From: venus raymond <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: Reply to your ad: Fully furnished and equipped one bedroom apartment for rent in London
To: Michelle Banks
Hello Michelle,
Thanks for the interest in my flat, i can make reservation for you, my
flat is fully finished and furnished to a high standard with necessary
amenities required in an ideal flat. Below are the things you should
know about my flat.
Rent
The rent is 100 pounds per week bills are inclusive in the rent,such
as Electricity, water,TV license broadband wireless internet and gas.
Security deposit 400pounds
At this point that you want to rent my flat, i have a few questions for you:
1. Can you take good care of my flat?
2. How long do you intend to rent?
3. Can you provide reference in London?
4. Where are you coming from to rent my flat?.
I require answers to my questions before we can proceed with the
reservation processes.
However owing to my past unpleasant experience of inviting intending
tenant to view my flat without confirming if they are actually able
to pay their rent at the right time has caused me a great discomfort
and as such do not want to experience it anymore, because i have to
travel all the way to take interested candidate round my flat. I do
hope you understand my point of view. In view of the previous
occurrences, I do not want to collect any money from you as i have not
taken you round my flat and signed your contract with my lawyer, but
my lawyer have strongly advised me to confirm that an intending
tenant can pay for his or her rent as at when due, so before we can
proceed for the viewing, I will like to confirm if you can afford my
rent. All you need to do now is to make a transfer of Two (2) weeks
rent plus security deposit of £400 to your friend or partner within
the UK through money gram transfer. The reason for using money gram
transfer is that it is faster and my lawyer can easily confirm the
transfer almost immediately she receives the scanned copy of the
transfer receipt or the details of the transfer.
Once you are done with the transfer, get back to me with the scanned
copy of the transfer receipt and if you do not have access to a
scanner you can as-well write out the details on the transfer receipt
as i forward it to my lawyer to confirm if the transfer is valid and
available for pick-up by your friend or partner.Once my lawyer
confirms the transaction valid, i will then ask you to tell your
friend to go and pick up the money for you, then we can immediately
schedule a convenient time for the viewing. I shall refund the cost of
transfer to you when we meet for the viewing. After the viewing, if
you like my flat,you can proceed to signing the contract and then pay
your rent and security deposit to me directly.
I look forward to reading from you soon.
Do not hesitate to ask anymore question.
Best Regards.
Mrs Raymond
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.
