Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Michelle Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:53 pm
**
from jones barry - [email protected] --- also -- ( [email protected] ) and ( [email protected] ) plus [email protected]
sender time Sent at 22:08
to Michelle
date 27 February 2010
subject RE: Reply to your ad: Amazing & Well presented one bed room flat in Oxford all bills included.

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 100.00 pw
Minimum Stay : 2 weeks 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? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in oxford? Kindly let me know when you will be able to come for the viewing of the flat.I will be looking forward reading back from you and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.
Regards


Follow up e-mail

On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 , jones barry < [email protected] > wrote:


Thanks for your interest my flat.
Viewing is possible asap if you can meet up with my solicitors requirements...
My solicitor and i had some past bitter experience of booking viewing
and reserving accommodation for tenants without any form of
confirmation of their financial ability and
not keeping up to time as at when scheduled has made me loss time and
money for traveling as I work and Live in Ireland.
I will not collect any deposit from you until i take you round my flat
and you are satisfied with it, i just need to confirm your financial
ability before i can book my ticket here and i will also need to seek
two days off from work before i can come and take you round and hand
over the keys to you asap...Also some tenants do not meet up with the
appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in
office by their employees, I hope you
understand this.
Therefore my Solicitor has acknowledge a protocol by which you can
confirm your financial ability to me before I schedule a viewing and
also book a ticket here to come down there to take you round the flat.
In this case, a bank-statement wont be accepted as we have had wayward
tenants tendering fake documents, also you don't need to pay any
upfront or reservation yet, all we require is, You will need to
transfer at least 2 weeks rent or more and security deposit to your
friend,partner, family member or your self as the receiver within the
UK premises...You can make the transfer within your family and scan
the receipt to me so that i can forward it to my solicitor to confirm
it to be available for pickup them
i call you to pick it up and then i call you to cancel the money and
make arrangement for viewing ASAP.
I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO SEND THE MONEY TO ME BECAUSE I WILL NOT COLLECT
ANY DEPOSIT UNTIL YOU HAVE VIEWED AND YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH MY
FLAT..Scan the receipt and send it to me so that i can forward it to
my solicitor
to confirm that you can afford the flat and that you are really
interested AND NOTE THAT THE TRANSFER CHARGES WILL BE REFUNDED BACK TO
YOU AS SOON AS YOU COME FOR THE VIEWING OF THE FLAT SO MONEY IS NOT MY
PROBLEM.......
My solicitor will also show up on the view day with all required
documents because he is a very busy man and has a lot of properties
that he is looking after, he wants to confirm the transfer before
coming. I will contact you as soon as the transfer has been confirmed
to go and pick the money up or cancel the transaction....I will refund
all charges procured in the transfer as soon as i arrive on the view
or move in day......I just want to confirm that you are capable of
renting my flat and that you are really serious about it before buying
my ticket and asking for two days off at work...
you can call me on my phone...07024070687

regards
jones barry


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 Michelle Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:50 am
This scammer has now developed an alternative to his scam.

Instead of asking his victims to send a Western Union Transfer to a family friend and then send the payment details on to him so he can see to show that they have sufficient finances and that they are not a "time wasters", he will send a very believable form that needs to be filled out and then asks for a deposit to be paid directly to him.

Sent from IP address 41.155.83.49 = Lagos Nigeria

From jones barry ( [email protected] )
To: Michelle

Attachments: 2 attachments | Download all attachments (19.1 KB)
Assured S...doc (15.9 KB), Refund Po...doc (3.3 KB)

Hello ,
I have attached the contract to this email. Kindly print it and bring it along with you on your arrival date to my flat. However, you will need to proceed with the reservation deposit of 1 Months rent of 400 GBP and the security deposit of 500 GBP which is returnable after some few days stay in my flat.
Furthermore, you will need to transfer the deposit through Western Money Union Transfer Agent and after the transfer, you'll get back to me with a scan copy of the transfer receipt so that i can as well attach it to the contract.
Transfer details:
NAME: jones barry
ADDRESS: 24 St. Saviourgate, York YO1 8NN
Kindly let me know when the transfer will be done so that my lawyer can put all necessary utilities receipt in place and note that, i will return the cost of the transfer when you arrive
I look forward to reading from you soon.
Regards


The address in York is a distraction ... this scammer can collect the payment in his home country with minimal identification.
by Michelle Wed Mar 03, 2010 7:15 am
This scammer is now using [email protected]

From: jones barry ( [email protected] )
Sent: 03 March 2010
To: Michelle

Attachments: 3 attachments | Download all attachments (6.9 KB)
image004.jpg (2.5 KB), image005.jpg (1.8 KB), image006.jpg (2.6 KB)

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 100.00 pw
Minimum Stay : 2 weeks 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? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in swindon? Kindly let me know when you will be able to come for the viewing of the flat.I will be looking forward reading back from you and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.
Regards
by Michelle Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:52 am
New e-address in use:-
RE: Reply to your ad: Awesome &amp; Spacious one bed room flat in bristol all bills has been included.?
From: jones barry ( [email protected] )

Sent: 06 March 2010 15:07:55
To: Michelle
Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 100.00 pw
Minimum Stay : 2 weeks 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? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in bristol? Kindly let me know when you will be able to come for the viewing of the flat.I will be looking forward reading back from you and i will like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.
Regards

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