Room for Rent and other rental scams
#401124 by Michelle Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:04 pm
From: Michael N <[email protected]>

Like I said in my previous email, I will do my best to be as transparent as possible during the whole transaction, so to build up confidence and gain peace of mind, I have attached a copy of my PASSPORT to this email. Also please know that you will receive official documents from Wimdu also, before making the deposit to them.

Regarding the process, you will have to deposit the first month rent + last month rent, a total of 2000$ (1000+1000) to Wimdu, so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the rental package (keys and documents). Once you will receive the keys, you can go and inspect the apartment. Please know that I will pay for all the fees that Wimdu will take. (transaction and shipping fees).

Below I will explain step by step how the transaction with the Wimdu works, to avoid any misunderstanding please READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

1 - To start the process all I need is your contact information: full name, mailing address (street, number, city and postal code), cell phone number, move-in date and lease agreement preferred (e.g. 6 months or 1 year rental contract with option of renewal). The lease agreement will be a standard one from the government.
2 - Once I will have your contact information and your approval, I will go to the Wimdu office (UK) to start the transaction and I will give them the apartment keys and necessary documents.
3 - Wimdu will check everything, including the ownership documents, and if everything is in order they will proceed with the transaction. They will also confirm that I'm the legal owner of the apartment I'm renting to you.
4 - Wimdu will send you a notification (via email) where they will inform you that the keys and the documents are in their custody. Also they will send you all the steps, how to proceed and all the transaction details.

5 - At this point you need to send the amount of 2000$(1st month rent + last month rent) to the the Wimdu payments representative (lawyer escrow account) provided to you in the notification. THE PAYMENT NEEDS TO BE SENT WITHIN 24 BUSINESS HOURS AFTER YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TRANSACTION DETAILS OR ELSE THEY WILL CHARGE ME AN ADDITIONAL FEE.
6 - As soon as the payment is completed you need to send the payment details to Wimdu . (a copy of the receipt proving that you sent them the deposit).
7 - Wimdu will verify the payment and if everything is in order they will start the shipping procedures using UPS Next Day Shipping Service.
8 - You will receive the package (keys and documents) and you will have 5 business days (inspection time) to check the place and decide if you want to rent it.
9 - If you decide to rent the apartment you just need to sign the lease agreement that Wimdu sends, email it to them and they will release the funds to me. If after the 5 days inspection you will decide not to rent the apartment, Wimdu will refund the whole deposit.


PLEASE NOTE:
Your deposit is INSURED by Wimdu, this means that if you will not sign the lease agreement for any reason, Wimdu will refund you the whole deposit, so you are 100% protected.
They CANNOT release the funds without your approval, they can do it ONLY after you will send them the lease agreement with your signature. (after the 5 days inspection period).
Wimdu will send you official documents (invoice, rental agreement and insurance document) BEFORE making the deposit to them.
From my point of view everything is safe and the reward for going forward with this process is big. Also, because it's a SELF-SHOWING process, I find it normal (common sense) that you need to make the deposit first, as a guarantee. I hope you share my opinion because I cannot modify the terms of the transaction in any way, so, PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ALL THE TRANSACTION STEPS.

Let me know if you have the funds available (2000$) so we can move forward. If you do have the funds available and agree with the transaction steps, please email me your full information (full name and address and cell number) so we can get the transaction started.

If you have any further questions regarding the transaction please let me know.

Waiting for your reply!

Thanks

Michael


This Scammer will arrange to send you an Invoice or notification -- Make no mistake, the document will be fake !
If you are reading this because you have received such an invoice or notification, kindly forward it to the address in my signature line and I will report the details to the appropriate authorities.

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#401386 by Michelle Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:50 am
From: Michael N <[email protected]>


First of all, I think that you noticed the monthly rent price, which is below the market. The reason for this, is because I already left the US, I am now in the United Kingdom and I cannot show you the apartment in person.

The reason I haven't managed to rent the apartment before leaving for the United Kingdom is that someone said will rent the apartment and haven't managed to keep the promise. I waited for him, but unfortunately he was unable to get the money in time, so the transaction failed and I had to leave before I could rent it. Obviously, this experience has brought me huge inconveniences and left me with a bitter taste so I prefer to use a worldwide property management company.


Please note that all the keys are with me in the United Kingdom, because we are overseas, and because of this bitter experience we previously had, I will rent the apartment ONLY by using an International Third Party company called Wimdu (wimdu. com). Their website is main focused on short term rentals, but they also have a NEW service for long term rentals. I used this service last month when I rented my apartment in London, United Kingdom, and I can tell you that it was a great experience. Look at their website as reference, but please know that you will not find my apartment there, as I need to initiate the transaction before anything.



Wimdu is a very serious company, a global company with millions of customers (both landlords and renters), their revenue is over 100 million dollars/year. Their services are similar to the well known Airbnb, reason why they were named the best alternative for Airbnb. In my opinion they offer better services than Airbnb.


Using Wimdu involves three parties: me as owner, you as a potential tenant and Wimdu as a responsible third party authorized to handle this transaction. Wimdu will handle everything. Wimdu works the same way as the escrow account on which you place the deposit when you rent an apartment, except that instead of a bank, we use Wimdu. Of course, nobody can take that money until you will inspect the apartment and sign the lease agreement.

I understand that this is not a conventional way to rent a place, but please keep in mind that the "reward" for following with the Wimdu transaction is a lower monthly rent. Also I will pay for all the fees that Wimdu will request for using their services. Please note that the Wimdu services are necessary only until you will inspect the apartment and sign the lease agreement, after that you can deposit the monthly payments directly to my bank account, or we can set up a payment method that is suitable for both of us.

My phone number is +44 7520644151 (UK phone number), please keep in mind that there is a big time difference between us, if I am not able to respond, I will do my best to call you back asap.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE STILL INTERESTED IN THE PROCESS, so I can provide all the detailed steps of the transaction (I am sure that many of the questions you have now, will be answered after I will send you the steps). If you choose to continue, I will do my best to be as transparent as possible during the whole transaction.

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon!
Michael

PS: Sorry for the long emails, but I need to explain the situation as best as I can.


This Scammer will arrange to send you an Invoice or notification -- Make no mistake, the document will be fake !
If you are reading this because you have received such an invoice or notification, kindly forward it to the address in my signature line and I will report the details to the appropriate authorities.

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