Rental Scammer - [email protected]

From: [email protected]
To: Michelle Banks
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Couple want 2 bed house to rent in Pontefract area up to £450 pcm, garden essential!
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:28:56 -0700

Thanks for your quick response. The following are the basic details you need to know about the house.

The house is located in Northgate, Wakefield , WF1, it's fully furnished and equipped with all necessary house facilities also benefits a secured parking space but i can make it unfurnished if prefer.

At this stage that you want to rent my house, i need to ask you few questions . Can you take good care of my house as it is? How many
months do you intend to rent and do you have a reference?. where you are coming from to stay in my house?
Here are the Features of the house.
* 2 Bedroom
* kitchen with new stove and fridge
* clean bathroom with new toilet and sink
* car attached garage, one parking spot outside
* Home amenities includes - Washer/Dryer, Dishwasher,Microwave,
Storage, cable, phone etc
* Garden
* central heat and air
* concrete patio, low maintenance yard
* Refundable security deposit : £ 400
* £ 450 Monthly rent.
* Utility ( water, gas, TV license. electricity and wireless Internet)

I attached some pictures of the house, Kindly reply for further information.

DONT CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE A SCAMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regards
Mr & Mrs Smith

From: [email protected]
To: Michelle Banks
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Couple want 2 bed house to rent in Pontefract area up to £450 pcm, garden essential!
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:14:54 -0700

Thanks for your reply and the sincere interest you have in my house, I am willing to have you in my house as long as you pay your rent at when due but it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my house 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.

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 city, 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 coming for viewing. I would not ask you to send your bank statement because some candidate had misused the opportunity in the past by sending fake document and i wouldn't want to collect any money from you before the viewing, but you will be required to transfer minimum of 1 month rent together with a security deposit of £ 400 which is refundable after your 1st month stay in my house through Western Union Money Transfer. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK as the receiver. (DONT TRANSFER THE MONEY TO ME)

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 friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing, then you will go back to Western Union office and pick-up your money.

Note that my lawyer must confirm the transfer valid before the receiver picks up the money. Nevertheless, I will refund the transfer charges Fee by Western Union to you.

I look forward to reading from you soon. CALL ME IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT I REQUIRE YOU TO DO

Regards
Mr & Mrs Smith
+447024084278

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.