Houseboat Rental in Amsterdam

Hello all -

A friend just warned me about scams and I thought it couldn't hurt to have you kind folks take a look at this. I thought the fellows name was a bit of a warning (Eric John?) plus he also responded to an ad for a different apartment rental - but it is PayPal so.. Both were found on craigslist posted on the same day.

AD : http://amsterdam.en.craigslist.org/vac/2224334527.html

Response after inquiring about its availability :

Hey -----,
Good to hear back from you. The vacation apartment will be available from
##th April - ##th April. The apartment will accommodate 7 - 8 people.
I will be taking EUR120 per night instead of Eur138.
I reduced the rates for you because you are staying for 5 night!

Per night = EUR120.
Price for length of stay = EUR600 (5 nights)
Security deposit = EUR400.
Deposit :60% of rent fees(EUR360)+ Security deposit (EUR400) = EUR760
Cleaning Fee: EUR50 (inclusive)
Reservation payment will be received through PayPal.
Note: Security deposit will be refunded back to you when checking out.
You are to pay EUR810 to hold your dates (##th April, and leave April ##th)
Total balance of rent is EUR240 and will be paid on arrival.

I hope to hear back from you soon so that your dates can be booked,
Best Regards,
Mr. Eric John.

--

Cheers y'all!

Welcome to ScamWarners SmithKnight . We are glad that you posted this here.

From an actual rental site this information is found

The rate is all year round €1250/wk with a maximum of 4 persons.
The rate for 6 perons is €1450,-. We can arrange taxitransportation to the boat..
Please inform about availability. We only rent it for 5 nights or more.
You have to pay cash on arrival and a deposit when you are booking.

http://www.vrbo.com/125595

On another site it lists the rental:

House Boat
3 Bedrooms; Sleeps: 7
0 Bathrooms
Rental Rates* for Amsterdam House Boat Vacation Rental (All prices in USD; *Rates subject to change): Weekly $1715

http://vacation.housingblock.com/world/europe/netherlands/north-holland/amsterdam/p_449036/

It appears to me that you indeed have found a scammer who is using pictures from the first site and the description from that site too. Thank you for posting this.

Also don't pay by Pay Pal, scammers have learned how to use it to their advantage too.

Thanks Bubbles -

I did enter in to communication with this person. They are anxiously awaiting my payment - is there anything I can do to report them? Should I seek to obtain where they want the money transfered?

-SmithKnight

It is best to just stop all contact. Tell them that you changed your plans. Undoubtedly they will want payment by Western Union, Money Gram or wiring the money bank to bank. With any of those your funds are just gone.

The reason I say just stop communicating is these scammers are very good at keeping you on their hook and convincing you to send them money by a way that can't be pulled back if there is a problem, so just tell then you are done.