Room for Rent and other rental scams
#171000 by binsky Tue Jul 09, 2013 5:35 pm
Hello everybody!
I have been contacted by "Johanna Lampe" who wanted me to rent a room in the appartment she is living in (but which she does not own). The owner according to her was a "Jan Petersen" whose address she gave me.
Well, I found out the guy took a fake identity, he even was so stupid to sent me a copy of his ID which was so obviously a fake that it was actually quite fun.
So be careful with a room available at: Colbjørnsensgade 16, Vesterbro, 652 Copenhagen
(it actually does not exist, or more correctly: it is a hotel)
The two used e-mail-addresses are:
<[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
"Johannas" phone number is: +447933889404
Hope they won´t be able to make anybody pay in advance!
Best wishes!
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#171544 by ronnies Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:05 pm
Hi there,

Thank you very much for the information and the warning. I'm currently looking for a room in Copenhagen as well, but the thing is that as at this very moment I am not in Denmark (I am moving to Copenhagen by the end of August 2013, and I wanted to rent a room from the 1st of September), and therefore I can't go to the available places right now to inspect them personally. I've figured out that maybe I can use a rental website where I could find a room and have a preliminary agreement with the owner which I could sign the very moment I arrive to Copenhagen in the end of August. Among the Danish Internet rental websites that I've been advised to use there is a Craigslist Denmark (http://copenhagen.da.craigslist.dk/roo/), and there are plenty of offers, so I decided to give it a try, and have contacted several of them.

Almost immediately I received a reply from a supposed owner of the flat on Istedgade 2, just near the Central Station. So the supposed owner, a young girl, who lives there, is asking me now to sign the rental contract for a room in her flat and wants me to transfer the rental money (1st month + deposit, a total of 9000 DKK) to her... mother. It looked kind of suspicious to me, and while I've been thinking about it, I've received a reply from another flat, and something in the style of that email seemed to me kind of similar to the one I received from the girl on Istedgade. I decided to run a search on the second one on the Internet, and I found a warning message by Binsky above, because the address of the flat is exactly Colbjørnsensgade 16, Vesterbro, 652 Copenhagen, the owner's name is so-called "Joanna Lampe", and the email address is <[email protected]>!! I.e., it is exactly the one Binsky reported above.

So I decided to register here on Scamwarners and share my story. Now I understand that at least the second one is definitely a fraud. But what would you advise me to do about the first one? Do you think that it can be real? Is this a practice accepted in Denmark (i.e., when a flat owner asks to transfer the money via bank transfer and then he/she sends you a contract via regular mail), or is it a scam? The thing is that the girl has sent me some supposed pictures of her and the apartment / room, and more than that, she wants to meet me on Skype to "know more about me" and I gave her my Skype name so she could contact me. I thought that if it's the same girl from the pictures that's gonna appear on Skype video, then perhaps it will prove something? I'm not sure about this whole thing. What would you advise me to do?

Anyway, thank you very much Binsky for warning us all about Joanna Lampe and the "flat" on Colbjørnsensgade 16!

Best regards,

Ronnie.
#171575 by Con Warner Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:11 am
??? Both emails are scams. It is not done this way in Denmark or any other country!

A real landlord would have a representative to show the property if he could not be there. Landlords do not send their keys to complete strangers.

Please post up the emails that were received from the scammer as it will help others to see the scam before they pay. Always remove any private information first. :wink:

Email: [email protected]

Latest updates regarding Internet Fraud: http://www.antifraudnews.com
#171597 by ronnies Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:53 am
Hi Con,

Thank you very much for your reply and your advice. After my suspicions were corroborated, there is absolutely no way that I'm gonna trust someone with my money and transfer it over the Internet. Though it means that most likely I won't be able to find me an accommodation until I 'm physically present in the city, doesn't it.

Regarding the emails I received, here they are. The first supposed owner, as I said, has sent me some photos of her and I've still got the urge to ask her to make a video-session with me on Skype, - it's interesting what would the scammer reply to a request like this after I apparently know how "she" looks.

This is from the first supposed owner who contacted me, "Emily Emily" <[email protected]>:

The email No.1:

Hello,

Am Emily ,am 20 years old, My father owns the flat but he`s now late ,i live alone in the flat, Am a professional, I have been pretty busy , am from Ireland and i moved here 2years ago after the death of my father to oversee my late fathers property.

The flat has 3 rooms ,One is for me and the other Two is available for rent.

The room has the following amenities:

The room has a very big bed that can sleep two people with
Television connected to cable
Small refrigerator apart from a big freezer in the kitchen
Private bathroom with toilet drawer
Reading desk
Wall cupboard
Internet connection

The Apartment has the following Amenities:

Washing Machine
Heater
Dish washer
Storage
A big living room fully furnished with a television connected to cable
Internet facility .

The transport facilities is quite okay in the area, the flat is very close to train station and public transport.

The rent per month is 3,500 DKK and a security deposit of 5,500 DKK,The security is refundable, at the end of your stay in my flat, the security deposit will be refund back to you, The rent include all bills and bills are for Water , Electricity , tenement rate ,phone ,heater,Internet connection.

I will send to you some pictures of the room and the rental agreement form to see what next to do, hope you understand me? Thanks once again for the interest in my room while waiting to read from you.

I will like to know about you.

I will like to have your skype id so that we can have a chat if you don't mind .

Best Regards,
Emily.


Then, when I asked her in a reply email on the time span of the rent and such, I've received
the email No.2:

Hello,

I've attached a photo of my friend Roxy and I, myself my sister and my boss, and myself and my brother. and the pictures of the room.

The rent include all bills.

The rent per month is 3,500 DKK and a security deposit 5,500 DKK ,which is refundable,At the end of your stay in the room ,5,500 DKK Will be refund to you ,is for a security deposit, and it has to be refund,the purpose of this money,is in case of damages and if you did not damage any thing in the room,you money will be refund in full to you at the end of your stay in the room


The flat is located on Istedgade 2, 1650 Copenhagen, Denmark.

Located in the very heart of Copenhagen, the flat is 5 mins walk from the Central Station and Just minutes from Tivoli Gardens and the Central Square. Copenhagen's main shopping street and a fantastic selection of restaurants, cafes and bars is also just a short pleasant walk from the flat.


PROCEDURE:


1.You need to read and sign the agreement form that will guarantee you that the room has been reserve for you.


2.The deposit and the first month rent has to be paid to my mother via bank transfer. ,this will show us that you're really interested in the room.


3.i'll need Your name and your move in and out date to prepare the Agreement/contract.


4. a scanned copy of your passport or identity card.


Let me know if this is okay by you cause i have been deceived by un-seriuos people on this room,that is why my attorney advised me to request for the deposit and first month rent before concluding agreement with anybody.its written in the agreement form that your money(deposit) will be returned to you after your stay in the house.


The signed agreement form will be send to you first through attached mail(with the scanned page of my international passport). for you to read and understand,after which you will proceed with the payment,i'll now send you the original copy through a registered courier to your address for you to sign and bring along with you when moving in.


Regards,


Regards,
Emily.


As I was thinking about this, I've received the reply from another supposed owner, whose ad is published on Craigslist.dk, this one was from "Johanna Lampe" <[email protected]>:

Good Evening,thanks for the prompt in response the flat is Located at Colbjørnsensgade 16,Vesterbro,652 Copenhagen,the nearest Transit is Koebenhavn H.The apartment is 100 metres from Copenhagen Central Station,The famous Tivoli Gardens is only 5 minutes'walk from the apartment.Copenhagen's main street,Strøget and the City Hall Square are 500 metres away.
It is a well furnished apartment with easy access of transportation.features a living/dining room and 3 bedrooms.The modern kitchen includes a fridge/freezer,stove top,exhaust,microwave,washing machine and dish washer.

The apartment has central heating;double glazed windows and,laminated wood floors.Furniture includes: sofa bed, dining table, 4 dining table chairs,standing light,coffee table,rug,media/TV table,double bed+mattress,two night tables,two table lights,dresser,cupboard,built- in closet,full equipped kitchen(dishes,cutlery, pots, pans,etc.)curtains,blinds and lighting fixtures.There is wireless internet access in the apartment.

The rent for the room is 3500DKK per month including bills and a Security deposit of 4000DKK which is refundable at the end of your stay in the apartment.

Internet and all bills are included in the rent,the apartment is available for a long term so it all depends on how long you want to stay in it.

Pictures of the whole apartment are available upon request.

We can also chat on Skype to discuss better,my Skype ID is { Johanna.Lampe77 }and if you have whatsapp on your phone we can chat on it as well .I am an easy going lady,i am fun to be with.Feel free to ask me any question if you have got any.I like to
know more about you too.
Thanks i await for your response..

Best Regards,
Johanna


As one can see, although the content slightly differs, there is something common in the style of these two emails, though logically, it's supposed to be totally different since it's two different persons after all. The descriptions of the vicinity are quite similar, if we pay attention, both emails speak about the proximity of Tivoli Gardens "which are only 5 minutes walk"; both are not very good with the use of uppercase/lowercase letters; and overall the style of both emails doesn't give you the impression of reliability. That's why I have searched the Internet and have found you guys.

Thank you for your advice once again.
#171672 by DEll Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:36 am
Hi all,

Thanks a lot for the postings! I am currently looking for a room in London and this person Johanna Lampe has contacted me via whatsapp first. Then she sent me an e-mail which is exactly the same as the one advertised in Copenhagen (apparently she is carrying her home on her back :))

Dear ....,

Good Evening,thanks for the prompt in response the flat is Located at 83 Lupus St,City of Westminster,London SW1V 3ER,The Pimlico Tube station is just about 5 minutes walk from the building and Victoria Tube station is about 12 minutes walk from the place.Pimlico master parks is also 7 minutes walk from the flat and Victoria Railway station is about 11 minutes walk.
It is a well furnished apartment with easy access of transportation.features a living/dining room and 2 Double bedrooms.The modern kitchen includes a fridge/freezer,exhaust,microwave,washing machine and dish washer.There is a desk for study in the room available and it comes with a wardrobe then with a double size bed that can sleep two people.

The apartment has central heating;double glazed windows and,laminated wood floors.Furniture includes: sofa bed, dining table, 4 dining table chairs,standing light,coffee table,rug,media/TV table,double bed+mattress,two night tables,two table lights,dresser,cupboard,built- in closet,full equipped kitchen(dishes,cutlery, pots, pans,etc.)curtains,blinds and lighting fixtures.There is wireless internet access in the apartment.

The rent for the room is £570 per month including bills and a Security deposit of £700 which is refundable at the end of your stay in the apartment.

Internet and all bills are included in the rent,the apartment is available for a long term so it all depends on how long you want to stay in it.

Pictures of the whole apartment are available upon request.

We can also chat on Skype to discuss better,my Skype ID is { Johanna.Lampe77 }and if you have whatsapp we can also chat on it .I am an easy going lady,i am fun to be with.Feel free to ask me any question if you have got any.I like to know more about you too.
Thanks i await for your response

Best Regards,
Johanna


Well, you saved my time as I haven't arranged the viewing yet and I was a bit annoyed to see such a nice described flat in London for so few money....

Thanks,
DEll
#185898 by Cassiemw Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:42 pm
Adding name and email address. (BW) [email protected] Theresia Verschuur

Hi, this Joanna is apparently going by the name of Theresia these days, or Tinkeke. I recieved the following email -

Good Afternoon,thanks for the prompt in response the flat is Located at Colbjørnsensgade 16,Vesterbro,652 Copenhagen,the nearest Transit is Koebenhavn H.The apartment is 100 metres from Copenhagen Central Station,The famous Tivoli Gardens is only 5 minutes'walk from the apartment.Copenhagen's main street,Strøget and the City Hall Square are 500 metres away.
It is a well furnished apartment with easy access of transportation.features a living/dining room and 2 Double bedrooms.The modern kitchen includes a fridge/freezer,stove top,exhaust,microwave,washing machine and dish washer.

The apartment has central heating;double glazed windows and,laminated wood floors.Furniture includes: sofa bed, dining table, 4 dining table chairs,standing light,coffee table,rug,media/TV table,double bed+mattress,two night tables,two table lights,dresser,cupboard,built- in closet,full equipped kitchen(dishes,cutlery, pots, pans,etc.)curtains,blinds and lighting fixtures.There is wireless internet access in the apartment.

The rent for the room is 3500DKK per month including bills and a Security deposit of 4000DKK which is refundable at the end of your stay in the apartment.

Internet and all bills are included in the rent,the apartment is available for a long term so it all depends on how long you want to stay in it.

Pictures of the whole apartment are available upon request.

We can also chat on Skype to discuss better,my Skype ID is { theresia.tineke.verschuur }and if you have whatsapp on your phone we can chat on it as well .I am an easy going lady,i am fun to be with.Feel free to ask me any question if you have got any.I like to
know more about you too.
Thanks i await for your response..

Best Regards,
Tineke

As you can see its exactly like the rest, even the one in London!
#185905 by Bryon Williams Wed Jan 01, 2014 5:21 pm
^^^Thank you for the PM. I have edited your post to show the email address and name. I've also added it here.

[email protected]
Theresia Verschuur

Please contacta moferatorstor if you have a question or information about this post.



Please do not tell the scammer he is posted here.


Please remember the fallen. https://www.odmp.org/
#204770 by grumpey91 Sat Jun 07, 2014 11:14 am
Nowadays the person is going under the name of Harold.. It's a true scam!! I received this email:

Dear Thomas,

Good Evening,thanks for the prompt in response the flat is Located at Colbjørnsensgade 16,Vesterbro,652 Copenhagen,the nearest Transit is Koebenhavn H.The apartment is 100 metres from Copenhagen Central Station,The famous Tivoli Gardens is only 5 minutes'walk from the apartment.Copenhagen's main street,Strøget and the City Hall Square are 500 metres away.
It is a well furnished apartment with easy access of transportation.features a living/dining room and 2 bedrooms.The modern kitchen includes a fridge/freezer,stove top,exhaust,microwave,washing machine and dish washer.

The apartment has central heating;double glazed windows and,laminated wood floors.Furniture includes: sofa bed, dining table, 4 dining table chairs,standing light,coffee table,rug,media/TV table,double bed+mattress,two night tables,two table lights,dresser,cupboard,built- in closet,full equipped kitchen(dishes,cutlery, pots, pans,etc.)curtains,blinds and lighting fixtures.There is wireless internet access in the apartment.

The rent for a room is 3500DKK per month including bills and a Security deposit of 4000DKK which is refundable at the end of your stay in the apartment.If you want the whole apartment which involves the two bedrooms,a living room,bathroom and toilet with the dinning and kitchen then the rent will be 7000DKK with the refundable deposit of 8000DKK.

Internet and all bills are included in the rent,the apartment is available for a long term so it all depends on how long you want to stay in it.

Pictures of the whole apartment are available upon request.

We can also chat on Skype to discuss better,if you have whatsapp on your phone we can chat on it as well .I am an easy going person,i am fun to be with.Feel free to ask me any question if you have got any.I like to
know more about you too.
Thanks i await for your response..

Best Regards,
Harold
#210592 by Annemu Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:41 pm
I just had the same. Her name was Christel Hansen.

"Good Evening,thanks for the prompt in response the flat is Located at Colbjørnsensgade 16,652 Copenhagen,the nearest Transit is Koebenhavn H.The apartment is 100 metres from Copenhagen Central Station,The famous Tivoli Gardens is only 5 minutes'walk from the apartment.Copenhagen's main street,Strøget and the City Hall Square are 500 metres away.

It is a well furnished apartment with easy access of transportation.features a living/dining room and 2 bedrooms.The modern kitchen includes a fridge/freezer,stove top,exhaust,microwave,washing machine and dish washer.

The apartment has central heating;double glazed windows and,laminated wood floors.Furniture includes: sofa bed, dining table, 4 dining table chairs,standing light,coffee table,rug,media/TV table,double bed+mattress,two night tables,two table lights,dresser,cupboard,built- in closet,full equipped kitchen(dishes,cutlery, pots, pans,etc.)curtains,blinds and lighting fixtures.There is wireless internet access in the apartment.

The rent for a room is 3500DKK per month including bills and a Security deposit of 5000DKK which is refundable at the end of your stay in the apartment.If you want the whole apartment which involves the two bedrooms,a living room,bathroom and toilet with the dinning and kitchen then the rent will be 7000DKK with the refundable deposit of 9,000DKK.

Internet and all bills are included in the rent,the apartment is available for a long term so it all depends on how long you want to stay in it.

Pictures of the whole apartment are available upon request.

We can also chat on Skype to discuss better,if you have whatsapp on your phone we can chat on it as well .I am an easy going person,i am fun to be with.Feel free to ask me any question if you have got any.I like to
know more about you too.
Thanks i await for your response..

Best Regards,
Christel"

It's a shame that these people try it over and over again.
#212811 by kaasaap Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:29 pm
Same for me in Aalborg. I will give the full info if you're interested.

I saw a message in a Facebook group which was weird because the person that published it was a new account (just name, 2 friends). When contacted she gave me an email to contact for more details.

It was weird but i said, well, maybe it's an agency or something, why not. I contacted and I got the same message more or less coming from Christel Hansen:

Dear (my name)

Good Afternoon,thanks for the prompt in response the flat is Located at Vesterbro 41 9000 Aalborg,Denmark,the Transit is Aalborg ST which is just a few minutes work from the apartment, within walking distance of shops and sights.

It is a well furnished apartment with easy access of transportation.features a living/dining room and 2 bedrooms.The modern kitchen includes a fridge/freezer,stove top,exhaust,microwave,washing machine and dish washer.

The apartment has central heating;double glazed windows and,laminated wood floors.Furniture includes: sofa bed, dining table, 4 dining table chairs,standing light,coffee table,rug,media/TV table,double bed+mattress,two night tables,two table lights,dresser,cupboard,built- in closet,full equipped kitchen(dishes,cutlery, pots, pans,etc.)curtains,blinds and lighting fixtures.There is wireless internet access in the apartment.

The rent for a room is 2500DKK per month including bills and a Security deposit of 4500DKK which is refundable at the end of your stay in the apartment.If you want the whole apartment then the rent will be 7500DKK with the refundable deposit of 9,000DKK.

Internet and all bills are included in the rent,the apartment is available for a long term so it all depends on how long you want to stay in it.

Pictures of the whole apartment are available upon request.

We can also chat on Skype to discuss better,if you have whatsapp on your phone we can chat on it as well .I am an easy going person,i am fun to be with.Feel free to ask me any question if you have got any.I like to
know more about you too.
Thanks i await for your response..

Best Regards,
Christel


I didn't notice at first the problem with the upper/lower cases but still it seemed fine apart from the fact that seemed to good to be true.

Anyway, I was still believing in it. I give her my whatsapp and we talk and it seems ok, she sends me the pictures which again look to good to be true but well why not, I know some friends with really good cheap flats in Aalborg, not as good though.

So, i ask her that since I'm not in Denmark I could maybe only pay a little amount in advance to show that I will go to the flat, but since I'm not there theres no way I'm paying deposit+month. She says how much and I say half a month. That's where I started suspecting. You may say yes or no or whatever, but she replied with "haha. Listen, (my name) the room is not imposed on you. That is an insult to my personality". That's when it clicked, no normal person would take it that personally. It's a normal situation, you're abroad it's normal not to want to risk that much money and trust an stranger, it's the normal thing to do, not the opposite, but the way she replied it was clear she was trying to make me think that it was bad on my part. She was willing to send me her passport and proof of electrical bills but I didn't accept.

Then I said, maybe a friend of mine could go there one day and I would be more willing to pay full. Then she said that as she had previously said (she hadn't) she was out of town (how convenient, right?) until 18th of August.

I continued thinking, well the room is really nice, and maybe I don't know, let's try to continue working on this, if I come up with some idea to make it work in both parts I may do it. And that was the good thing, I thought about using the photos of the house to prove that it was a scam. You could see the street from the windows and there were clearly 2 different white houses. I used StreetView and I didn't find 2 different white houses, only one at the very least which was actually more like yellowish. So I asked her to be sure if that was the house and she said yes. From that moment I was pretty sure it was a scam.

Anyway, now that I was convinced I decided to look for "house rent scam" or something like that just to see other cases and I came to this very page with the same mail. I should have just searched fragments of the e-mail in the first time.

Anyway, as an advice don't trust anyone. If something seems too good, it may be for a reason. Check for weird spelling mistakes due to copy pasting, and weird responses. Try looking for fragments of the messages online, ....

I'm lucky that I have another guy which accepts my money on hand (no bank transfer before or anything like that) the day of the arrival. I think that's what a normal person would do in a situation where you're outside the country and you can't physically check the place.
#213346 by sniker Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:28 pm
Too bad I found sites like this not soon enough. I can say that the "Hansens", Christel and Harold, are also operating on the Aarhus housing market. Got recently scammed by them because not only I wasn't careful (skeptical) enough, but also quite desperate to find housing after sending about 100 messages on boligportal.dk, etc in vain.

Although I know chances are slim to catch these criminals, I did tell the Aarhus police department about this case. However, they don't seem to take this case quite seriously and I doubt they will do much investigation - but I hope at least that other people in Aarhus will read this and not fall into the same trap.

And the "Hansens" are not the only ones currently operating as scammers in the Aarhus Housing Market - people like Liu Yan, Schrage Anna, Tobias Keßler on the Aarhus Housing FB groups seem very fishy with their ads

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