Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Michelle Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:46 pm
******

Last seen writing from Lagos, Nigeria

From: James Maroney ([email protected])
Sent: 07 February 2011 19:41:14
To: Michelle Banks


Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 300.00 pcm
Minimum Stay : 1 Month 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 take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references? Kindly let me know when you will be able to come for the viewing of the flat.I will be looking forward reading back from you and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr&Mrs Maroney


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 Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:01 pm
From: James Maroney ([email protected])
Sent: 07 February 2011 19:30:14
To: Michelle Banks
Thanks for your swift response.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 flat because that's where i work at (Kilrush Church of Ireland Graveyard, Co. Wexford ).

Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb 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 there employees.

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.All what i requested from you is to transfer at least 1 Month rent(£ 400) and security deposit which is (£ 500) = (£900) through Western Union Money Transfer. You can make the transfer with your name as the sender and a Family Member or friend's name as the receiver in the UK premises.

Once you have done this, Scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details as it is stated on the receipt as i will be sending it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your family member or friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or Family member to pick up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.

Kindly reply if you have more questions to ask. +447024014809
Regards
Mr&Mrs Maroney
by goger83 Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:42 am
James Maroney <[email protected]>
2011. február 9. 9:19
RE: Reply to your ad: Well Presented 1 bed room flat in Brighton all bills included

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 300.00 pcm
Minimum Stay : 1 Month 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 take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references? Kindly let me know when you will be able to come for the viewing of the flat.I will be looking forward reading back from you and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr&Mrs Maroney
-------
<[email protected]>
2011. február 9. 11:35

Thanks for your swift response.I can make reservation for you till the said time.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 as a pastor of (Kilrush Church of Ireland Graveyard, Co. Wexford ).
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 Brighton, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.
However, you will need to make a reservation deposit but before that, my lawyer will need some information from you to draft a contract which you will print and bring along with you on your arrival date to my flat.

Your full name:
Present address:
Confirmed move in date:


Kindly get back to me with these information so that i can tell you how to proceed with the reservation deposit.

Regards
by greenhatgirl Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:05 pm
This scam is still operating. Just today I recieved these exact same emails when I requested information about a flat from gumtree. It seems gumtree are unable to simply block this scammer as he is still operating with this email address. I certainly won't continue to use gumtree!
by PimlicoyBhoy Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:10 am
This Scam is still running! Recieved the E-mail refered to above which looked crap to be honest but I googled the Kilrusch Cemetary bit (I know it doesnt exist) and it brought me straight to this page.

So thanks to ScamWarners I know straight away it was a con.

I hate people who try to do these scams.
by Bubbles Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:00 am
We are glad you found us PimlicoyBhoy. We do this to educate, support and warn about scams. Stopping them is something we wish we could do.

Bubbles, former Scamwarners moderator.

Rest in Peace 24 June 2015.

Gone, but never forgotten.

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