Rental Scammer - [email protected]

From: Diane Lagrone - [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Subject: 135 E 110th Street, New York, NY 10029
To: Con Warner


Thanks for your kind interest ,

My name is Lagrone Diane, the owner of the apartment .I bought this apartment for my daughters during their studies in US, but now they come back home in Spain permanently, so I'm renting the place, even for long and short period.

The apartment has 2 Bedroom ,1 Bathroom,(cold/hot water, electricity, wireless broadband Internet, digital TV, 1 parking spots for 2 cars, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, washing machine) FULLY FURNISHED.The neighborhood is very well served with public transportation,park playground, shops,supermarkets ,you can easily get things needed.

The rent is $1,400 per month, security deposit is $1,200 and you get it back at the end of contract or when you decide to leave the apartment.

Before we go any further I would like to know a little something about you, like how many persons you intend to live in the apartment, and for how long.

Thank you

This person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union or MoneyGram to an escrow company with a promise that he will send the keys through a courier company.

Sounds safe. It's not!
The emails claiming to be from the company are fake.

At other times, he will ask for proof that you are able to pay the deposit and rent due to a string of time wasters.
This proof is in the form of a Western Union or MoneyGram payment to a lawyer,a friend or family member.

In either case, if payment is made and you give this person the details, they will collect the money.
You will not hear from them again.

All the details such as names, addresses, pictures etc. that the scammer uses in order to back up his story, are stolen from elsewhere.

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 Craigslist, Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment 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.

How are you sure this is a scam??

Welcome Ashley,

Con Warner specializes in researching rental scams, so if has posted one here, you can be certain it is a scam.

In this case, even if it hadn't been reported to Con Warner, it would be clear to those of us who regularly deal with African scammers regularly that the email was written by someone who is African, not someone who is from Spain.

In addition, it took me about 30 seconds to find that two days ago, his name was Lucas Vazquez: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&p=172725

I tend to hold evidence back as we don't want visiting scammers to learn from their mistakes. This particular scammer has been around for at least a year.

There is no doubt that it's a scam and my initial post outlines his methods.

In this moment i'm in Madrid-Spain and can not be present to deal face to face but I can make arrangements to rent the apartment from Madrid through Realtor.com is an international company dealing specifically in rentals apartments, I used it in the past and I was very pleased.In order to view the flat and settle a deal, you will need the keys, and the contract.
I will explain how it works..

If we decide to proceed with this transaction, I will need your phone number full name and address where you want to receive the keys/contract.Then I will go at Realtor.com company from Madrid provide them all the necessary information, and they will start the process right away in US.Next you will receive a notification message from Realtor.com containing all the instructions that you need to follow,the invoice and contract as well.Regarding the Payment, you will be instructed to deposit the amount to an agent from Realtor.com ,they will hold lock and insure your money until you check the apartment and decide if you want to rent the place or not.(That is my insurance).If you will not be satisfied with the apartment the total amount will be refunded in same day after your request.You will be given a ten days inspection period from the day you receive the keys and contract.During this period you can take a decision.
As for the monthly payment are done directly to my bank account from Madrid at the beginning or end of month at your convenience.

I look forward to hearing back from you.