Rental Scam - [email protected]

From: Donald Wilson < [email protected] >
Subject: RENTAL APPLICATION FORM

Thanks for your interest and inquiries about my apartment. Yes the apartment is still available for rent and we need a responsible person/family to occupy and maintain the apartment since we are not going to be around for a while. we traveled to Carson City NV, for a program called SERVING IN MISSION (SIM),you can view the link for more info: (https://www.sim.org/ ). i will be away for 3 to 4 years or more that is why I have made up my mind to put up my apartment for rent to whom ever that will take good care of it. I believe you have seen how it is from only the pictures you saw on the site, compared to the 100% comfort to be derived from it as an occupant.
FEATURES : Laundry, Electric Range, Electric Heat,Car park.
AMENITIES: Air Conditioning, Deck, Cable TV, Ceiling Fans, 24 hours Internet service,Dishwasher, Garbage Disposal, Microwave, security alarm, Pets Friendly, Refrigerator,Washer / Dryer.
Rental Price: $730 per month and security Deposit is $500 (Security Deposit is Refundable) Utilities included in monthly rent.

Here is the address to the Home: 4239 Hamilton Street, San Diego, CA.
Bedroom:1
Bathroom:1
I may not be returning to the apartment because we plan buying another House upon arrival. For more inquiries.

SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW:

RENT APPLICATION FORM.
Name (First name/ Middle name/Surname ) : __________?
Phone numbers (home,cell and office line ) # :__________?
E-mail :__________?
Best time to call :__________?
Marital Status:__________?
How many proposed occupants :__________?
List all in addition to yourself including approx age :__________?
Present Address :__________?
City/State :__________?
Will you have pets :__________?
Please describe Breed, size :__________?
Personality of pet :__________?
Preferred move in date :__________?
Intended length of lease:__________?
Do you agree to pay the payment before you move in:__________?
Earliest possible date of deposit payment:__________?
Length of previous tenancy :__________?
Present occupation :__________?
Do you work late night :__________?
Do you smoke :__________?
Do you drink :__________?


Looking forward to hearing back from you with all this details so that i can have them in my file in case of issuing your rent payment receipt to you and for contacting you. Your quick response will be highly appreciated so that we can discuss on how to get the documents and the keys of my property to you via Express Delivery Services and You may drive by to view the building and its living environment. May God bless you and your family.

From: Donald Wilson < [email protected] >
Subject: APPLICATION ACCEPTED

Hello xxxx.

I can see your willingness in this home and I am happy to inform you that your application has been considered and accepted. I'm satisfied with your profile and also believe l can trust in you, l showed your profile to my wife and daughter, they are OK with it. I want you to know that we can let you stay in my home till the period of time you wish to and i won't be selling my property. The rent fee is among the home utilities all included, so you can use them anytime but make sure you take proper care of my properties. I will be receiving the security deposit and first month rent. Please once again, i want to trust you and i hope you do not disappoint us and i promise you that, you will love the home and not only, a good relationship between us. The following documents are here with us as i could not find anyone whom i could trust to drop them with for this purpose. But never-mind, next day delivery service will handle that perfectly for us. In doing this, you will need to make the payment , which the deposit is refundable to enable the shipment of the Keys and document to your current address that i have here in the rental form, after which you could move in at your convenience. The rent starts counting when you move in and after moving in, you will be required to make the first month rental fees at your convenience Here are the contents of the document that needs to be sent.
1) Entrance and the rooms Keys
2) Paper/Permanent home form
3) The home documentary file.
4) Full Description of the home and Address
5) Payment Receipt
6) Signed Lease Agreement Form you are supposed to also sign and get it sent back to me as soon as the payment has been confirmed, l will go ahead and commence on how the home Keys / Documents will be delivered to you and i will ensure that i book for the 24 hours next day delivery service as to enable you receive it on time and as scheduled. Let me hear back from you as soon as possible so that i can arrange for the delivery. Get back to me via email or Call/text me on (805) 283-7106 so as to instruct you on how to make the payment. I await your reply .Regard and God bless you.

This person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union, MoneyGram, pre-paid credit card or bank transfer with a promise that you can have the keys to a property that does not belong to him.

Sounds safe. It's not!

At other times, he will ask for proof that you are able to pay the deposit and rent due to a string of time wasters.
This proof is in the form of a Western Union or MoneyGram payment to a lawyer,a friend or family member.

In either case, if payment is made and you give this person the details, they will collect the money.
You will not hear from them again.

All the details such as names, addresses, pictures etc. that the scammer uses in order to back up his story, are stolen from elsewhere.

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 Craigslist, Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment 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.

This exact scam happened to me! I responded to a Craiglist ad, and sent a text message to the number. We had a seemingly-normal-enough conversation, and dude's grammar was about 95% on point--more than a lot of people I know, whose first language is English.

I'm writing in this thread because I'm concerned about what I might have gotten myself into by going to the website from that text (the serving in missions or SIM or whatever). I don't really understand a lot of the functionality of how websites track you, or gather data once you've visited (and then left) their site.

So, I have two questions:

1) Should i be concerned about this? (I noticed the url leads with https, making me think there could be a problem brewing that I'm not yet aware of)

2) If so, can anyone advise what steps to take next? Thank you!

Please post the phone number you texted.

If you are worried run two anti-virus programs one at a time. While the other is disabled.

You can find free anti-virus software on the internet. Just make sure you download from a safe site or buy it at a well known online site that has a store front presence.

Future advice.

Make sure you can physically go inside any rental and meet the landlord face to face prior to renting.