Rental scammer - downtown Toronto - [email protected]

There was an ad for a room posted in Craigslist Toronto (Ontario (ON),Canada). Upon inquiry, I got the reply from Mr. Joshua Taylor ([email protected])

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"
From: Joshua Taylor <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 1:15 PM
Subject: Re: 1 BHK for rent
To: Me <[email protected]>


The monthly rent is $700 utilities included but before we proceed there are some rules and regulations I would want us to decide on which requires your response for us to proceed to the tenement contract and for you to eventually reserve and move in :


1.You shall sign a document confirming that the room has been reserved for you.

2.You shall have to read the agreement contract which i shall send to you firstly as an attached mail before you make your payment.

For the tenement document to be prepared successfully,I would ask that you send me the following details:

Get back to me with this details below;

(1) Your move in and out date;

(2)Your current address and also the address where you would like the keys to the apartment,the Original copy of the contract and also the receipt of payment sent to you after confirmation of payment by me,which you shall sign and bring along with you when moving in finally as my tenant.

..... and as soon as these details are received I would send it to my lawyer who would begin the preparation of the documents.

I am renting out my apartment because Presently am in New York,USA for Global and Marketing Research and i will be here for 5 years.This is a very big task but I have to do it, all the documents to the property and keys are in safe hand here with me. I am looking for a responsible person that can take a very good care of it for me, as i am not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time and the possible tenant will see the house as his or her own.I am looking forward to hear from you ASAP so i will like you to go ahead and fill out the rent application form so that we can proceed further and discuss on how to get the the keys and papers sent to you via Dhl or ups e.t.c, also are you ready to rent it now or when?.So here is the Rent Application Form Below..

HOUSE ADDRESS
44 Dunfield Ave,
Toronto, ON M4S 2H2.


Here is the application to fill out for your grant.
Your First Name?..................
Last Name?........................
Current apartment Address?......................
Occupation?...................
Any Pets?......................... ........
Do you have a car?........................
Reference?.................... .......................
Hobbies?...................... ..........
Nationality?.................. .................
Move in Date?......................... .
Move out Date?......................... ..
How many Month do you which to pay upfront ?....................


I wait to read from you soonest with the details required for the contract to be prepared for the both of us and further details about the documents towards having you as tenant.

Warmest regards
Taylor Joshua
"



Note:
he attached some very posh photographs and the rent agreement document with the email (the photographs were gorgeous), I thought $ 700 a month without security deposit in the area he mentioned would be a steal ! And note that from the second month, the rent is to be paid at the end of the month ! Only for the first month, the rent would be paid at the beginning. I went and checked the address myself, and got to know about the builders of the apartment (http://www.compten.ca). I did not meet anyone there. But checking online, the builders had rented apartments for $ 1400- $ 1600.
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And later, when I provided him the required information, I got this response:

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"
Dear Me

Thanks for the reply with all the required information. To be sincere, I'm highly convinced to have you as my tenant on your self acclaimed qualities and I will be very happy if you can be of good behavior as exactly as you described yourself. I have decided to chose you as my tenant and I will be happy if you can take good care of the apartment for the period of time it will be in your possession.

I have attached the lease agreement document for you to sign it and get back to me.My Lawyer Information is included in the document for you to remit the payment asap,you will be receiving the keys and the document of the apartment once your payment has been confirmed.

As soon as you send the payment, you will have to get back to me with the Payment confirmation receipt. The keys and the document are ready to be ship out to your address immediately payment has been confirmed.

Warmest Regards
Taylor
"

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I asked him whether I can come and have a look at the apartment. His response:

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"
its not possible to look at the apartment cos the keys and document are over here with me.
"

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Once I sent him my signed lease agreement, I received this response:

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"
Dear Me

I am so glad to hear back from you with your signed version of the lease document,You are to proceed with the payment of $700 to my Lawyer information below via MoneyGram Money Transfer outlet;


Name: Hamat Lowe

Address: Innisfil, Ontario L4N 5X4, Canada.


Once the payment has been made you are to get back to me with the Payment receipt immediately.


Warmest Regards
Taylor
"

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The address - Innisfil -was puzzling, with no house number or road name. Moreover, Innisfil is a rural village far away from Toronto. Then upon inquiring further on the transfer and apartment number, he responded me back:


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"
you can't send the moneygram online you will have to visit a nearest moneygram outlet that is closer to you but you can send western union online to the information provided.

Apartment Number:
2nd floor, #15
"
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After emailing him many times for a quick chat over the telephone, he did not respond. Then I googled the email ([email protected]). I knew that something was wrong.
Please see: https://scamnumbers.info/showemailaddre ... io2fhL29g/

He has my phone number, lease agreement with signature, and my email id now. Fortunately I did not make the payment. Let me know how to proceed.

Don't communicate with him any further, block his emails and/or phone calls. Anyone that won't let you see the rental in person when you request, and demanding your deposit through MoneyGram or Western Union is a scammer.