by JRH154
Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:03 pm
Hello!
I'm currently looking for a new place in the downtown area of Vancouver and came across an add on Kijiji that seemed trustworthy. It was being rented by a professional and was even posted by a company called Immomarketing (link to website below) which I have no reason to distrust at the moment.
However, the man renting the apartment, Josef Laser, is showing some pretty telltale signs of a rental scammer. I asked if we could do a showcase sometime, and he said we could not because he is in Nottingham, England for the next 4 years for work, and that he has the keys and documents with him, which he will send to me via a third party. (Haven't heard this story before).
Despite his cliche story I'm still a tad hesitant to call this a scam right away, because everything else seems legit. For instance, I can confirm that the images he sent me of the apartment are 100% of the Yaletown area, and I could even confirm that it's the right neighborhood after scouting the area myself. I even reverse-searched the images via Google and found no matches, meaning he at least didn't just grab stock photos or something to that nature. I also did some research on Josef himself, namely by searching websites such as this one to see if anyone has had past involvement with him, and so far nothing has come up. The inclusion of an actual company that handles rentals, Immomarketing, also caught my attention.
With all that said, his story is still a common one for rental scams, and the apartment itself has all the hallmarks of a "too good to be true" deal: The rent is just 850 CAD/month, which is a dream for a 1 bedroom condo in Yaletown; it's fully furnished, has an in-unit washer and dryer, and pets are allowed.
I've contacted Immomarketing to ask of their involvement and to see if they can shed any light on Josef and/or the apartment. if I deem necessary, I'll also contact the apartment itself and its landlord to see what they have to say.
For those interested, Josef Laser's email is: [email protected]
Here's the link to Immomarketing's website: http://www.immomarketing.ca/
Finally, here's Josef's most recent email to me:
Cheers.
I'm currently looking for a new place in the downtown area of Vancouver and came across an add on Kijiji that seemed trustworthy. It was being rented by a professional and was even posted by a company called Immomarketing (link to website below) which I have no reason to distrust at the moment.
However, the man renting the apartment, Josef Laser, is showing some pretty telltale signs of a rental scammer. I asked if we could do a showcase sometime, and he said we could not because he is in Nottingham, England for the next 4 years for work, and that he has the keys and documents with him, which he will send to me via a third party. (Haven't heard this story before).
Despite his cliche story I'm still a tad hesitant to call this a scam right away, because everything else seems legit. For instance, I can confirm that the images he sent me of the apartment are 100% of the Yaletown area, and I could even confirm that it's the right neighborhood after scouting the area myself. I even reverse-searched the images via Google and found no matches, meaning he at least didn't just grab stock photos or something to that nature. I also did some research on Josef himself, namely by searching websites such as this one to see if anyone has had past involvement with him, and so far nothing has come up. The inclusion of an actual company that handles rentals, Immomarketing, also caught my attention.
With all that said, his story is still a common one for rental scams, and the apartment itself has all the hallmarks of a "too good to be true" deal: The rent is just 850 CAD/month, which is a dream for a 1 bedroom condo in Yaletown; it's fully furnished, has an in-unit washer and dryer, and pets are allowed.
I've contacted Immomarketing to ask of their involvement and to see if they can shed any light on Josef and/or the apartment. if I deem necessary, I'll also contact the apartment itself and its landlord to see what they have to say.
For those interested, Josef Laser's email is: [email protected]
Here's the link to Immomarketing's website: http://www.immomarketing.ca/
Finally, here's Josef's most recent email to me:
Hello,
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately there is a problem showing you the apartment, because I already left with my job in England, and the keys are with me. Before I had to leave for England I had someone interested in the apartment, he said that he will take the apartment, I waited for him, but unfortunately he didn't managed to get the money to rent it, I had to leave and I was unable to rent the apartment when I was still there. Obviously this brought me financial loss. So I can tell that I have a bitter experience of making reservation, for this reason I decided to use an specialized company in this kind of transactions.
As I told you before the rent for 1 month will be 850CAD with no extra fees and you will have full access to all the amenities of the building. The price will not increase for the whole period that you will stay there. I would also like to know how many people will live in the apartment and also which rental contract do you prefer- 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal. The monthly payments can be wired to my Canadian Bank Account (TD Bank) or we can setup a payment method that is suitable for both of us.
The apartment is in excellent condition, you only need to receive the keys and the contract so you could check it out, and see if you like it. Since at this moment I'm in Nottingham, England and obviously we need a safe way to complete this deal.The solution is a worldwide third party company called Flatclub (http://www.flatclub.com) ,they will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the rental package.
We use this company to see that you are an trusting and serious person. They will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the rental package. With this procedure you will be able to check the apartment before I receive the payment. Please be aware that is NOT necessary for you to register with Flatclub given that I'm a registered user for 4 years and I've made over 5 transactions with them so far. They are really professional and they have great services.
Let me know if you are interested so I can provide with all the steps of this transaction. You need to know everything about this process before we get this started. I think is right for both of us.
Thank you and hope to hear from you soon!
Cheers.
