Rental Scammer - [email protected]

Date: Mon, 21 May 2012 11:11
Subject: Re: $140 / 2br - *GREAT AND LOVELY 2BR- SLEEPS 7| TV-DVD, INTERNET|SUMMER SPECIAL BOOK* (Fort Myers Beach, FL)
From: [email protected]
To: Con Warner

This property is available for the chosen dates. All we require from you during your vacation is to treat this property in same way as you would treat yours. All Taxes ,Cleaning Fee, Bills , Car park Bills has been included in the rent. Check below for Apartment details and the price quotes.

2 Bedrooms + Full Baths Sleeps (7) @ $140 Per Night
Rental Rate: $140.00 x 3 nights = $420

$200 Refundable Security Deposit and 50% of Total Rent Price Required At Time Of Reservation
Balance Due Upon Arrival ( Cash or Check )
Security Deposit will be refunded on the checkout day

50% Deposit $210.00
Security Deposit $200.00
Total Deposit: $410.00

CAR PARK SPACE: Available for 2 Vehicles

All you have to do to hold the apartment is to pay a 50% of the total rental fee, plus the Refundable Security Fee which is $200 which will be given back to you on the day you departing from the apartment, Once you have made the payment I will issue you a receipt confirming your payments.If this works for you, I will send you our Terms, Condition, booking form and agreement form and payment Information.


Regards,
Williams.

This person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union, MoneyGram or bank transfer with a promise that you can have the keys to a property that does not belong to him.

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 lawyer,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.

I was just scammed! Thanks for posting, unfortunately, posted too late. I also just sent this person money via wire transfer. They told me to send all the information to here:

Payment Details Below:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Account Name: Paul J. Laincz
Bank Name: TD Bank
Account Number: 4258505838
Routing Number: 031101266
Bank Address: 49 West End Blvd. Quakertown , PA. 18951
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He last emailed me 2 days ago, but no response since. I asked for the address, and said the money has been confirmed since the 18th.

Please do something about this. I'm immediately filing a fraudulent claim with my bank, and reporting this issue to the receiving bank. Good luck. Let me know if you need any other information.

I've been in contact with him. I asked for more photos and he sent me 3 photos of a bathroom and wrote

You can view the pictures on http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/vac/3018423266.html
Enclosed are the picture of the bathrooms.
I want to use this medium to inform you that I am very diplomatic and conservative. I have managed several properties in the recent years without a stain on me.

Once your reservation is completed for the dates, the property will be available for you only for the chosen dates and will not be shared. I will personally be handling the keys to the apartment to you upon arrival before checking you in. But, If you are doubting my legitimacy, you can check with other properties.

Thanks and stay blessed.

Williams.

I think I'm so desperate to find a decent vacation place that I'm about ready to believe it. It is a hoax right? I also found this page: http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/2063390186/6 They haven't listed the Williams name yet but the emails all look the same.

Should I continue the process to see who he has me sending the money to?

So I contacted the real owners of the property (lancelot castles rental company) and informed them. But in the meantime I got another reply for property that I think is another scam. Email is [email protected]

Uses almost identical language in the email and the address given doesn't exist in the property appraisers for the county.

I googled some of the description used and found it for other properties and including a couple photos that I was sent in other listings for different buildings.

Why is it so hard to find a nice place to rent?

WARNING - if they require you to send a wire, do not trust them. No legitimate business would request you to use a wire. I contacted several craiglist adds, and they all showed really nice homes, and said the same thing - I'm a realtor and I've been doing this for years. This is all a SCAM. Only use wire transfers to people you know and trust. This is a way to loose your money without any trace nor any help to get it replaced by your credit card. I reported this loss to the Wire Transfer Fraud Department. Again because of the no traceability, this is consider a loss. Those prices are too good to be true, because they are. Go through a formal rental home site. Those use paypal which will protect you and the owner.

One of the scam website say they don't use paypal because they got screwed by a past tenant. They have fake stories all over the place. If they used paypal, they should have complained to paypal, and paypal would have taken care of it. I've had it done in the past.

1. USE A VACATION RENTAL WEBSITE that uses PAYPAL or something similar to protect you and them.
2. NEVER USE A WIRE TRANSFER TO A PERSON YOU DO NO KNOW AND TRUST

Williams definitely used a lot of poor english. Same with all the other scammer websites. I've been going to craigslist and flagging what I can when I have time, but please do no do any wire transfer transaction. It's not worth the loss and issues of reporting the fraud.