Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Michelle Sun May 06, 2012 2:35 pm
*****

From: stella kelvin ([email protected])
Sent: 06 May 2012 13:17:53
To: Michelle Banks
Thanks for getting back to me. I wouldn't want you to get me wrong and am not asking you to pay before the viewing, the idea of making a confirmation of your financial ability is not only my idea, my lawyer and i decided to use that process and i can't violate my lawyer procedure. I am a God fearing woman and i am not after your money. I have my own work and i earn enough money for my family and also to help the less privileged.

However, i didn't want to collect any money from you as long as you have not sign a contract neither have i taken you round my flat. All what i request of you is to transfer the deposit to someone close to you through Western union, once you've done that, you get back to me with a scan copy of the transfer receipt so that i can forward it to my lawyer to confirm if the transfer is valid.

After the confirmation might have been made by my lawyer, i will ask you to tell you friend to pick up the money and schedule a convenient day for the viewing. If eventually you don't want to proceed with the rent, i promise to return the cost of the transfer without any deduction.Western union is the fast and easiest way to send money.Here is the Western union transfer procedure below"

1.Locate the Western union outlet around you.
2.Pick up the form of transfer and fill in the details which needs to be filled and return back to the post master.Details needed on the form are {sender name;your name and address.}{receiver name and address}
3. Return back to the post master with the cash you are transferring to your partner or friend and wait for the receipt to be returned back to you.
4. Scan the receipt to me and give me a call so i can check it if its truly genuine and available in your friend's custody.
5. After it has been confirmed on the website,then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick up the money

Kindly let me know your opinion in time in other to avoid time wasting.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829/+447086463727


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.
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by Jessiebestie Sun May 13, 2012 5:39 am
My housemate and I are so glad that we found this website. We have been communicating with 'Stella Kelvin' for about a week about a possible flat and they have been sending us the same replies as posted on here. We had transferred the money via Western Union but I picked it up the same day so therefore when she/he received our reciept it was actually invalid. I can't believe that they are still doing this a year after the first message on here. Is there any one else we can contact to report them?
by Michelle Mon May 14, 2012 11:02 am
Updated telephone number in use:-

[email protected]

Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.


I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829
by Becky22 Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:32 am
i had a reply from Stella Kelvin after I enquired about a flat for rent, but i realised it must be a scam after I received an identical reply from Helen Duffy about a different flat.They replied within thirty seconds of each other which kind of gave it away as well.
by Becky22 Mon Jun 04, 2012 11:59 am
Con Warner wrote:Thanks for posting, Becky22. :)
What email addresses did both of the replies come from?


hi

this one

[email protected]

also going by the name

clein kelvin

which made me laugh

the helen email i'm afraid i totally deleted before realising someone somewhere may be aware of all this, i found you by googling stella kelvin.
by Becky22 Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:17 pm
The other thing about this - and I havent read your whole site so sorry if you have already discussed this, I was puzzled by the very quick answers, twice, literally a minute after I sent my message, nobody would have had time to type that whole email, so it must have been prewritten.

Then I was also puzzled by why a scammer would waste time just waiting for emails and replying to them immediately.

Then I realised, on my freegle group,many complaints have been made about people who have set their emails somehow to "automatic answer" of everything.This must be the answer here, it is just an atomatic answer of any query to them, always the same reply.
by Becky22 Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:27 pm
Source:

The source IP address is 65.49.2.182.

Geo-Location Information
Country Anonymous Proxy
State/Region
City
Latitude 0
Longitude 0
Area Code


result of stella's email header scan
by Michelle Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:10 am
Recently seen writing from:-

ipTRACKERonline.com wrote:IP Address Quick Report
IP Address: 41.190.8.31
Organization: Emts Limited / Etisalat Nigeria
City: Abuja
Country of Origin: Nigeria
* For a complete report on this IP address goto ipTRACKERonline
by Ko Leech Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:38 pm
Hi all,

I have just been looking for properties in Brighton, and found this too good to be true flat offer! Thought I email to see, £300pcm, worth an email at least!

Here is the reply, and the second asking (in some interesting English)for the the transfer to a western union bank account to 'prove' I could pay.

Hopefully this helps to find these sneaky robbers!

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.My flat is located at Lewes Rd Brighton, The City of Brighton and Hove, UK.My flat is fully furnished in and out as you can see in the picture and there is a garage and a off street parking in my flat,I spoke with my lawyer some couple of minute ago concerning the interest you have in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat.

However,it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work with (P. Elliott & Company).

Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the 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 office by there employees.

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 or before making a reservation for any interested candidate. I would not ask you to send your bank statement neither your pay slip because it will be inappropriate for me to collect any money from you neither my lawyer. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 500 which is refundable after your first week stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through the Western union outlet. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send 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.Note you're not sending the transfer to me you're to transfer it to your closest and trusted friend or relative in Brighton.If you don't have any one to transfer it to you can as well transfer it to your self be making your name as the receivers name and your friend or relative name as the senders name after the transfer you forward me receipt scan copy as i will forward it to my lawyer for confirmation if truly is valid and available in your custody and also it will be use as a reference for you.

Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.


I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829

There second reply:

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.My flat is located at Lewes Rd Brighton, The City of Brighton and Hove, UK.My flat is fully furnished in and out as you can see in the picture and there is a garage and a off street parking in my flat,I spoke with my lawyer some couple of minute ago concerning the interest you have in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat.

However,it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work with (P. Elliott & Company).

Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the 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 office by there employees.

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 or before making a reservation for any interested candidate. I would not ask you to send your bank statement neither your pay slip because it will be inappropriate for me to collect any money from you neither my lawyer. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 500 which is refundable after your first week stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through the Western union outlet. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send 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.Note you're not sending the transfer to me you're to transfer it to your closest and trusted friend or relative in Brighton.If you don't have any one to transfer it to you can as well transfer it to your self be making your name as the receivers name and your friend or relative name as the senders name after the transfer you forward me receipt scan copy as i will forward it to my lawyer for confirmation if truly is valid and available in your custody and also it will be use as a reference for you.

Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.


I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829
by sarahjane1708 Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:58 am
Just been emailing about a flat and the last email seemed dodgy so reported it to gumtree and then googled the phone number and found this website. Flat seemed too good to be true, bit gutted now :(

Here's a copy of the email I was sent. The language was a bit off, and not native sounding but as soon as they asked for money via Western Union, I knew it was dodgy.

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.My flat is located at G20 7xn Glasgow Maryhill Road.My flat is fully furnished in and out as you can see in the picture and there is a garage and a off street parking in my flat,I spoke with my lawyer some couple of minute ago concerning the interest you have in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat.

However,it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work with (P. Elliott & Company).

Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are in Glasgow,also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.

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 or before making a reservation for any interested candidate. I would not ask you to send your bank statement neither your pay slip because it will be inappropriate for me to collect any money from you neither my lawyer. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 500 which is refundable after your first week stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through the Western union outlet. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send 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.Note you're not sending the transfer to me you're to transfer it to your closest and trusted friend or relative in Glasgow.If you don't have any one to transfer it to you can as well transfer it to your self be making your name as the receivers name and your friend or relative name as the senders name after the transfer you forward me receipt scan copy as i will forward it to my lawyer for confirmation if truly is valid and available in your custody and also it will be use as a reference for you.

Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.


I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829
by fozzles Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:50 pm
So lucky to have found this discussion, just got in touch with 'Stella' regarding this flat - http://www.gumtree.com/p/flats-houses/o ... /104400722

She replied with the standard email some of you guys have pasted above. I feel like replying back with a link to this page but then they'll only go and change their email address right? These people will continue the scam under other names. So angry!
by Bubbles Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:45 pm
Welcome to ScamWarners fozzles. Please do not send a link to this discussion. We do not want to educate the scammers about what we do or the information we have on them. They will just open a new email account and keep on scamming.

Yes, they madden us too. Exposing their tactics and educating people about scams it what we can do to hurt them. Thank you for being a member here.

Bubbles, former Scamwarners moderator.

Rest in Peace 24 June 2015.

Gone, but never forgotten.
by Pammy182 Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:38 am
Thanks for the interest you have in my house.My house is still available for rent and you can stay in my house 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 £400 pcm : £ 100.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 500.00 (Returnable at the end of a week stay in my house)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm.

However, At this stage that you want to rent my house, i need to know some few question about you.Can you keep my house clean and tidy? Do you have references in Fife?. Kindly reply for further information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my house.

I look forward to reading from you. Have a wonderful week ahead of you.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my house.My house is fully furnished in and out as you can see in the picture and there is a garage and a off street parking in my house,I spoke with my lawyer some couple of minute ago concerning the interest you have in my house and we both agreed to have you in my house.

However,it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view my house without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my house because that's where i work with (P. Elliott & Company).


Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are in Fife,also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.

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 or before making a reservation for any interested candidate. I would not ask you to send your bank statement neither your pay slip because it will be inappropriate for me to collect any money from you neither my lawyer. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 500 which is refundable after your first week stay in my house, would be required from you to transfer through the Western union outlet. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send 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.Note you're not sending the transfer to me you're to transfer it to your closest and trusted friend or relative in Fife.If you don't have any one to transfer it to you can as well transfer it to your self be making your name as the receivers name and your friend or relative name as the senders name after the transfer you forward me receipt scan copy as i will forward it to my lawyer for confirmation if truly is valid and available in your custody and also it will be use as a reference for you.

Note that the transfer must be confirmed valid before the receiver picks up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.


I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829
Last edited by Con Warner on Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:16 am, edited 2 times in total. Reason: Added "quotes" for clarity.

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