Room for Rent Scammer - [email protected]

From Lora Colin < [email protected] >
sender time Sent at 06:45 (UTC). Current time there: 11:45. ?
to Michelle
date 17 March 2010 06:45
subject RE: Reply to your ad: Magnificent and Nice 2 Double bedroom flat for rent in City Road. St Pauls

hide details 06:45 (4 hours ago)

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent 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 : £ 170.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out. 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 reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

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.

From Lora Colin < [email protected] >
to Michelle
date 17 March 2010 15:10
subject RE: Reply to your ad: Magnificent and Nice 2 Double bedroom flat for rent in City Road. St Pauls


Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. I spoke with my lawyer concerning your stay in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat as long as you'll take good care of my flat as how it is. However, it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve 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 their employers.

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 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 400 which is refundable after your 1 month stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through Western union money 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. +4470240-29896

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

From Lora Colin < [email protected] >
sender time Sent at 21:15
to Michelle
date 17 March 2010 21:15
subject RE: Reply to your ad: Magnificent and Nice 2 Double bedroom flat for rent in City Road. St Pauls
mailed-by hotmail.com

hide details 21:15 (1 hour ago)

Thanks for getting back to me. 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.

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 to someone close to you through Western union money transfer agent, 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 a money transfer in a minute and the fastest way to send money. Here is the procedure stated below:

1.Locate the nearest 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 so that i can forward it to my lawyer to check it if its truly genuine and available in your friend's custody.

Kindly let me know when the transfer would be done.


Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

I received an almost identical email too from [email protected]! but the room is in london, a very
central location in Cornwall Gardens, South Kensington - too good to be true for the price... with some
very nice pictures too. luckily because of this forum I found out how many frauds she has been scheming! before any damage...

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Lora Colin <[email protected]>
Date: 19 October 2010 11:50
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: A 1 bedroom flat for rent in Cornwall Gardens, South Kensington
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The following are the basic details you need to know about the flat.

The rent is £ 93.00 per week and Security Deposit is £ 400.00 which is refundable after 1 month stay in my flat.

The utility bills - gas,water TV,Internet and council tax are included in the rent exception of electricity bill ,the flat has separate electricity meter.

Moreover, the flat is one bedroom fully furnished and equipped with all necessary house facilities also benefits a secured parking space . At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to ask you few questions . Can you take good care of my flat as it is? How many month do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have any reference in London?

Kindly reply for further information and also i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

Merged post _ Michelle