Rental Scam - [email protected]

Hi.
So I was looking for an apartment in Prague, I found one though craigslist.cz and these are the messages I received:

"Hello,

My name is Pavel Honza and personally i own this property in: Jilská 353/4, Prague 110 00, Czech Republic. The apartment is available and the renting period is flexible: short term (minimum two months) or long term (1 to 3 years maybe more). It has one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen and living room, (surface-56 m²), third floor, balcony and parking spot. The apartment is nice, clean, quiet, has all the facilities and utilities: cable TV, Hi-fi, air condition, microwave, refrigerator, washing machine, is fully furnished and pets are allowed. The monthly rent is -Czk 14,000 per entire property with all utilities included (heat, cold/hot water, electricity). Also, i ask two months security deposit, (the security deposit is a guarantee for my goods and will be refunded at end of the contract if no damages are made to the apartment).
I travel more with my job and i will not use it for a long period of time, so you can rent it for as long as you want. I want to rent the apartment to an serious and honest person to take care of everything and for this I want to know more details about you: how many people do you plan to live in the apartment? for how long? if you have a regular income, etc...
Please tell me in short what exactly are you looking for and which are your requirements?

Best regards,
Pavel"

The first thing that seemed fishy for me was the price, way below the market average for such property.
I also looked up the building on google maps, and it doesn't seem to correspond to the description (no garage,...).

I replied with the minimum of information, and this is was I got from that person today...

"Hi again xxx,

I am glad to hear from you You seem to be a very nice person and i can assure you that we will not have any problems. The apartment is available for this period of time and i can rent it for you.
If you are interested in renting the booking will be made through Airbnb (http://www.airbnb.com) to make sure that we can trust each other. I am Airbnb member because i have used in the past when i rented the apartment and the transaction ended always without any problems.
In order to secure your booking you must confirm the payment at Airbnb. The price that you will have to pay is for the first month rent, Czk 14.000 (all utilities and facilities included) + Czk 28.000 -refundable security deposit, Total Czk 42.000
Regarding payment, this is how Airbnb process the payment:
All you have to do is to send a deposit in a blocked Airbnb account, (nobody touch your money until when you will arrive in my apartment and also until you confirm that you are satisfied), this is their policy. They will release the monies to me only after you arrived in my apartment and after to decide to keep it. If you will be not satisfied with the apartment Airbnb will refund the funds in full amount back to you in the same day. It's clear and simple, all I want is to both be safe.
In order to make the booking i need your full name, address: (city, postcode and country), phone number, date when you arrive in my apartment, date when you leave the apartment and a photocopy of your Id or passport for lease agreement. After I receive your information I will send to Airbnb and then they'll e-mail you all the information you need to continue the transaction at your end. We will use Airbnb services just to make the booking. The remaining of rent will be Czk 14.000 and i want to receive monthly in my bank account.

I appreciate your interest in my property and I am looking forward to a future collaboration and friendship.
Best regards,
Pavel"

If that's not a scam, then they tried their best to make it look like one. What do you think?

Thanks

It's a scam. They will send you a fake invoice posing as Airbnb. There is no apartment, they just want your money. What email address are they using?

The email is: [email protected]

Thanks, I searched on google and found similar rental scams.

I'm sure you did. Thank you for posting the email address, this will help warn others.