Possible web site scam. Please help

i also have this information

18 Talbot Square, London, W2 1TS (appartments adress)

office information
S Suresh C E O
London Short Letting Apartments. Com Ltd
7 Spring Street, Paddington, London, W2 3RA, UK
T: 0044 207 706 11 22 F: 0044 207 262 58 38
M: 079 5184 7840 Skype: Subram10
Email : [email protected]
Web : www.londonshortlettingapartments.com

After this experience I am very worried. Do you know of a good site were to rent an apartment in London? I was going to rent from Removed link to what seems to be a legitimate site - Ralph Do you have any idea if this is reliable?

Hi,

Please advice what to do - one of my family members made a payment for the flat to bayswater's Richard Moore - they are for "obvious" reasons are not replying. Is there a protection scheme or anything I could refer to to get the money back.
Important to know that the payment was made from international account.

Today tried to find their office - no luck of course.

Please please advice me what to do, apart from reporting to the UK bank and the bank from which the transfer's been made.

Really will appreciate all support and legal advice.

Kind Regards,
Daria

General advice

Use a browser to search for the person's name who you're dealing with. Be sure to add quotes around their name. You could add the words "fraud" or "scam" at the end of your search terms.

Use reverse directory look up if the person has given you their telephone number. It's important to double check that they are who they say they are.

Consider using another method for obtaining a rental, i.e. real estate agent, going through a rental agency, etc.

If it is too good to be true it probably is. If the rent is too low for the area it could be an early indication that the price is fake.

Think before you send any personal or financial information to a third party. Do not send any personal or financial information to a third party unless you or someone you trust has seen a rental property in person.

When you reply to a rental listing, you will be asked to send a deposit. Do not send any money without first viewing the rental property and if possible meet the landlord in person with a friend or relative. Never wire funds via Western Union, MoneyGram or any other wire service.

Communicate by e-mail and send e-mails confirming conversations via phone. E-mail trails provide proof to authorities if you need it.

Be wary if the scammer uses mobile phone numbers rather than official company landlines.

What do I do if I think I've been scammed?

Cease all communications with the scammer immediately. Delete any emails unopened and hang up if the scammer calls you.

Report the scam to your local police. There is not much chance that the scammer will be caught, as he is probably overseas and certainly using false details. However, the more scams are reported, the more the authorities can tell how widespread it is, and the greater the effort that goes into stopping it.

If you have given the scammer your bank account, credit card or other financial details, tell your bank, card company or other provider immediately, and ask them to change your accounts and card numbers.

Do not panic. Whilst scammers are criminals and some of them are dangerous, the risks are negligible if you simply stop communicating with them. If you are in any doubt about your safety, report your concerns to your local police, who will be able to advise you.

Don't expect to get your money back. I am afraid there is very little prospect of that happening, and anyone who tells you they can get your money back for a fee is a scammer. Please see our section on money recovery scams for more information.

Spread the word. We know it's very uncomfortable to feel that you got conned, or nearly got conned, but if you fell for it, so will others. Talking about it may be hard, but the more you help educate everyone about scams, the less opportunities there are for scammers to defraud others

Ask here for help and advice. It's why we are here.

Hello,

The same has just happened with me...with the exact same company.

My partner and i are meeting in London so we found an apartment on Gumtree, which is the bayswater-apartments...everything seemed above board with addresses and contact telephone number, although i remember not getting a reply when i asked to view the apartment but didn't think anything as both my partner and i have busy lives!

So, my partner transferred £288 into the account as this was the amount £200 plus 35% deposit into the Abbey National account that was given and then the website disappeared, the number does not work and there is no reply from the 'company'.

I have spoken to the police and reported the case as fraud and would like to know what you have done as i think we could try and work together and get our money back somehow!

I want to just share with the other people who have been scammed just how upset i am...i have not seen my partner for two months and everything seemed like it would be perfect! And it is all ruined! I am so angry and am really determined to get this person because he will do it again...! And has definately done it before!

What else can be done? Apart from reporting it to the police and letting the bank know the situation?

Hi and welcome. I'm sorry to hear you were also a victim to this scam. If you have the emails that contain the bank account information (which should also include the evidence of the scam), you can copy them including full header and send them to me at Jillian @ScamWarners.com. I will forward them on to a contact who can get them reported and possibly shut down.

Unfortunately, there isn't much else you can do beyond what you have already done.

I just noticed this post from Dec. 3rd:
Pellj001 wrote:

After this experience I am very worried. Do you know of a good site were to rent an apartment in London? I was going to rent from Removed link to what seems to be a legitimate site - Ralph Do you have any idea if this is reliable?

If you haven't already found a legit rental company, this one looks fine. Eight year registration, can be found on maps, no scam or fraud hits anywhere, etc.

Now that we have established that the website mentioned by pellj001 appears to be legitimate I have removed the links to the site.

There are 2 main reasons why I have done that;

1) Anybody doing a search on that site may see a result that brings them here and without reading believe it is a scam.

2) With the site labelled here as legitimate, scammers may duplicate it to appear to be more legitimate themselves.

@Catcher, thanks again for looking into that site


Please note, all other sites mentioned in this thread are either confirmed or strongly suspected as being scams

I was also recently scammed on a London apartment flat rental, from always-londonvacation.co.uk Fortunately for now the website is now shutdown. Check out Trip Advisor, they have a lot of information on these scams as well. To make it short, there are DOZENS of scam outfits. I suggest DO NOT rent ANYTHING listed in craigslist or gumtree. Also, if they want a wire or bank transfer, for its almost for sure a scam. If its cheap (apartments in London will let for AT LEAST 150 gbp a NIGHT. If its 400 or 500 or 600 a week, its a scam.
Lesson learned for me, hope this helps others.

Hi, can anyone tell me about http://www.ioffer.com web site?
I looked for for some items but all the sellers seem to be there only for scam.
Did someone have expirience with site?

Help please

Registrant:
iOffer Inc.
P.O. Box 78191
San Francisco, California 94107
United States

Domain Name: IOFFER.COM
Created on: 15-Dec-98
Expires on: 14-Dec-19
Last Updated on: 01-Jul-10

A genuine site, but like all similar sites, it's impossible to stop scammers using it.

Hi, my name is <Moderator - Removed>, and after
I made my complaint with the Italian Postal Police in my city, Foggia, I
also report to your site these four sites belonging to the same crook, recipient of the
My bank transfers at the Bank of China, with name and surname: Chun Fu Rong and
both bank account. Eventually the scam ended with products shipped = nothing, zero. Sites
are: http://www.tcitci.com, http://www.kimkum.com, http://www.uicric.com, http://www.zlgxfc.com, Thank you

Thanks for posting.
I also found this fifth site with the same payment details as the other four. www.zmsyxw.com

Hello Rinaldo, you might consider to delete your name, if it is your real one.

This isnt a scam,but i dont get it.How didnt you see,this is a chinese stuff
I saw this site when you open this thread,and i saw the prices are be low of normal.
Like armani <3
They wrote like a discount on sunglasses Armani 9$ , and the legitimate shops are over 150$ ,understand
Like burberry god damn, sandals are 33 $ _ HAHHAA

Prices tell everything,and when i said ,,this isnt a scam,, i meant they wont take ur money for nothing.They will send you goods but chinese
Bye