Rental Scammer - [email protected]

From: christiana jones <[email protected]>
Date: 13 March 2011 13:17
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Clean-Large-1 bedroom Room with Own Bathroom in Modern house-Private parking-Bills Included.
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 : £ 69.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out with all necessary house use. 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 in Exeter?

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

Regards
Mr/Mrs Jones

This person asks 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 payment to a friend or family member.

Sounds safe. It's not!

At other times, this person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union and they will send the keys through a courier company.

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.

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 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.

From: [email protected]
To: Michelle Banks
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Beautiful One Bedroom with En-suite For Rent Very Close To The City Centre
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:48:49 +0100

Thanks for your reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. I am willing to reserve my flat for you and you can as well move in on your arrival date but 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 and this has brought about great loss to me. I wouldn't want to collect any money from you before the viewing on your arrival.
Some potential tenants do not have the money to pay their rent and yet they disturb 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 their place of work by their employers and can’t afford to find myself in a similar position.

Henceforth, my lawyer and I have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to pay for my rent before reservation take place. I would not ask you to send your bank statement or pay slip, but you're required to transfer atleast 1 month £ 300 rent together with a security deposit of £ 400 which is refundable after your a month stay in my flat through the Western union money transfer. You can make the transfer with your friend or partner's name as a sender and your name as a receiver to an address in Brighton and you can as well use my flat address.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me so that i can forward it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your custody, after verification, then we can proceed with the reservation and you can easily pick up the money at the nearest western union outlet close to my flat and also move in immediately. Nevertheless, I will refund the transfer charges by western union to you.

Kindly let me know if my explanation is well understood. I look forward to reading from you soon. +447024092891

Regards
Mr/Mrs Jones