Rental Scammer - [email protected]

*****

From: stella kelvin ([email protected])
Sent: 26 January 2013 19:31:17
To: Michelle Banks

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat.My flat is still available for rent and you can stay in my flat 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 flat)
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 flat, i need to know some few question about you.Can you keep my flat clean and tidy? Do you have references in London?. Kindly reply for further information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

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

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin

From: stella kelvin ([email protected])
Sent: 27 January 2013 10:00:52
To: Michelle Banks
Thanks for the swift reply.My flat is still available for rent.I am willing to have you in my flat as long as you want after the viewing. It is unfortunate that my past experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my flat without any form of confirmation of their seriousness and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Coventry to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work.Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who lives close by, also some do not meet up with the appointments.

Henceforth, my solicitor and i have decided to carry out a simple test on seriousness and financial ability to pay for the rent before coming for viewing. I am not asking you to pay before the viewing but at least, one month rent together with the security deposit of £ 500 which is refundable would be required from you to transfer to someone close to you through Western Union Money Transfer agent using your name as the Sender and your friend or family member's name as the Receiver in the UK premises.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 forward it to my solicitor to verify if it's truly genuine and available, after verification, i will ask you to inform the receiver to go and pick up the transfer and i will refund the transfer charges immediately after the viewing.

Kindly let me know if my explanation is well understood. Have a wonderful time.I 'll like you to know that,if you can get the transfer done today so that we can proceed with the viewing latest around 5pm in the evening or at your own convenience.

Best Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829

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.

On 26 Jan 2013, at 07:36, "stella kelvin" <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks for getting back to me.My flat is located at Paramount Court, University St, Camden, London WC1E 6JP, UK. 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 together with a month rent which is total 900GBP 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

From: stella kelvin <[email protected]>
To: Michelle Banks
Sent: Friday, 25 January 2013, 19:16
Subject: RE: [HalloLondon.co.uk] Posting Enquiry

My flat is located at Paramount Court, University St, Camden, London WC1E 6JP, UK.I 'll be much appreciated if you can get the transfer done soon as promise so that we can finalize all necessity by tomorrow evening without any delay and also i don't want a situation where by i 'll make a perfect reservation for you here and i 'll later discover you are hunting else where because that is the way other people do behave in the past but i believe in you and i hope you wont disappoint me.

Regards!

[email protected]

Here is the information needed for the transfer.

Name: Victoria Obadina.
Address: 22 victoria Island Lagos,Nigeria.

I look forward to reading from you soon.

Regards!

Thank god I looked at this blog before doing something silly...

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat.My flat is still available
for rent and you can stay in my flat 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 flat)
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 flat, i need to
know some few question about you.Can you keep my flat clean and tidy?
Do you have references in Swansea?. Kindly reply for further
information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay
in my flat.

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

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin

Surely there's a way to stop these people from getting away with this???
Really want to send whoever it is an angry email!

Welcome to ScamWarners boopie0811, we are pleased our site was able to help you.

Sadly, there isn't much that can be done legally to stop scammers. They know this and it is part of their protection which allows them to continue. The best thing to do it to expose them and help people understand how scams work. Your post helps us do that. Thank you for being a member here.

Sending them an angry message will NOT change anything. They get those all of the time. They just delete them and don't read them. They are looking for victims who will send them money.

I've received numerous emails that looked dodgy, and so I googled them, and found this message board - just wanted to copy & paste the info here, in case it stops someone else from falling for this scam.
The main thing that raised my suspicions was that the flat I saw for rent was in Milton Keynes, but when I contacted the advertiser, they said something about the flat being in London!

[Also a follow on from this topic - viewtopic.php?f=39&t=57514&p=175918]

Emails received from '[email protected]'

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat.My flat is still available for rent and you can stay in my flat 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: £ 600.00 (Returnable at the end of a week stay in my flat)
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 flat, i need to know some few question about you.Can you keep my flat clean and tidy? Do you have references in London?. Kindly reply for further information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

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

Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin


[My response, before googling!]
Hello Stella,

Thank you for your reply. However, the advert that I enquired about said the flat was in Milton Keynes not London?

Just wondering if this is correct, and where it is located?

Thanks

Her response:
Thanks for the swift reply.My flat is located in Milton Keynes i just asked if you have reference in London because that is where i work.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.My flat is still available for rent.I am willing to have you in my flat as long as you want after the viewing. It is unfortunate that my past experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my flat without any form of confirmation of their seriousness and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from London to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work.Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who lives close by, also some do not meet up with the appointments.

Henceforth, my solicitor and i have decided to carry out a simple test on seriousness and financial ability to pay for the rent before coming for viewing. I am not asking you to pay before the viewing but at least, one month rent together with the security deposit of £ 600 which is refundable would be required from you to transfer to someone close to you through Western Union Money Transfer agent using your name as the Sender and your friend or family member's name as the Receiver in the UK premises.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 forward it to my solicitor to verify if it's truly genuine and available, after verification, i will ask you to inform the receiver to go and pick up the transfer and i will refund the transfer charges immediately after the viewing.

Kindly let me know if my explanation is well understood. Have a wonderful time.I 'll like you to know that,if you can get the transfer done today so that we can proceed with the viewing latest around 5pm in the evening or at your own convenience.

Best Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447024023829

Googled the email address - found this - different scam, same email address:
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=64814

Thanks for the swift reply.The flat is fully furnished as you can see from the picture and there is a garage and an off street parking for the flat.The flat is still available for rent.I am willing to have you in the flat for as long as you wish after the viewing. It is most unfortunate that my past experiences of inviting people for viewing or reservation of the flat without any form of confirmation of their seriousness and not keeping up to time as and at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Coventry to take some interested candidates round the flat because that's where i work.Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb me to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who lives close by, also some do not meet up with the appointments.

Henceforth, my solicitor and i have decided to carry out a simple test on seriousness and financial ability to pay for the rent before viewing. I am not asking you to pay before the viewing but at least, the security deposit of £ 600 which is refundable would be required from you to transfer to someone close to you through Money Gram Post Office Transfer agent using your name as the Sender and your friend or family member's name as the Receiver in the UK premises.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 forward it to my solicitor to verify if it's truly genuine and available, after verification, i will ask you to inform the receiver to go and pick up the transfer and i will refund the transfer charges immediately after the viewing.

Kindly let me know if my explanation is well understood. Have a wonderful time.

Best Regards
Mr/Mrs Kelvin
+447509531978

I think I have got scammed and I have done the transaction. I just discovered this forum after I have transferred the money. What should I do now?