Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Michelle Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:06 am
From: sully lambert < [email protected] >
To Michelle
Date: 8 Mar 2010
Subject: Re: Stunning one bedroom accomodation for rent in Oxford

Thanks for your reply, i acknowledge all your question, i will like to let you know that in the past outside uk tenant had put me through a lot of difficulties renting my flat to them / arranging a viewing. i will like to let you know that money is not my problem as i have enough even to feed the needy but this is a rental issue where procedures needs to be adhered to putting down the deposit is not my problem but all i needed is a comitted and sincere tenant who will take good care of my flat.


More so,owing to my past unpleasant experiences of inviting intending tenant to view my flat without confirming if they are actually able to pay their rent at the right time has caused me a great discomfort and as such do not want to experience it anymore, because i have to travel all the way from Scotland to take interested candidate round my flat. I have discovered over the years that most tenants from outside the UK do not have enough money to pay up their rent and yet disturb the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are in Oxford, in view of this, my lawyer have strongly advised me to confirm that you can pay your rent as at when due, so before we can proceed for the viewing, I will like to confirm if you can afford my rent.

Check paragraph 44 on the contract and proceed with the deposit as there are lots of other interested tenant who have been placed on hold in view of your keen interest in my flat.

It is required of you to proceed with a transfer of one month rent 400pounds plus security deposit of 500pounds altogether you are to transfer 900pounds to confirm the flat booking for you .Kindly make the transfer through any western union money transfer post office / agent close to you. You can use your name as the sender name and your wife's name as the receiver in the uk so as soon as you arrive in UK she will just go and pick it up for you at the nearest western union post office and then we shall proceed.

Once you are done with the transfer today, get back to me with the scanned copy of the transfer receipt as i forward it to my lawyer to confirm if the transfer is valid and available for pick-up by your wife in UK. Once my lawyer confirms the transaction valid, and atached the scan copy to the utility documents that will be handed over to you at your arrival date to my flat.

Kindly let me know your opinion and if you are not comfortable with this option i strongly suggest you look for another flat arround to avoid wasting one another's time.


Kind Regards


Mr/Mrs O. S. Abiri.


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 DNancy Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:01 pm
Omfg this scammer almost got me!! :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

After I exchanged few mails with them, they drafted me a "contract" and gave me a name and account number to transferred deposit. Thank God for google (I really grateful!), I looked their full name up right away and found this page!! The alias they use this time is Mrs Clare Lawrence Abiri. I here attach the mail from them (very similar to yours, Michelle!). They get more clever now, they even asked our details like a genuine landlord. :x

From: clare lawrence <[email protected]>
To: DNancy
Date: Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 11:55 PM
Subject: Re: Reply to your ad: stunning, modern and contemporary apartment in London

Dear

Thanks for the interest in my flat, my flat is fully furnished and finished to a high standard.Below are the things you should know about my flat.You can stay in my flat as long as you can pay your rent as at when due.
Rent
The rent is 150 pounds per week and all bills are inclusive in the rent,such as Electricity, water,TV license broadband wireless internet and gas.

Security deposit
The security deposit is 400 pounds

At this point that you want to rent my flat, i have a few questions for you:

Can you take good care of my flat?
How long do you intend to rent my flat for?
Can you provide a reference in London?
Where are you coming from to rent my flat?

Are you married?

How many people will be living in the Flat?

Do you have a pet?

When do you intend to move in ?
I require answers to my questions before we can proceed with the reservation processes.

Hope to reading from you soon


Best regards

Mr/Mrs


Dear Nancy

Thanks for your swift reply.However ,owing to my past unpleasant experience of inviting intending tenant to view my flat without confirming if they are actually able to pay their rent at the right time has caused me a great discomfort and as such do not want to experience it anymore, because i have to travel all the way from Scotland to take interested candidate round my flat. I have discovered over the years that 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 London, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.

However, you will need to make a reservation deposit but before that, my lawyer will need some few information from you to draft a contract which you'll print and bring along with you on your arrival date to my flat.after you have received the contract and refund policy agreement then i will send my bank account details to you so that you can pay the reservation deposit before i can proceed to perfect the reservation process before your arrival date.

Your full name:
Present address:
Confirmed move-in and Move-out date:
Purpose of visit to the UK:

Kindly get back to me with this information so that i can forward it to my lawyer in time.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Lawrence

+447024062532


On the next reply from her is where I get the name Mr O.S ABIRI, which I google search it and found this page. I replied to her ask for her lawyer's name so I can call the company to verify if the document is legit or not, which she refused to give. I'm very new in this rent thing, my question is, is it not right/appropriate for me to ask for the lawyer's name? I mean, is it a sensitive information to share?
by Dotti Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:10 pm
No, it is not sensitive information. In fact, if a transaction involves a lawyer, a normal person should inquire about the lawyer that is supposedly making the rules. You didn't get a response because you were too suspicious, and the scammer did not have a prepared answer that he believed would convince you.

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