[email protected]

Scammer from 'England' replied to my message on Immoweb:

Hi,
Thank you for your interest. As you can see I have available the apartment located in: Huikstraat 37, 2000 Antwerpen - Belgium, with 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 kitchen and 1 bathroom. I purchased this nice apartment 4 years ago when i moved to Belgium with my work (i am a construction engineer), but my company finished his projects in Belgium and now i am back in my country, United Kingdom and i live in Bristol. I renovated and bought new furniture, all appliance are new and i was thinking to reselling it, but due to the market blockage and the international crisis, it is impossible for me to sell it right now, so I've decided to rent it. Before we go any further I would like to know a little something about you, like how many persons you intend to live in the apartment, and for how long. I would be happy to rent it to somebody who likes keeping it clean and tidy. I can rent you the flat for 5 years, and, if after the 5 years you would like to stay more, then we can renew the contract. I can also rent it for short periods (1-2 months minimum). The rent for 1 month is 380 EUR including all utilities (electricity, wireless Internet, digital TV, 1 parking spot). You can use my furniture, or you can use your own. I have the option of sending all my furniture into storage if you want to bring your own (no extra costs). You can move in the apt in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I `m the only person who have the keys but I hope that we will find a compromise. Thank you for your interest and I will look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you,

This person will tell you he'll send the key after you payed him xxx euro. There have been mulitple scammers on immoweb!! WATCH OUT and DONT reply.

Yes, he’s a scammer. That’s what the same guy wrote initially for an apartment in Berlin, Germany:

Hello,

I inherited the apartment from my grandfather when he past away, i am from
United Kingdom so i decided to rent it. Before we go further, I would like to know about you, such as how many persons you intend to stay in the apartment and for how long , also if you can send me picture it will be nice . I will be glad to rent it to anyone who likes to keep it clean and tidy. I can rent out the flat for unlimited time ( 1 to 5 years maybe more ) . I can also rent it for short periods , the rent for 1 month is eur 500 including all utilities . You can use my furniture, or you can use your own , it's the same thing for me . I have the option of sending all my furniture to storage, if you want to bring your own (no extra cost). You can move in to the apartment immediately . The only problem is that I am the only person who has the keys and i'm in UK , but i have a solution for that if you are still interested . Thanks

I answered him, provided some personal details (ouch!, but they’re publicly available nonetheless) and then he send me a second message:

Hi again,

As I told you, the price you will have to pay the first month rent of 500 + 500 EUR deposit ( 1000 EUR) . I need from you one month rent plus one for security deposit. I want to receive the money monthly in my bank account if that's ok with you . The apartment is ready , you just need to receive the keys and the contract to check it, and see if you can accept it. Of course we will need some way to go through this agreement, to allow us ensure that we get what we are expecting. We can make this deal securely and quickly, and in this way, you will receive the keys in 2-3 days . An escrow third party service called Expedia Rentals , offers this solution and will handle both payment and delivery of the keys .In this way, you can see it before i will receive the money . To start this transaction, i need your full name and address ( street number ,city , zip code , country ). I will pay for the agency fees . I will look forward to hear from you if you are interested . After i will have your info i will forward them to the agency and they will contact you with all the details .

Thank you

I checked the email header and the email comes indeed from a computer in London, England. But it looks like the router had a generic password and was hacked. He’s probably relying all messages through it.

Hey,

I got the same this morning ! I thought this was bullsh*t so I looked him up, regarding an apartment from München. Anyone ever wrote him back to tell him he's an asshole ?

Hello,

I inherited the apartment from my grandfather when he past away, i am from
United Kingdom so i decided to rent it. Before we go further, I would like to know about you, such as how many persons you intend to stay in the apartment and for how long , also if you can send me picture it will be nice . I will be glad to rent it to anyone who likes to keep it clean and tidy. I can rent out the flat for unlimited time ( 1 to 5 years maybe more ) . I can also rent it for short periods , the rent for 1 month is eur 600 including all utilities . You can use my furniture, or you can use your own , it's the same thing for me . I have the option of sending all my furniture to storage, if you want to bring your own (no extra cost). You can move in to the apartment immediately . The only problem is that I am the only person who has the keys and i'm in UK , but i have a solution for that if you are still interested . Thanks

From: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:14 PM
To: <Removed - CW>
Subject: Anfrage zu Ihrem Objekt 69761173