Rental Scammer - [email protected]

*******

2011/3/8 Paul Gowlerr <[email protected]>:
> > Hello,
> >
> > First sorry for my late reply. My asking price is 400+100(including all
> > taxes and bills) GBP per month and the first payment will be for 2 months of
> > rent (1000 GBP), because the minimum period of rent is 2 months. The flat is
> > very clean and I want to leave the flat to one person who is a clean and
> > responsible tenant.
> > For me it is very hard to come in UK because of my working place, and if I
> > will come I must be 100% sure that I will not come for nothing. As you can
> > see in the photos everything it's new in the flat. I am working in Germany
> > (Berlin) and I am here with my family.
> > Regarding the meeting, I think we could fix a date when I can come in UK for
> > the viewing and we can reach an agreement. The property has a fully
> > furnished kitchen, clean and well tidy sitting rooms, laundry room, and
> > fully furnished with all home utilities like: electric shower, lounge,
> > vacuum cleaner, toaster, oven and microwave, dryer, iron, washing machine ,
> > refrigerator , dishwasher, power shower, heater, cable ready, tv set and dvd
> > player, internet connection, equipped kitchen and all utilities.
> > I am waiting for your mail to know if you are satisfied with the details of
> > my flat which I have you, as well to know and arrange for the viewing of the
> > flat and arrange for other necessary arrangements that are needed.
> > I am waiting for your response.
> >
> > Gowlerr Paul
> > Auguststrasse 52
> > 10119 Berlin
> > Germany
> >

From: Paul Gowlerr <[email protected]>
Date: 2011/3/9
Subject: Re: Reply to your ad: 2 bed flat to rent, Dolphin House,
Imperial Wharf, Imperial Wharf, SW6
To: Michelle Banks


Hi,

The 100gbp is for gas,and all bills of the flat.
I work for SBG - Sales Business Germany GmbH and is very hard for me
to come in UK. I can't take the risk to leave my new job for days and
when I arrive in UK to see that I come for nothing. I want to be 100%
sure that when I will meet you, we do the rent papers then i can come
back in Germany.
So i can be sure of that look how we can do:
You make the payment from your name and address to your best friend
name and address in UK using WesternUnion for 2 months rent that means
1000 GBP and send me the scanned receipt. As soon as I see the scanned
receipt that you have made the payment, I will come in UK and you will
see the flat and maybe rent it. After that, we will go together at the
WesternUnion office and you will take the money back and pay me.So all
you have to do is to find a WesternUnion office and wire 1000 GBP from
your name to your friend name and send the scanned receipt.I am asking
you this to be sure that I do not come in UK for nothing. Hope you can
understand my situations.
P.S : As I told you,I have a lot of customers interested to rent the
apartment. I will reserve the apartment to the first one that provides
me the scanned paper from WesternUnion. As soon as I have the
confirmation from WesternUnion that the money are available on his
name I stop the transactions with all the other customers

I wait your response.
Gowlerr Paul
Auguststrasse 52
10119 Berlin
Germany

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.

Hi

This has just happened to us also. Advert on gumtree, did sound too good to be true, so I put his name through the internet and got what I was looking for. Thanks for making this available and helping us save our money. Cant believe he gets away with this. His email was worded exact as what was posted on the site. Hope no one else falls into his trap.

Ciara

Welcome to ScamWarners Ciarag We are glad that we were able to help you.

This scammer may be sending documents to authenticate his identity

One of the documents is a Police ID card purporting to be issued by Cleveland Police (United Kingdom).

The Cleveland Police tell me:-

Cleveland Police have made Interpol and the Metropolitan Police in London aware and investigations are ongoing into these matters. ...... [snip]........We don’t have an Officer by the name of Paul Gowler [Gowlerr]. However we have a Police Officer with the Cleveland Police named Lightowler and we are aware that his identification has been obtained and is being used fraudulently. In some cases the identification Documents have been altered (to quite a high standard) to read Raul Hightowler, Peter Lightowler, Paul Towler, Paul Hightower, Paul Light, Raul Bowler, Paul Gowler and more recently Paul Lowle, Raul Howler. .......[snip]

Fake UK Passport number 456511324

yip we got these too, also with a family photo and a european health card..........

I got this guy too. When he turns up on Gmail I abuse him via chat. I told him that when he loks in the mirror he should know that he has nothing good to give the earth and should go and kill himself. I HATE INTERNET SCAMS. I would love to find one

They've got a police id

You have to feel sorry for the policeman involved.

However, it has to be noted that a scan of any document is worthless and no official body will accept a scanned document for any official purpose.

If anyone sends you scanned id, that itself should alert you to the fact that you are probably dealing with a scammer.

thank you for this post. i have been looking for somewhere to rent via gumtree and googled the guy who sent me what read like a jilted english email that i just had some kind of bad gut feel about. the google results led me to this post which is a carbon copy of the email i was sent by [email protected].

be vigilant!

Welcome to ScamWarners sirduncs. Thank you for posting this additional email address. This indicates what scammers often do, i.e., have email addresses with sequential numbers. We are pleased that you found us and we were helpful to your situation.

I got this one to, today, on gumtree. But he's using the email address [email protected] now. So watch out everyone. To bad for him I reckoned the photoshop mistakes made by him in all images, and that he was writing in quite bad/strange English and didn't really answer to my questions.

And mainly, his second email was almost identical to one I got from another one at Gumtree:
From "Bianca Tuckfield":

Hello,
Thanks for your mail and interest in my flat,There is 2 bedrooms available to rent in my flat presently In good and perfect condition exactly as in the photo.You can rent a room or both rooms if you want.No time wasters but serious and capable tenants,I'm currently in Newcastle and the flat belong to my parents and they've moved to America,reason why i want to rent out the flat.

My flat Address:.....Luke Street, Shoreditch,London
Post code...EC2A 4PY

The rent is £400 per month including the Bills and utility Cost. SECURITY DEPOSIT:£500.00 which will be refunded back to you .
Price is £400 per month (includes council tax, gas, electricity, water, internet, tv license.
This ground floor two bedroomed flat, located in a period mansion block, offers generous living space combined with stylish modern décor and a highly sought-after location.
The property comprises entrance hall, spacious reception room, well equipped kitchen, shower room, separate WC and two well proportioned bedrooms.
The property also benefits from the use of a token operated washing machine/tumble dryer in the communal basement beneath the building and a spacious communal roof terrace.
The local area offers an excellent selection of amenities as the shops, bars and restaurants of Shoreditch and the City are within close proximity.
The nearest public transport link is Old Street Station (London Underground Northern Line and National Rail services)whilst Liverpool Street Station is also within easy reach (London Underground Central Line, Circle Line, Metropolitan Line, Hammersmith & City Line and National Rail services).

# Fully-equipped kitchen
# Washer/dryer in unit
# Air conditioning
# WIFI internet connection
# Fireplace/select units
I have lot of interest and you'll need to hasten up and we finalized.
Please i will like to ask you some question below and i will be glad if you can answer me with sincerity.
1) Do you have the rent and deposit with you presently?
2) Do you really want to rent a flat and are you ready to do so?
3) Do you have any responsible family or friend`s in London?
4) Are you renting it alone or with someone?
5) Which country are you from?
6) Can i have look at your ID at viewing?
I need your full mailing address to prepare the tenement agreement form with your mobile phone number.
Rent is (£400 pcm per bedroom all bills are inclusive with the rent!Deposit is (£500) which will be refunded back to you on your final move in date!! You can rent long time or short time.
Eagerly await your reply back.
Yours
Bianca Tuckfield

After my reply, she replied:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back and interest in renting my flat,where're you presently located?and when do you want to come and view the flat?
Reply back

and the next reply from "her":

You can rent my flat for sghort time period or a long time period.The rent is for each room and their is currently no occupant for the 2nd room.If you've got someone interested,you can have Him or Her rent the second room.
But due to past incident and time wasting by wannabe tenants,You'll need to show proof of capability at hand and good faith before we can proceed and schedule the viewing.

Reply back

I was getting a bit suspicious by now, this is my reply:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply and interest in my flat,I'd love to have you visit my apartment but due to recent inconveniences caused by wanna be tenants who I have invited for viewing and turned out to be time waster.I have decided to know your readiness and capability before inviting you for the viewing. I currently work in Newcastle which is the the main reason I want to let my flat out.

I'll need to take a day off from work in order to be able to come down London to show you the flat.Before coming down to show you the apartment.I will need to be sure of your readiness and capability i.e if you will be able to pay for month rent plus security deposit (£400+£500=£900)Therefore,I will want you to make a transfer of a month rent plus security deposit (£400+£500=£900) by going to the closest Western Union outlet that you know is more nearer with a friend or someone close to you and make the transfer as the sender and your friend as the receiver or any of your family members and you can also make them as the sender and you be the receiver so that when you arrive for the viewing and you are ok with the flat, we proceed by signing the contract/tenancy agreement form and handover the keys to you and we go to the closest Western union outlet closer to my flat to pick up the money and you pay me hand to hand as i will be ready to show you the flat and have your receipt and tenement agreement form ready as soon as i get the receipt of the transfer you made to yourself via Western union that show that you really make the transfer and it is available to be pick up by you and have got the cash at hand to start the tenement renting of my flat .

I do not want you to have the feeling that I'm asking for money before you see what you are renting because I know that payment is meant to be done after you have seen the Flat and okay with it but most tenants I have invited for the viewing, is either they cannot afford the rent or security deposit that's why I want to be sure before coming down to show you the flat.This is the reason you are not doing the transfer into my account and to let you have confidence that your money is safe and secure,God forbid if anything happens to your money you can easily go to my bank to lodge complain in order to have your money back but I'm assuring you that everything is gonna be alright ok.. If you are ok with this arrangement you can let me know so that you can make the transfer with a family or close friend and once it's confirmed I will come down to show you the flat.You will need to scan the copy of the deposit slip to me as a prove And to let you know.I will want you get back to me if you are ok with this arrangement so that we can proceed.I will be looking forward to hearing from you.
When you get to the Western union you don't tell the agent that you want to make a transfer to show proof of a flat as the transfer cost will be very exorbitant when you tell the clerk that, so and you don't tell them anything when you get there and proceed to make the transfer with your friend.
Hope you understand?
Kind regards,
Bianca

And then some email back and forth (me just trying to winkle out the truth about "her"):

I am so happy to read back from you and really appreciate your interest in my flat. What you have to do is go to any nearby Western union to where you are staying with a friend and £900 cash with you and when you get to the outlet. Once you meet their agent, you will tell him/her that you want to make a transfer using their service and they will give you a payment slip to fill, below is what you will fill on it;
Sender's name: Your friend name
receiver's name: Your own name
Sender's address: Your friend address
Receiver's address:Your own address in London
Amount to transfer: £900
After filling the form, you will give the agent the money and the form, they will give you a payment receipt and this is what you will scan and email to me for confirmation and once i confirm, I will buy my train ticket down to London immediately the same day and email it to you so that you can know the time i will be arriving into London for the viewing. after the viewing if you like my flat, you will sign my tenancy agreement form, we will look for any nearby outlet very close to my flat and you will collect your money out, pay me in cash, collect the payment with flat key then you will move-in.I don't have anyone to show you the flat in London,i can scan and attach my ID to you for your references.
Let me know if you fully understand it now so that we can proceed.
Thanks

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back,I really appreciate your interest in renting my flat.When you made the transfer and i verify and confirm it,will book my train ticket and come down to London to take you thru the viewing.Afterward,i will refund the charges back to you and we go to the closest western union shop and you pick up your money and pay me.
I promise you'll feel in Love with my flat at first sight.
You'd need to give a 2 week notice before moving out.
I will forward you the photos in the next mail.
Await to read back from you and we can proceed further.
Thanks

I have attached the photos to my flat and get back to me and we can proceed further.
Thanks

Then, I didn't reply anymore, and then "Paul started emailing me". The error "Paul" made was that he let gumtree's email be left in his reply to me, and there it said "Hi there William...". Not to smart.


Mod Note: I changed from "code" to "quote" so this is searchable. ~Bubbles

Take care!
//Magnus

Hi,
This has just happened to me also! Advert on gumtree, also sounded too good to be true, so I googled this guy and behold, I find this website. Thanks for the warning - I have emailed this guy once just to test the waters and he has responded in exactly the same was as the other emails here.
The new email address this person is using is: [email protected]
The address at the end of the email:
Gowlerr Paul
Auguststrasse 52
10119 Berlin
Germany

Thank you for posting this additional information up sweetmerc. Good for you to realize too good to be true was most likely a scam. We encourage people to do exactly what you did. Your post in turn will help someone else! Welcome here.

He emailed me and watch out!!! He continous to go along with all emails you send. If you want to call his bluff, just ask for CASH OR WIRE TRANSFER…which of course you are not going to get. Thanks for whomever put this information out!!!