Gumtree "Sarah Smith" scammer

Searching Google with this sentence

Pretty mellow and quite, except for an occasional get-together with friends.

leads to a scam warning site:
http://chicaneryconsscams.blogspot.com/ ... -2011.html

Hi everyone,
I'm an Italian guy, 20's... Yestrerday I put an AD on Gumtree and this morning I find an email from sarah.smit?h635@yahoo.?com reporting the same text:
-----------------------------
Hello,
i saw your AD on Gumtree that you needed accommodation in London, i have an apartment available which is situated at Bayswater. The apartment is £360/per month including utilities, Please get back to me for more information and picture of the apartment, I will wait to hear from you
------------------------------

and after asked her photos and more informations she wrote me the same things!

Luckily I was curious to see which type of person she was and I wrote in google (hoping to find her on facebook) "Sarah Joy Smith Washington London"........ Nothing about facebook but a big article about her in this website!!

THANK YOU MATE! YOU AVOID ME ABOUT A BAD EXPERIENCE

After this I can say that is very difficult to find a flat using internet... Scammer are everywhere and maybe is better go in hostel and looking for an house by agency in London HAVING A LOOK AT ALL THE HOUSES WITH OUR EYES NOT LOOKING AT A PHOTO!!

LOL Carol Prosser wrote me, too!

But now her email is: [email protected]

Hate this people I'm loosing lot's of time answer them and looking if they are scammer or not!

^^It is great that you are being so careful and diligent. It is good to spend a little time checking for scammers than to lose a lot to a scammer. I hope other people will become as aware as you are.

Hi everyone,
I just registered on this website to let you know that Sarah Smith probably changed her name to CHLOE ROBERT!
Here is the list of her emails I received...

1°
i saw your AD on Gumtree that you needed accommodation in London, i have an apartment available which is situated in Bayswater.I have 2 double rooms available for rent which a room is £360/per month including utilities, Please get back to me for more information and picture of the apartment, I will wait to hear from you
From: chloe robert
Telephone: +4407094095135

2°
Hello Laurie,
Thanks so much for your interest in renting my room.The apartment is three bedrooms flat and i'm renting out two rooms because im the only staying in the flat presently.
The the rooms are very big enough for a 2 bed (firm mattress) with private bathrooms, a sound system, bedspread, in the sitting room there is a plasma TV, internet access, Newly refurbished to a high standard a modern kitchen with all new appliances, central heating, tasteful bespoke lighting, washing with dryer machine, microwave oven with a set of cutlery, crockery and pans.
The apartments is situated at Flat D 24 Redan Place London W2 4SA.Nearest grocery shop is Tesco 3 min walk. Nearest tube Station is Bayswater Circle, District lines. Big shopping center (with cinema) Whitleys. 3 min walk to Hyde Park.
There are various tube stations within walking distance from where the flat is located
Bayswater is central located and one of the most attractive and lively areas of West/Central London.Located within 5 minutes walk to Hyde Park, Bayswater and Queensway tube stations.
I've attached pictures of the rooms and i hope you will like it.A room is very reasonable at only £360 per month Including All utility bills like water,taxes,electricity,heating,Internet and Cable TV are included in rent and £400 refundable security deposit for the apartment.
I'm Chloe Bridet Robert.I'm single,27 years old professional and i work as a Cabin Crew.Im from Minnesota, I'm very easy going,friendly and i like enjoy good conversation with friends.I also value my own silence and privacy.I love meeting new people,i have a great sense of humor and I'm always up for fun.I love hanging out with friends,going for a drink and having a good time together. I am looking for a responsible,easy going and friendly people that keep there things simple,clean and tidy.
We can keep in touch with me if you're still interested and may be have a chat on msn,my email id is [email protected] so that we can get to talk and get to know each better as well..
Have a nice day,
Chloe.

3° and when I ask about the low rent and the doubtful "out-of-catalogues" pictures I thought I already saw one year ago...

Hi Laurie,
Sound good that you know London well.I'll like to have you as my new flat and i'll appreciate if you can tell me more about your self and see if we get along good.
I have another coming from Australia to do a 6 month exchange pro gramme and she 'll be arriving 20 of October.
A room for 360 per month and a 400 deposit in bayswater area is only reasonable as its not a a bedroom flat self contain.
I'm sorry you ve never see the pictures of my flat and may be you are taking me for another room or something.
This the first time i'll be renting out on Gumtree and my last flatmate go back to US and Scotland respectively.
We could sure keep in touch and chat on msn or may be speak over the phone.
Let me know if you are still interested in renting my room.
I wait your response,
Cheers,
Chloe.

Hope this will help!!!
Take care,
Laurie

Welcome eirual43 and thank you very much for the update. It's very helpful to have updated information about the new names and email addresses these scammers are using.

Hi guys,
sarah smith has definitely changed her name to Chloe Bridet Robert. I have just received the same mails as the person before me.
Her email is now: [email protected]

And I got contacted by some other scammer as well:
so Vitalia (the girl from Birmingham who pretends to have a flat cause her parents went off to Spain) has changed her name to Tatyana Bodart. Her address is: [email protected]

And I got contacted by [email protected] which turns out to be [email protected].

So be careful, I advertised on gumtree cause I am going to do an internship in London for 2 months and so far it seems i have been only contacted by scammers.

Welcome to Scamwarners.
Scammers share scripts so they may or not be the same people. Not that it really matters. The more names reported here, the better.

Hi everyone,

I got the identical message under [email protected], the number given to me is +447436322879 and another email is [email protected]. I proceeded until she sent the tenancy agreement, payment was to be made to an alleged lawyer:

Bank name: Nationwide Building Society.
Account name: Roger Lyndon Dean Coke
Account No: 04819594
Sort Code: 07-44-56
Bic Code: NAIAGB21
Iban Code: GB64 NAIA 0701 1604 8195 94.

Funnily enough, neither lawyer nor law firm (Angel Solicitors) could be found vis google so I stopped the correspondance.

I got the same message today, right after I sent her my passport details. I am so dumb, I should have checked this forum before. Thanks nevertheless..

She sent me this:

Hi,

Thanks once more for your interest,I've attached my international passport photo page with the lease agreement contract duly prepared by my lawyer which you will be bringing to the flat when moving in and I want you to go through the lease tenancy agreement carefully to study the terms and conditions.If you agree,sign the lease agreement and send it back to me in other to sign my own part.You will be making payment to confirm the reservation and has to be paid to my lawyer,He will prefer a Bank Transfer to send the money.

My Lawyer's Bank Transfer Information

Bank name: Nationwide Building Society.
Account name: Roger Lyndon Dean Coke
Account No: 04819594
Sort Code: 07-44-56
Bic Code: NAIAGB21
Iban Code: GB64 NAIA 0701 1604 8195 94

Immediately,he confirm your payment he will issue you receipt for the reservation.Please get back to me as soon as possible so that I could be positive about the reservation and proceed to next phase of your rent.

Looking forward to welcoming you into my apartment.

Regards,

Mary.

Good luck to all of you! If anybody has got a room in East Lothian or Edinburgh, please let me know

I got an offer of Kaitlyn Mason, too, which sounded really good. I even got a contract sent, which had the logo of an official UK solicitoricy. Just that when I inquired with the solicitory office, they told me, the contract was a fake and had nothing to do with them.

Hi everyone, her actual name is Katie Clift... she sent me the very text...

Thanks so much for your interest in renting my room. The apartment is three bedrooms flat and I'm renting out two rooms because I'm the only staying in the flat presently. The the rooms are very big enough for a 2 bed (firm mattress) with private bathrooms, a sound system, bedspread, in the sitting room there is a plasma TV, internet access, Newly refurbished to a high standard a modern kitchen with all new appliances, central heating, tasteful bespoke lighting, washing with dryer machine, microwave oven with a set of cutlery, crockery and pans.

The apartments is situated at 24 Redan Place London W2 4SA.Nearest grocery shop is Tesco 3 min walk. Nearest tube Station is Bayswater Circle, District lines. Big shopping center (with cinema) Whitleys. 3 min walk to Hyde Park.

There are various tube stations within walking distance from where the flat is located

Bayswater is central located and one of the most attractive and lively areas of West/Central London.Located within 5 minutes walk to Hyde Park, Bayswater and Queensway tube stations.

I've attached pictures of the rooms and i hope you will like it. A room is very reasonable at only £360 per month a Including All utility bills like water,taxes,electricity,heating,Internet and Cable TV are included in rent and £400 refundable security deposit for the apartment.

I'm Katie Clift.I'm single,28 years old professional and i work as a Consultant. I'm from Minnesota, I'm very easy going,friendly and i like enjoy good conversation with friends. I also value my own silence and privacy. I love meeting new people,i have a great sense of humor and I'm always up for fun.I love hanging out with friends,going for a drink and having a good time together. I am looking for a responsible,easy going and friendly people that keep there things simple,clean and tidy.

Please let me know if you are still interested.

Regards,

Katie.




her actual details from the contract:
Bank Name: Halifax bank

Account Name: Angel Smith

Account No: 10850566

Iban Code: GB48HLFX11033610850566

Bic code: HLFXGB21j44

Sort code: 110336

Bank Acct Noted (BW)


BE AWARE!!!! I stopped the whole communication after discovering this forum... I hope it helped you!!!

Do you mean the name she's using now, or her real name? Her writing shows that she is a not very well educated African of the Niger-Congo family; it's unlikely that her real name is "Katie Clift".

It's the name she uses at the moment, of course it's not her real name... I think she's not even woman.

Guys

Unfortunately I fall her trick. I send her an item base on trust. I send my item to the following address in Coffs Harbour.
1 Louise Close, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450. Her contact number is 0411242175

Hope this helps