Room for Rent and other rental scams
#99040 by kregan1 Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:05 am
Please take a look at the advertisement in which I have posted on 'Gumtree' this will detail all the information about this scammer.

Gumtree advertisement:
-http://www.gumtree.com/p/flats-houses/beware-of-scammer-on-gumtree-please-click-here-incase-you-have-been-affected-and-are-not-aware/101308626

I have noticed lots of forms on this about the guy including other forms such as:
-http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1012811
-http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=11006&p=35177


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(He has been frequently scamming people and it's time someone has to do something about it. He firstly advertised on 'Gumtree' which I cannot find the link, but the man must be very stupid naming his advertisements with the same headlines 'Two bedrooms furnished flat, equipped, parking, central area, DSS accepted' - for example here is one in Leeds (I have seen ones in Birmingham, London, Luton, Glasgow, everywhere!)

-http://www.gumtree.com/p/flats-houses/two-bedrooms-furnished-flat-equipped-parking-central-area-dss-accepted/99988466

(Okay, so to the point of the discussion, firstly, I was obviously looking for a rental. Came across a beautiful rental in Glasgow city centre, too good to be true- and indeed it was. And to the point it must have been around 5 in the morning making me situated right in dream land and where my conscious has fell asleep! I inquired about the property as well as inquiring about 20 others. Only to find a quick email back (I did not however know which property it was replying back at this point) The man stated):

--------------------------

"Hi, I am not able to find your emial here, please get back to me at damersnejder at gmail . com if you can see this

Thanks"


-(From introduction I knew he was not English as well as having very poor English. I then replied with my email address, which I shouldn't have done, however, we all make mistakes! He then sent me an email with a long detailed introduction and description- there was no way to tell it was a scam until he mentioned that the person wanting to rent the property would have to view it and pay on the same day, as he stated, he was situated in Denmark and could not make travel arrangements just for a viewing- he had to be certain that the viewing would then proceed with signing a tenancy agreement. To which he then sent me more pictures of the flat, ground plan and a tenancy agreement form. The emails are below):

First email:

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Hello,
My name is Damer, I am from Denmark and the flat is still available for rent. It was redecorated last year, is looking very nice and clean. Has a fully furnished kitchen, clean and well tidy sitting rooms, laundry room and fully furnished with home utilities like: electric shower, Lounge,Vacuum Cleaner,Toaster, Owen and microwave, dryer, iron, washing machine , refrigerator , dishwasher, power shower, heater, cable ready,TV set and DVD player, Internet connection, equipped kitchen and everything a house needs. I m interested in finding someone clean who can take care of this house more then getting money from renting it if you know what I mean.

Till last month the apartment was rented by some students from Germany and now they left and the apartment is available again for rent. The price I want is £480 per month,bills included and I am interested in a long term agreement,minimum 6 month!
If you are decided to view the flat and have the money I could come in the next few days to show you the apartment and maybe sign the tenancy agreement if you like my flat (I am sure you will love it) but first I have to be sure you really do need a place to live because two weeks ago a person from Glasgow told me he is really interested and he asked me to go to Glasgow to meet him and sign the tenancy agreement and when I arrived there no person showed up to rent my place and I lost time and money for nothing. Please accept my apologies if I am rude but I hope you will understand me!
I will wait for your e-mail,


(After this email I knew there was something fishy but I was not certain until I had proof of documentation and owner ship as well as a landlord license and what not. I felt sorry for him at first, as when inquiring about properties the descriptions are always quick and brief and somewhat dry. I thought he had took time out typing a long description (My my little did I know) etc and his poor English added to the sympathy (Humour there folks)! So I did write a email back stating questions, that i'd need to see proof etc, inquiring a little more etc)
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Second email:

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Hello,
I will attach some pictures of the flat,floor plan and also a model of the rental contract! The flat is located on 249, West George Street, G2 4QE but I can`t give you the exact address because there`s no one living out there and I`m afraid of thieves and I do apologize for this but I hope you understand me because I`m in Denmark right now! The property benefits from access to beautifully maintained communal gardens and comprises reception room, kitchen with washing machine/tumble dryer, master bedroom with fitted wardrobes and en suite bathroom, second bedroom with fitted wardrobe and bathroom.Parking place is included too!
In the kitchen there is a dishwasher and also a Big fridge freezer! Regarding the council tax I can tell you that it is included in the price of £480 per month and also Sky TV,internet broadband,gas and electricity are also included in this price! I am interested in a minimum six month agreement and I request two months rent in advance plus the equivalent of one month as a refundable deposit which you will get back at the end of the contract.
Regarding the plumbings and all that kind of stuff I can tell you that the flat was recently renovated and all electrical part and plumbings are new so that won`t be necessary any repairs anyway I have a person who can manage this starting from June.
We can sign the rental contract starting from next weekend but I need to be sure that you have serious intentions in renting the flat that`s why I attached here a model of the rental contract and also we can discuss the terms when we will meet!
If you are decided to view the flat let me know because there is another person interested in reserving it!
Kind regards


(I then knew from this email, however I had some eager in me and temptation to keep it going further so I knew what kind of scammer he was- surely he wouldn't actually show the scamming victims a fake property or one he was renting out? I shouldn't have kept it going but if I didn't I would have zero information on him to inform others or a fraud line- so I did- I just kept it simple, pretending I was eager to rent the property. But then I wanted to know how he'd react to me saying I need to see proof and to asking if it was okay to bring a solicitor with me- I was almost a hundred percent positive that he wasn't going to email back- however to my surprise he emailed back the following):
--------------------------
Third email:

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I can make it there this weekend if that is ok for you, when do you want to move? How many persons in total?
Thanks

+

Hi,

You should e mail me when you will have the money ready and we will set up a suitable time for view because I don`t want to come twice from Denmark just to show you the flat!

Regards

+

Hi,

I can`t promise anything because I can come only in weekends! You better send me an e mail when you will be ready to meet me and have the funds ready and I will confirm if the flat is still up for rent. You can come with your solicitor to check out all the ownership documents,no problem for me.

Regards


(I think he then realized that I wasn't his victim that he particularly wanted and then totally backed away, as he emailed literally five times or so saying that he couldn't promise me that i'd be able to rent the flat as he has other people interested (Victims) - Lie or not, this frightened me, as people may be that silly to fall for such a scam! You never know, someone that poor and desperate, may. So I then took immediate action (Still continuing my 'fake' interest for the property) I emailed gumtree and looked him up and done my research, to find that he had indeed succeeded in his scams and that he's been about quite a while, using different email addresses and what not. However, the silly man himself (If he is a man) keeps using the same templates and titles for things- he must be stupid really. So 'Gumtree' replied to myself and the email is pasted below- however I continued the role play as I wanted further information on how he ocastrated his scams, did he use a WU? Did he meet with his victims? Does he make some excuse that he cannot simply fly and says he will mail the keys as long as money is wired through?)

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Email from 'Gumtree':
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Dear Customer,

Thanks for getting in touch with us. If you feel that this is a genuine case where someone has tried to fraud you, then I suggest that you contact local police. If the police take the matter further, the investigating police officer will contact us. We’ll do all we can to provide the police with any information that assists their investigation.

I hope this helps, and please report any suspicious ads which you might find in the future.

Kind Regards,
Nicole
Gumtree Team
ref:_00D206AK6._50020LzaLP:ref


(So after this email I contacted the fraud police department, I wanted to take this further, as he wasted my time and he has obviously filled peoples hopes and scammed many people- I would have felt guilty if I didn't. So I sent them an email and will soon phone them if there is no reply as I know phoning would take immediate action. However, I am still continuing the role play and have managed to obtain a contact number of the man also. I then found out his next steps in the big scam and it was indeed a WU (Western Union).
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Final emails:

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Hello,
We could meet and maybe sign the tenancy agreement this Sunday but you see these is due to previous predicament that I have gone through in the past trying to rent the property to some students,I have got to realize so many people are not really in need of an apartment all they do is secure a place in advance, My last experience in trying to rent the property to a particular lady had got me topredicate on these,she made me believe she was willing and ready to get the apartment she even went to the extend of showing me her statement of account,which made me took her for the viewing but after taking her for the viewing,she saw the apartment and got to love it and never wanted to loose it,so she kept pleading i retain it for her because she is not financially composed at the moment,which i did but end up disastrously.
So basically for me to be sure of you been willing and ready to get the apartment I will employ you walk into any Western Union agency and send the total bill cash £980(one month rent and one month refundable deposit) to your partner's name (NOT to ME) or your partner can send it to you with location of Glasgow or any other city in UK,All I need is for you to get back to me with the receipt issued to you after making the transaction so I can confirm it! When we will meet in person to sign the papers we will go together to Western Union and you will withdraw the cash and pay me in hand or you can pay me on Monday by bank transfer! I just need to see that you do have the money available and you do have serious intentions in renting the flat! If the Western Union agent will ask you about the receiver you should tell him that is a relative of yours because the transfer fees will be cheaper! If you will tell them the reason they might consider this a commercial transaction and charge you more. Anyway I will pay for it either you take the flat or not! I will book the flight for Sunday as soon as I have your positive answer !
I do apologise for that but as I told you last time when I arrived to Glasgow to show the flat to a person everything was a stupid joke and I hope you understand me because I don`t want to waste my time and money on plane tickets..
Regards


+

Hi,
Please note that I didn t asked for any kind of advance payment and the main reason I asked you that is the fact that I can come only in weekend when the banks are closed and some Western Union agents are open 24hours!
Its simple! You could find a Western Union in your area! You just have to go to the Western Union agency with your ID and the cash ready,fill a paper with your name(sender) and the receiver name( the person who will cash out the money you sent when we will meet)! There s no need for the receiver to be present when you will go to the Western Union agency and I think that the fees for this money transfer will be cheaper if you send the money to a family member that s why I told you to tell the agent that the receiver is a relative of yours!
As soon as you made this transaction you will get the receipt and only the sender and the receiver have the right to cash out the money using their ID when you will do that-in fact on Sunday as soon as we sign the tenancy agreement! In this way I am sure you will have the money available in cash at the moment when we will meet on Sunday when the banks are closed and some Western Union agencies are open and you have the assurance that I will keep the flat reserved for you! Please send me some close up pictures of the receipt as soon as you made the transaction and have the receipt so I could buy the flight ticket in time! For the next payment we will use my bank account and all the things will be much easy! That`s my number +45 3695 9794!

Best regards

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As you can see I have given him no privacy what so ever. Please be aware of this scammer, as he may not be the cleverest, but he is a big one. Please perhaps even post this thread or share the link else-where to get this about. As he works in different ways and this forum may not be enough to get peoples attention. There has been people who have fallen for this believe it or not- people whom are in a hurry to get a property, or people who have indeed fell in love with the property and don't want to believe that it is a scam. I may have taken it too far (As I have also suggested to him- would it not be easier for me to transfer the money? I would need to be provided with a sort code and account number however) and I am awaiting an email on this- however it may just be a little crime and not equal to many others. But to me this is big, as people like this need to be taught a lesson. I have been affected by scam before big time as it was very clever and sneaky and perhaps this is why I may feel the need to go to the extremes so I have every detail about the scammer as possible-

Please be safe whilst seeking a rental and use ONLY estate agents- or if you know a private landlord is safe and thoroughly checked out then perhaps this would be okay, but make sure a solicitor has done a check first hand.

Thank you.





-This scammers IP address has been tracked to United States, CA - Mountain view (IP: 173.194.68.26 Domain used: Domain: qa-in-f26.1e100.net)
-Telephone number: +45 3695 9794 (To phone this from UK dial 00 45 before number)

Other information on scammer (Busted :D ):


Country United States (US)
State/region CA
City Mountain View
Postal code 94043
Latitude 37.4192
Longitude -122.0574
Altitude 4 ± 19 meters

HTTP headers
Accept */*
Accept_language en
Accept_encoding gzip, deflate
Referer http://www.infobyip.com/
User_agent Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_4_11; en)
AppleWebKit/533.19.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.1.3
Safari/533.19.4
Connection keep-alive
Client Properties
Screen resolution 1280 x 800
Color depth 24
Screen DPI 96 x 96
Display size 16 "
Operating system MacIntel
Cookies enabled yes
Taint enabled no
Java yes
Flash 10.3.183
Local IP N/A
Local time Mon Apr 30 2012 16:48:26 GMT+0100 (BST)

IP online tools
Whois whois 173.194.68.26
Ping ping 173.194.68.26
Traceroute traceroute 173.194.68.26
DNS records DNS lookup 173.194.68.26
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#105134 by logansfunrun Mon May 28, 2012 10:27 pm
guy is still on gumtree, my friend forwarded me your info on him..his emails to me are word for word what you've got here..he told me it was a scam when i told him the guy wanted three months up front..total scum bag...thanks for your help and info..he needs to go down..
#210729 by Annonymousme Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:49 pm
I can't believe this has been going on for this long ..... This guy / gal is still out there , I have had the exact script in the past few days ,..... Any advice on what to do now they still think I'm interested in doing this ,... We've got to the stage of they have asked me to put the money in the western union before they book the flights to come and show me the flat.
I was go smacked to hear that THE EXACT WORD FOR WORD emails have been sent ....I want this person to get caught !!! Please help.
#210755 by Mike Wilson Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:02 am
Hello Annonymousme,
I am happy to hear that you discovered the scam before you lost money to these criminals. Since they are most likely located in Africa there is not much law enforcement can do about this problem. The fact that it is an international crime makes it very complex to get anyone to take any real action.

Please post the email address, telephone number(s) currently being used in this scam, This information makes good search keys for others who may be searching for information about this scam.

If you have any additional questions about this scam please ask.

It is ALWAYS a scam
If the pet seller or shipper asks for money to be sent via Western Union, Money Gram, any brand of gift card. Walmart To Walmart , Zelle , PayPal friends and family option, or mentions Cameroon
#211742 by Mike Wilson Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:03 pm
Hello ecosse,

Thanks for post the current email address that is being used in this scam.

It is ALWAYS a scam
If the pet seller or shipper asks for money to be sent via Western Union, Money Gram, any brand of gift card. Walmart To Walmart , Zelle , PayPal friends and family option, or mentions Cameroon
#242816 by learnbymistakes Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:01 pm
The telephone number posted earlier exists and I left a nice voicemail for the recipient. No anger, just a bizarre estuary English ditty. I do feel better. I now can spot a scam rental opportunity on the aforementioned website and without becoming a registered campaigner will just tease them with the same tactics they use. The problem is you are looking at a lot of money in agency fees to find a reasonable place to live. Good private landlords do exist but these Muppets spoil it for them. I look forward to wasting their time, but unfortunately not their money.
#256539 by Londongirl86 Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:18 pm
I so nearly got taken in by this, had EXACTLY the same emails word for word, have never used WU before so I thought it'd be ok BUT something just seemed off and so glad I didn't send any cash.
The guy was using the name Ruy Bartt and email was [email protected] he was advertising a property in Bow, East London, no phone number provided, said he was in Denmark too, had back and forth emails like above and I just told him I didn't have any friends or family anyone to send money to.... Just to see what he would say, he emailed back something like, if I can't follow the instructions then he'll have to find another tenant (victim)
I'm usually quite savvy to scams and the fact I was desperate for a flat made me stupid, I've told so many people in the hope that the word spreads

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