Rental Scammer - [email protected]

I'm looking for an apartment in Mexico City and I found one that was just too good to be truth but still decided to ask for more information and this is what I got


On 30/06/2013, at 11:25 a.m., Lidia Preston < [email protected] > wrote:

Hello,

First of all I'm sorry for the late reply but I had a lot to work and this is the time I could give you a message.Thank you for your interest. My name is Lidia Preston and from the internet add, you could see, that the apartment located in: Avenida Reforma 27, Tabacalera, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal. It has 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 kitchen and 1 living room.
The kind of tenant I am looking for must be above all very responsible and preferably dynamic and communicative. Utilities such as internet, electricity, water and satellite are included in the monthly rent, which is 6,500 peso per month.
The reason for which I am renting my apartment is that I had to work in another country, which is London, United Kingdom for 6 months initially, but now I learned that my job will continue for at least 36 months more in the current location. I have already made permanent living arrangements here for me and my family, therefore we decided to put our apartment on the internet up for rent.

Thank you for your interest and I will look forward to hearing from you soon.
Lidia Preston

P.S. Please tell me if this is what are you looking for and reply my only if you are truly interested in the apt.

to this I replied I was interested and this is what I got back

Hello and thank you for the reply.

I have attached the apartment pictures so you can check them. The apartment looks exact as you see in the pictures, furnished and you all the that you need including tv, washing machine, internet, cable, etc..
I`m glad that you are interested to rent the apartment. As you have been informed my location right now it`s in London, United Kingdom.
The price you shall pay for one month of rent will be 6,500 pesos, plus the security deposit 6,500 pesos so the total will be 13,000 pesos, including all utilities & community with no extra fees for the duration of the contract. After that the rent will be 6,500 pesos every month.
The security deposit if you want can be used to pay the last month of rent or in the situation if you don't have money, will be used as payment for the current month, with your prior confirmation or refundable at the end of the contract.
About the money, I would like to receive it monthly into my bank account and I hope there will be no problem for you to wire the money to it. The apartment is ready for you, you only need to receive the keys with the contract so you could check it out, and see if you like it.
Obviously we need a way to complete this deal, that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are after. In order of that I have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast, and in this way you will receive the apartment keys in less than 2 days, if you move fast as well. The solution is provided by a company called TNT which is similar to FedEx, DHL or UPS, which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys.
TNT services will allow you to pay for the rent of the apartment only after you will receive the apartment keys, and through this way you will see it and decide if you will stay in the apartment or not before I receive my payment.
Let me know if you are interested, because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of next week.

then I smelled something fishy and started looking for references and I found this forum so now I want to share my experience ... but now I don't know what to do.. should I reply? should I not? what should I do?

btw this is the link to the apartment info http://www.doomos.com.mx/de/308022_depa ... alera.html

Welcome to Scamwarners maniatik23,

It is a scam and do not write back to them. Just ignore them now.

This scam has also been tried on me. I was alerted by an unprofessional response after I said I wanted to see and sign the contract before paying the money. After some doubt, I found this website.
The apartment they are trying to rent is Hogeword 103 A in Leiden, The Netherlands, for 330,- a month.

This is the response I received when asking to see the contract: We don't understand your this assumption. We are a reputable company and we do not claim to donkeys.


If you have any objection please contact customer service
We want to know if we can continue or if we cancel this transaction

If we don't have the payment confirmation below, we cannot continue,is for our security.



I would like to thank the person that posted this.

Please post the initial email/s that the scammer sent.
Thanks.

Please post the initial email/s that the scammer sent.
Thanks.

They are identical to previously posted e-mails. Didn't want to waste your time.

Another ongoing story here, had a to good to be truth offer from a UK person with sloppy English and I couldn't find her name (Paula Ducher) in any database, when googling TNT Rentals I got here. I am still e-mailing with the scammer, is there a way to make him/her pay?

Story:

Hello,

I received your email of interest for the rental of my apartment located in Utrecht.The apartment is still available. There is no other persons in the house, so you will not have to share the apartment.

My name is Paula Ducher, i live in United Kingdom, i have a lovely husband John and 25 year old daughter, Anna.I am very proud to say that soon i'm going to be a grandmother.I bought this apartment for my daughter during her studies in Netherlands but now she's back in UK permanently so nobody is there to take care about renting it, so I will just send you the keys and contract using a Estate Delivery Company. They will act as a third party in our transaction. I hope it's OK with you, since this is the only reliable option.

The apartment has the following facilities:Wireless internet facilities,Phone,Microwave,Washing machine,Plasma TV,DVD Player,Dryer,Dishwasher,Refrigerator,Freezer,Toaster,Bathroom toilet,Lounge/living room,Kitchen,Utility room. If you are still interested to rent my apartment just answer me and i will give you more details .

Thank you and hope to hear back from you.
Regards , Paula!

Hello again Mr Viktor,

Thank you for answer me so fast. The price you shall pay for one month of rent will be 350 euro + 350 euro security deposit ( kaution ), with no extra taxes to pay. I am not interested to make a lot of money from the rent as I am interested to find a tenant that will take good care of the property.

I wish to rent my apartment to some nice and responsible people and in order to do that I have to know a some details about you (Your name,address,like how many persons are you planning to live in the apartment, for how long, if you have a steady income, etc.). You should also know that I appreciate sincerity very much.

Since I am unable to come to Netherlands and Because don't have any trustworthy friends in the area to send the keys I found an alternate solution in order to close the transaction safe for the both of us, a company who will handle the payment and keys + contract delivery, it is an international company called TNT Rentals, please visit their website ( http://www.tnt.com/express/en_gb/site/h ... ivery.html ).

They will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the Keys and rental Agreement. With this procedure you will be able to check the apartment before sign the contract (if will be necessary) .To avoid any misunderstanding i will glad explain you step by step how the transaction work if you are interested.

Looking forward to receiving your response.
Thank you

As you can see it's a Dutch appartment i found on a casual roomsearching site. After recieving the first respons the room got removed from the site. Again, i hope to get back at the scammer, is there anyone who knows how?

It would help if you posted the email address and the emails here.
A previous poster claimed that they didn't want to waste our time but the information will help other potential victims who may be carrying out research.
There may be a slight difference in the wording too. - This helps us keep a track of different scammers who may use similar writing styles.