Rental Scammer - [email protected]

Scammer listed a Berlin rental on immoscout24.de. The offer seemed too good to be true but I emailed them nevertheless. Fairly soon they asked me to wire transfer money into their UK account. These are the three emails I received from "Katrin Stamer" ([email protected]) in response to my request for a viewing:

Hello,

I just read your e-mail regarding my apartment located in Linienstraße 134, 10115 Berlin .
I bought this apartment for my daughter during her studies, but now she's back home permanently, so I'm renting it out.
We will not use the place any more, so you can rent it even for a long term(5-10 years).
The flat is fully furnished and renovated, as you could see from the photos.
You can use my furniture, or you can also use your own if you prefer. If you decide to use yours, you can store my furniture in the large basement cellar.
The place is fully equipped with air conditioning, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator, washing machine, LCD TV, etc.
Also, very important, the utilities (water, electricity,Internet, digital TV,) are included in the rent of 1100 euro.
The kaution is 2200 euro and you will get it back when you will move out (I will need a 30 days notice).
Now, a little bit about myself: My name is Katrin Stamer wife of Hans Stamer and I'm a 49 years old retired architect from London.
I'm a pet owner myself, so I will have no problem if you want to keep a pet in the house, as long as nothing is damaged.
Unfortunately, my health and ongoing treatment don't allow me to do any travelling for the next few months, so I will not be able to come and meet you personally for a while.
However, this won't affect the rental at all. I can make arrangements to have a real estate agency handle everything for me.
I would like to know how many persons you intend to share the flat with, and for how long. Any other details about yourself would be appreciated.
So I guess this is it for now, I hope I didn't forget anything.


Friendly greetings from the United Kingdom!

Hello,

Thanks for your reply,
That sounds great !
I will delete the announcement because there are many people interested.
The minimum period is 2 months, but I'd rather like to rent it for a long term. You seem to be a very nice person and I can assure you we will not have any problems .Like I have inform you before, the price you shall pay for 1 month of rent will be 1100 Eur and i want also guarantee deposit 2200 Eur ( the guarantee deposit 2200 Eur you will receive back when you leave the apartment ), with no extra taxes to pay. The money, I want to receive it monthly to my bank account, so I hope it will be no problem for you to wire the money .
The apartment has a parking space for one car and three bikes.My request is that you treat it like it was your own. 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 am willing to send you the keys so you can visit it and see it suits your needs. The delivery for the keys and viewing permit (signed by me), will be made with a real estate agency to make sure that we can trust each other.
I will explain the procedure if you are interested so please e-mail me as soon as you read this message because I really need to take care of this matter.
Friendly greetings from the United Kingdom!

Hello,

Thanks for your reply,
That sounds great !
I will delete the announcement because there are many people interested.
You seem to be a very nice person and I can assure you we will not have any problems .Like I have informed you before, the price you shall pay for 1 month of rent will be 1100 Euro and I want also a guarantee deposit 2200 Eur ( the guarantee deposit 2200 Eur you will receive back when you leave the apartment ), with no extra taxes to pay. The money, I want to receive it monthly to my bank account, so I hope it will be no problem for you to wire the money .
The apartment has a parking space for one car and three bikes.My request is that you treat it like it was your own. 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 am willing to send you the keys so you can visit it and see it suits your needs.

This is my bank account.

ACCOUNT NAME : EMANDACHE IONUT-ADRIAN
ACCOUNT NUMBER : 21639260
SORT CODE: 30-94-25
IBAN: GB90LOYD30942521639260
BIC: LOYDGB21077
BANK NAME: TSB PLC
Bank Account Noted (BW)

EMANDACHE IONUT ADRIAN is my brother and I will use his bank account to complete this reservation.
You will receive the keys at your address in 2-3 days after you will transfer the money.
If you don't want to keep the flat I will send your money in your account in 24h,
Unfortunately, my health and ongoing treatment don't allow me to do any traveling for the next few months, so I will not be able to come and meet you personally for a while.
You will have 2 days to inspect the apartment before your final decision to rent . I will pay the shipping costs.
This will be a guarantee for me, because I can't send the keys of my apartment to every person who is interested to rent my apartment , without any guarantee . Like you can see in the photos , I have in the apartment many valuable things and I can't let in there any person if I don't have a guarantee.
At this point you will have to go to your bank and make a bank wire transfer for the amount we agreed.
The total amount you shall deposit is for the first month of rent 1100 Euro + guarantee 2200 = total 3300 Euro.

I need your full name and address so I can send the keys and the contract signed by me.
Name:
Address:
City:
Postal Code:
Country:
A copy of your ID by email
Thank you !