by Con Warner
Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:24 am
From: Simon James <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 11:11
Subject: Re: Apt Inquiry
Thanks for your email and it is my gladness to hear from you. I am Simon James, the owner of the Apartment you are making inquiry on, am a professional piano/music theory teacher, I'm easy going and friendly person. I like Music and have deep interests in traveling. I respect every religion and love to hang around with people and i am definitely not a trouble maker and very helpful in nature. I and my family are currently relocated to Malaysia and I will be here for long that is why am looking for a responsible roommate to live in my apartment. The apartment is located at: 55 W 26th St, New York, NY 10010
Its a spacious and lovely 2-bedroom 2 bathroom furnished apartment with utilities included and pets are allowed. I am renting just 1 bedroom but you will be the only occupant of the apartment through out your rental period so you will have your full privacy. I want you to know that i spent a lot on my property that you are interested in renting, so I will solicit for your absolute maintenance of the apartment and I would want you to treat it as your own,
I would like you to keep it tidy always and I also want you to let me have trust in you as I always stand on my word. The rental fees is $750 per month including utilities and the damage deposit is $500.
I know you will be wondering why the rent is so cheap. Well I am not after the money, what am after is the welfare of my property. I will like you to drive by to the building today to view the exterior of the building for you to know where the apartment is located and get back to me so that I can forward you the full interior pictures so you can have an idea of how beautiful and spacious the inside looks and we can proceed to the application process.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards.
James
This person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union or MoneyGram with a promise that he will send the keys through a courier company.
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 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.
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.
