Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Michelle Sun Oct 17, 2010 5:30 pm
*****
From: mabel smith <[email protected]>
Date: 16 October 2010 14:47
Subject: Re: Reply to your ad: Decent and well decorated one double bed room flat in Mayflower House, Cambridge
To: Michelle Banks


Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still
available for rent and you can rent 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 : £85.00 pw
Security Deposit: £400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, electricity, washing machine,
drier, refrigerator, council tax, TV license, Wi-Fi with broadband
internet and wireless Internet) Utility Cost :£ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out. At this stage that you
want to rent my flat, i need to ask some few question about you. Can
you take care of my flat as it is? How many weeks or months would you
intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in Cambridge?

Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know
where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Smith


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.
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by Michelle Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:33 pm
mabel smith <[email protected]>
To: Michelle Banks

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. I
have decided to rent out my flat for you as long as you'll take good
care of my flat as how it is. 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
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 London, 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 solicitor 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
stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through
MoneyGram money transfer agent. 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 solicitor to verify if it's truly genuine and available
in your friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for
the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick 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. +447024097049

Regards
Mr/Mrs Smith
by Michelle Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:38 pm
Update for additional phone number

[email protected]

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 solicitor to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick 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. +447024078407 // +447024097049

Regards
Mr/Mrs Smith

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