Room for Rent and other rental scams
by Con Warner Sun Nov 03, 2013 2:37 pm
From: Kathleen Anne <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 11:11
To: Con Warner
Subject: RE: - $1620 / 2br - Wonderful 2 bed with granite kitchen - Two Parking Spot (Battery Park)

Hi,

I hope things are good. The good news is that the apartment is still available! We thought we had the place rented to a couple we showed it to today, but now it seems that they changed their mind, so we need to lease it as soon as possible. You were the second one to respond regarding it.

I am sure you will want to do a personal showing of the property, but my husband doesn't want me to advertise the address as a measure of safety. Last time we did that without verifying people, the empty property was broken into and vandalized. As you can imagine, we want to avoid that! You will be responsible for cable, internet, and phone, if you decide to have these services. Just to confirm, we DO allow pets at this property. The rental term is one year, but can be switched into a half year term if preferred. We require one month notice before moving out, as a courtesy.

When you're ready to schedule an appointment to see the place, then please go to the link below to grab your free credit score. All of our tenants use this site because Transunion is widely trusted. Just fill out the form and indicate that you want the score. What is in the report isn't important to us, it's more of a formality to have it on file, to make sure there are no previous property related issues. You can get your free credit score at CLICK HERE

Keep in mind that we are only interested in the page about the rental history. That's all we need to see at the showing. We'll waive your security deposit if your score is above 570+.

Give me a heads up when you have an updated version of your credit history. Then I'll schedule you for a walk through. I look forward to showing you the place!

See you soon,
Kathleen Anne


The link that you are asked to click is possibly a phishing site in which your personal details are harvested for identity theft.
Sometimes these links go to an actual credit report company that pays the scammer a small amount for your custom.
After visiting the site and replying to this person, the scam begins.

This person then asks for proof that you are able to pay the deposit and rent due to a string of time wasters.
This proof is in the form of a Western Union or MoneyGram payment either to him, your friend or a family member.

Sounds safe. It's not!

At other times, this person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union or Moneygram with the promise that they will send the keys through a courier company.

In either case, if payment is made and you give this person the details, they will collect the money.
You will not hear from them again.

All the details such as names, addresses, pictures etc. that the scammer uses in order to back up his story, are stolen from elsewhere.

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 Craigslist, Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment 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.

Email: [email protected]

Latest updates regarding Internet Fraud: http://www.antifraudnews.com
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by simplypasse Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:23 pm
Rental Scammer - Houston: I received the exact email from a Julie Kenny [email protected]. The email contained a CLICK HERE hyperlink to a supposed CRA. Hyperlink is private and disposable and makes you look like you are on CRA website, but actually they hope you enter your information so they can be slimey and use it for their own malicious purposes. Moral of the story: DON'T CLICK ON THIS LINK. Better: DON'T EVER CLICK ON LINK SENT TO YOU IN AN EMAIL FROM SOMEONE YOU DON''T KNOW.
I've also found quite a few Houston rental listings by a [email protected]. BEWARE.

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