by Con Warner
Wed May 04, 2011 6:06 am
From: [email protected]
To: Con Warner
Subject: RE: Residential Enquiry
Date: Mon, 2 May 2011 11:11
Hello ,
My name is Janina Chong and I received your email of interest for the rental of my apartment located in 3, Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong ,The Zenith - Block 1 .
I am a research engineer for a pharmaceutical company and I bought the apartment while working on a 4 year contract in Hong Kong as an alternative to renting . I am the only owner of the apartment , the apartment is paid in full and with no legal problems . The apartment is not inhabited since I am no longer living in Hong Kong.You could be my second tenants .
My intention is to rent the apartment to nice , clean people and in order to do that I would like to know a little something about you , like how many persons do you intend to live in my apartment,do you have a steady income ,etc . I must tell you from the beginning that I don't have a problem if you are a student and I don't have a problem with pets (I own a little dog myself) and I appreciate sincerity .
Also here is a little something about the apartment and myself so we can get to know each other.
The apartment is the one in the pictures but the furniture has been moved into my private storage room . If you don't have furniture I can take it back with no extra costs for you .
The rent for 1 month is 6,000 HKD (for the entire apartment) including all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, parking, air conditioning, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, private washing machine). You can rent the flat for any period of time (open end contract).
About myself, I am 44 years old and as I told you I am a research engineer for pharmaceutical products , currently living in London .
You can move in the apt in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m already in London but I hope that we shall find a solution.
Thank you for your interest and looking forward to a future collaboration and friendship.
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.
From: [email protected]
To: Con Warner
Subject: RE: Residential Enquiry
Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 11:11
Thank you very much for your reply and for your willingness to rent the apartment . I agree to rent the apartment to you if you are still interested , of course . I promise you that you will love the place .
Of course you will have to see the apartment before discussing any other details because you can't rent an apartment that you haven't seen . Since I removed the furniture from the apartment I am willing to send you the keys so you can visit it and see if you like it or not .
The delivery for the keys (apartment keys , inter-phone , alarm) and viewing permit (signed by me) , will be made through an authorized courier and using a Moneybookers Escrow Account to make sure that we can trust each other .
I will explain the procedure if you are interested so please email me as soon as you read this message because I really need to take care of this matter.
Hi again,
First of all ,i have choose Money Bookers ( http://www.moneybookers.com ) because it is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom (FSA) and is a company with 17.8 million members .
The viewing procedure using the Moneybookers escrow blocked account involves 3 parties : me as the home owner , you as the prospective tenant and Moneybookers as a licensed third party responsible for good development of the transaction .
The Moneybookers Escrow Blocked account is like the blocked account where you pay the damage deposit when you rent an apartment except that instead of a bank we will use Moneybookers .Of course , nobody can touch this money until you return the keys .
The value of the deposit is equal to the first month of rent and must be paid for the activation of the Blocked Account .
The delivery for the package will be made using an authorized courier like Pegasus , DHL , Federal Express , UPS and the package will be sent by Moneybookers to your home address .
In order to initiate the procedure I will need the following information from you :
-Shipping address (address where you want the package to be delivered) and the name of the receiver
-Arrival Schedule ( when you or someone from familly,friend, will be home to receive the package and sign for the receipt)
-Telephone number in case of any emergencies .
You have 14 days to inspect the apartment since the arrival date .
If you want to keep the apartment I will set up the rent contract , I will sign it and I will send it to you .
You have to sign it and send it back to me .
-If you do not keep the apartment, you give the keys/contract back to moneybookers and you collect the security deposit .
This will be in writing in the moneybookers contract I will sign.
The MoneyBookers fees will be paid by me when i will initiate the procedure, you will have to pay for the money transfer fees when you will have to pay the moneybookers agent.
I will wait your soon reply and if you agree, i will need your full name, shipping address and your daytime phone number and i will initiate the moneybookers transaction.
Thanks again for your time and look forward to hear from you soon.