a further 2 suspicious "landlords" and their e-mails have practically the same layout & format, along with the same level of attrocious use of the English vocabulary!! They said their names were Lori Grant ([email protected]) and Peter Jesus ([email protected])
P.s - Peter Jesus has just e-mailed me again, he sent me pics of a property "he had to offer" and when I told him the property wasn't in the right location, he e-mailed back saying "Describe the exactly location you are looking for.. And let us find your the area suit your accommodation for you"..... these people clearly think I have my head sewn on backwards.
