Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Michelle Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:23 am
41.155.18.236

From: [email protected]
To: Michelle

Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Prestigious fully furnished one bed room flat in Bristol City center.
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2010

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.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.

Furthermore. i would like to know when will be convenient for you for the viewing so that we can fixed a particular time for the viewing and i can as well inform my lawyer because he would be present for the viewing as well,because the tenancy agreement and the keys to my flat is with him but,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 M. Gould (Scunthorpe) Ltd.

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 Bristol, 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. I would not ask you to send your bank statement. At least 2 Weeks 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 western union transfer agent. 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 and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick 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. (+447024093708)

Regards
Mr/Mrs Duffy


Follow up e-mail

"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 : £ 75.00 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 take care of my flat as it is? Do you have references in Bristol?. 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 Duffy"


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 jennylondon Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:55 am
It is indeed true i have been sent the same email
and whenever i try to reply back to them
they e-sent the same copy pasted email.
Scam. I foun this advert on Hallo London website.
Hallo London it is a great for sale for rent and buy sell web
I cannot undertand why they allow these people
to advertise there .
Lets join togetehr to fight scams and cheatings.
Thank you
Jenny
by LuckyConquerer2 Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:09 pm
I received an email today extremely similar to this.

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 per calender month is £320 { includes all bills : water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet}Security deposit of £500 {Refundable after four weeks in the flat}.

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 Bristol and do you have a landline number?. Kindly reply for further information and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.Have a wonderful day.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Duffy


Such broken English/spelling mistakes and I am not sure which property they 'owned'. We had been contacting adverts as we are looking for a place.
We replied, asking a few questions.

Our reply:
Hello

Thanks for your reply. Can you please remind me which property was yours? We contacted a few properties.

We would be hoping to arrange a viewing ASAP.

In response to your questions:
1. We will keep it tidy and clean.
2. We do not have any references from landlord/ladies as we have been living with family. We do have employment references, which I can email to you.
3. We do have a landline, but it is not in use by us. The phone is located in my girlfriend's father's room. We can get access to it, if required.
4. We currently live on City Road.


They responded:
Hello

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat.My flat is a one bedroom flat and is located at Meridian Place, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1JG,I and my husband have both agreed to have you in my flat.,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 Portishead 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 the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are in UK,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 the 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.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 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 Duffy


Absolute bollocks. I told them to get lost, but not so politely. :wink:

I was pretty sure it was a scam and googled 'Mr and Mrs Duffy Bristol'.

Thanks for your post. Signed up and posted a recent update to show they are still trying. The email account was [email protected]
by Mike Wilson Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:30 pm
Welcome to Scamwarners LuckyConquerer2,
Thanks for posting updated information on this scam. If you have any additional questions about this scam please ask.

It is ALWAYS a scam
If the pet seller or shipper asks for money to be sent via Western Union, Money Gram, any brand of gift card. Walmart To Walmart , Zelle , PayPal friends and family option, or mentions Cameroon

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