Gumtree "Sarah Smith" scammer

Here goes another one (yeah, I renewed my add..)

1) [email protected] <[email protected]>
Kindly email me back if you are interested in my flat.

[I replied already that if it's a Western Union thing he should save his time.. but he didn't ]

2) Thomas Kate <[email protected]>

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.My flat is located at Camden Street, Camden Town, NW1 0HB.
 
Rent :   £ 120.00  pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet)   Utility Cost :  £ 0.00 pcm
 
However, my flat is fully furnished in and out with all necessary house use. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you. Can you take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in London?

     Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Thomas



[s/he replied to my ad, so (s)he should know where I'm coming from etc..]

Hopefully, the strange (mix of formal and ungramatical) language of all these e-mails tells the whole story. Plus this strange choice of names and logins, like they wanted to give you a chance to get to know it...

Hi everyone,

Bad news from the police :
" I regret to inform you that using the aforementioned criteria an evaluation of your report has not yet met the required criteria to warrant any further investigation and the report has therefore been closed".

be careful guys, we lost £1800 because of all that awful people whoever they are...

Unfortunately, we googled her/he name before but nobody reported a scam so we trusted her/he. Then I googled her/he a few weeks ago to see if anyone encoutered the same story as us and I saw this website...

Cheers everyone.

@ d14b0ll0s:

[I replied already that if it's a Western Union thing he should save his time.. but he didn't ]

He would have been the first scammer in history who actually reads your first reply before sending the second installment of his script.

@ Lison:
I'm so sorry, although I can understand that the police is helpless - the scammer is simply outside their jurisdiction and hiding in an internet café. Don't be disappointed by the actual wording of this reply from the police, it's a generic text and doesn't mean they don't believe you.

Thank you everyone.
The point is : we had all the bank details of the scammer (Iban and everything needed for a bank transfer) ! The police even told us that we "had something"..That's why we're so disappointed..
Life goes on... :')

Hej!
I just posted the advertisement on gumtree that I am coming to UK and looking for apartment. And get 10 pretty good offers from scammers... May be I am attracting them
Almost all text from e-mails are on scamwarners.com website(just prices are different), so I am just posting theirs contact details. I guess they are changing names:

1) Sarah Smith [email protected]
2) Elmira Krupka [email protected], Address - 76, Mildmay Grove South, Islington, London, Greater London, N1 4PJ
3) Mabel Hart [email protected] (even got picture of her
4) kaitlyn mason [email protected]
5) lana john [email protected]
6) Carol Prosser [email protected]

I am so happy that I somehow found this forum...
If it wasn't for this forum, I might have been scammed by Sarah Smith.
So thanks! It's good that this forum exists.

I ll tell you my story:

I live in Holland and I'm desperatly looking for a room in London, Camberwell. On gumtree I wasn't very lucky. I sent a lot of reactions on ads, more than 100 reactions.. but I always got the answer : The room is already unavailable. So I tried something new : Posting an ad that Im looking for a room.
And I realise now, that I was just opening a door for scammers to get in.

First I got a message from Kacia Fevre.
She pretended to be very careful with everything and soon she started talking about Westernunion and she had no phone.. When I was researching her on the internet it appeared that she had 3 houses and she was also renting a house in the heart of paris. I'm sure she's a scammer.

And Then I got in contact with Sarah Smith.
It looked like I could trust her. She had a telephone number, an adress, she would even get me a copy of her passport. The only thing I found strange was that she had the most common name... Googling her was uneasy.
I was even more careful... because Kacia appeared to be a scammer. So I wanted to call her.
When I called her, I got an African woman on the line, who didn't speak English very well. I found it strange. She told me that she came from America. And that she liked good conversations.
The conversation was nothing more then me talking and asking her questions. There was no good conversation at all. Her personality in the emails didn't seem to be the person I had on the phone.

I felt desperate. I didn't know if I could trust her anymore. I thought I finally found myself a room. Then impulsively I looked her up the internet once more, not via google, but via msn search...strangely enough...and that's how I found this forum. Because of this forum I stopped doubting about this situation.

She just sent me a copy of her passport.... And for me it's pretty obvious that she just photoshopped the name Sarah Smith.

But I have already send her a copy of my passport.. And I hope she's not going to abuse it somehow.



It's hard to find a room/house on the internet. Especially when you're so far away from houseviewings. Is there any way you can do this from a distance?

Welcome to ScamWarners daphne. We are pleased you were not taken by this scammer.

Some times scammers do use passports they get to create a new scam character, like the one you received. I always encourage people who have sent a copy of their passport to contact the agency that issued the passport and tell them what happened. They may want to reissue your passport so you do not have difficulties if the scammer uses your information.

I don't know the names of any rental agencies. Do know that if you are asked to pay by Western Union or MoneyGram, it is a scammer.

Thank you so much for posting this you just saved me being scammed!!!

This person clearly uses also email address "[email protected]" and sends identical responses to all Gumtree adverts. The key being the very strange copy/paste english and signature of Mr/Mrs Smith or Thomas etc. I've reported all responses to Gumtree but have pretended to be interested in the properties so as to milk for more info. Has anyone else received pictures of these imaginary flats? Is there really no way Gumtree can stop these clowns?

Here goes another one (yeah, I renewed my add..)

1) [email protected] <[email protected]>
Kindly email me back if you are interested in my flat.

[I replied already that if it's a Western Union thing he should save his time.. but he didn't ]

2) Thomas Kate <[email protected]>

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.My flat is located at Camden Street, Camden Town, NW1 0HB.
 
Rent :   £ 120.00  pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet)   Utility Cost :  £ 0.00 pcm
 
However, my flat is fully furnished in and out with all necessary house use. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you. Can you take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in London?

     Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Thomas



[s/he replied to my ad, so (s)he should know where I'm coming from etc..]

Hopefully, the strange (mix of formal and ungramatical) language of all these e-mails tells the whole story. Plus this strange choice of names and logins, like they wanted to give you a chance to get to know it...

I received the exact same reply from: [[email protected]] for a different address and was close to going for it but accidently stumbled across this site. I have also been contacted by [[email protected]] with a very tempting offer. I'm gutted now, both looked great in the photos!!

michelle brehn is feverishly active - same scammer here:
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=22523
elmira krupka here:
viewtopic.php?p=64010#p64010

oh my god!!! You guys saved my life! Today I received this email sarah, I was happy to have found a good home! rather by chance after entering the contact sarah on msn I found this post on your site! I collapsed the world, I was ready to do the scan of your passport!! Thanks a lot! for reporting the scammer! but now how do I find a room and a reliable person from far away to London !!!???

this is the mail she sent me today:

Hello .........,

Its good to hear from you again and thanks for your much interest in renting my apartment,you sound really nice and interesting,i will hope to have you as my flatmate,everything sound good to me about both of you and i'll like to have both of you as my new flatmate,a double is 360 per month including bills and 400 refunable security deposit both you can both share a room in my flat which you 'll both share 180 per month between you,im sorry i don't have a skype but we can sure find a solurion to chat,your move in date 25 September sound good to me and i think we can work something out or may be speak over the phone and my number is +447024022139 and the best time to call me 'll be in the evening,if you are both interested in renting my room,you 'll both have to make a reservation for the room until your arrival in London.

I will tell you that you are doing the best thing by looking for accommodation before coming down to London..Because a lot of people come to London everyday and they end up having nowhere to stay because they fail to seek for accommodation before coming down here and i will tell you that i have a lot of offers right now and i will have to act fast.

As my regards of my apartment,It might be gone before your arrival in London...So, i will advice you to make a reservation...To go about this..You will need to send me your details such as your Full Name, Scanned copy of ID or Passport, Your Current address and phone number, Move in date, sex and your date of birth.

I need all this information to send to my lawyer so that he can prepare the Lease tenancy contract so i can send to you for you to go through the terms and conditions as regards living in my Apartment. And as soon as you agree with the terms and conditions of living in my apartment you be will making Security deposit and a month rent to my lawyer so that i can be positive about your reservation. And he 'll issued an acknowledgment receipt of the payment which serves as you've reserved the room as your room to move in when you get to London. If there is anything you don't get right,we can chat on msn and you can add me to [email protected] so that we can get to talk more better.

I'll be looking forward to read from you soon,

Have a nice time,

Sarah

Welcome to ScamWarners iragreta. We are so pleased that you found this thread before sending any more information to this scammer. Sadly, these scams net the criminals who perpetrate them many success stories.

If a deal sounds too good to be true, it is a scam. We do not recommend sites to find a room or flat. There are some signs to look for whilst searching for a rental.
1. Never pay by Western Union, MoneyGram or any other online transfer service. There is NO WAY to get your funds back if there is a problem.
2. Pay close attention to the writing style in the emails you receive. If it doesn't sound correct to the region you are supposedly contacted from, it is probably a scam.
3. Be very careful sending scams of your ID to people on the internet. Identities are stolen every day in this manner.
4. Put part of the message you receive into a search engine and see if the exact wording has been used in a scam. Often scammers do take the listing from legitimate land lords.
5. Put the address they give you into a search engine to be certain it is not a vacant lot or an office building. One scammer used the address of a car rental agency.
6. Check the headers to see where the IP places the sender.
Feel free to ask here too.

Another tricky one. There's a clear too-good-to-be-true Soho room ad on gumtree which they have just removed after many hours. Anyway - 3 bedroom flat, 3 bathrooms, double room for 360 gbp pm! (Soho!) I've e-mailed out of curiosity this guy who posted a really funny description of himself and his interests and I've just received a reply. Here it goes:

"
Diane Watson [email protected]
date 11 September 2011 19:11
subject GREAT ONE BEDROOM BILLS INCLUDED
mailed-by yahoo.com
Signed by yahoo.com


Hello,

Thanks for the interest in my flat. I have attached the pictures of the rooms. It is a 3 bedroom and 3 baths upstairs flat. I currently occupy one room so i have two rooms available now for rent, both rooms are the same. The one labeled toilet1 is for the first room while the one labeled toilet2 is for the second room. Both rooms cost £360 all bills included. I am looking for mature students or professional people to rent the rooms, the security deposit is only £400(refunded as soon as you move in) plus 1st month Rent which all comes down to the total of £760. All common areas like kitchen, dining room, living room, washer/dryer are accessible. All you pay is rent and the flat takes care of the bills. A little about myself... I'm a 26 year old single (VERY BUSY). I am easy going and very neat. I don't smoke and I don't have pets but i don't mind if you smoke, you will have to work that out with the other flatmate to be, All I ask is that you don't bring ANY drama! I work approx. 81 hours a week so I'm out of the house a lot. Am super laid back and non-judgmental. Pretty mellow and quite, except for an occasional get-together with friends. Pets are welcome only if you promise to look after your pets yourself.


Address: 53 Rupert Street, Soho, LONDON W1D 7PH.

All inclusive package includes:
• Gas
• Electric
• Water
• Council Tax
• TV License
• Wi-Fi Internet access
• Virgin Digital Cable TV


Furniture & Appliances Included:
• Double Bed
• Bedroom Furniture (wardrobe, desk, chest of drawers, bedside table)
• Lounge with laminate flooring and TV
• Combi boiler (meaning hot water available 24 hours a day)
• Bathroom with bath and shower
• Microwave
• Washing machine
• FREE on street parking
• Electrics safety certificate


Central Location with car parking
* Nearest Underground Station: Oxford Circus
* Nearest Train Station: London Charing Cross
* Nearest Airport: London City Airport

Lease Lengths:
- 2 weeks minimum

Please let me know your preference on flatmates.
1. Female, male or either
2. Other information......??

Can you tell me a little more about yourself? I also attached the tenancy form, kindly fill and email it back to me for approval.

Thanks
Hope to hear back from you"

+ out-of-catalogue pictures, again

The language of this e-mail is really good, and what seems to be really suspicious in spite of the price itself is actually the level of detail and the need to advertise it so much (I mean.. come on, why advertise this way a 360pm room in Soho in such a great flat..?)

Hope it helps someone (the ad had over 100 views already..).

Jakub

Yes. But there is a sign in the language that he's West African. I know we are not supposed to explain this here.