From: lora wilson
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 6:03 PM
To: Michelle
Subject: Re: Reply to your ad: A modern one bedroom flat to rent in Cambridge
Thanks for your response. I can make reservation for the said period of time.
However owing to my past unpleasant experience of inviting intending tenant to view my flat without confirming if they are actually able to pay their rent at the right time has caused me a great discomfort and as such do not want to experience it anymore, because i have to travel all the way from Scotland to take interested candidate round my flat. I do hope you understand my point of view.
In view of the previous occurrences, I do not want to collect any money from you as i have not taken you round my flat and signed your contract with my solicitor,but i have been strongly advised to confirm that you can pay your rent as at when due, so before we can proceed for the viewing, I will like to confirm if you can afford my rent. All you need to do now is to make transfer of a 2 weeks rent and security deposit of £400 to your friend or partner within the UK through Western Union Money Transfer The reason for using western union money transfer is that it is faster and my solicitor can easily confirm the transfer almost immediately he receives the scanned copy of the transfer receipt or the details of the transfer
Once you are done with the transfer, get back to me with the scanned copy of the transfer receipt as i forward it to my solicitor to confirm if the transfer is valid or not and available for pick-up by your friend or partner.Once my solicitor confirms the transaction valid, i will then ask you to tell your friend to pick up the money for you, then we can immediately proceed for the viewing. I shall refund the cost of transfer to you when we meet for the viewing. After the viewing, if you like my flat, you can proceed to signing the contract and then pay your rent and security deposit to me directly.
Kindly proceed with the transfer and get back to me as soon as possible.
Do not hesitate to ask anymore question.
Regards
Mr/Mrs Wilson
The thief will tell you that you can rent his accommodation only if you can prove that you have genuine interest. He will ask you send money by wire transfer (normally Western Union) to yourself or a member of the family to show that you have sufficient finances and that you are not a "time waster".
Another variation of this scam is that you need to send (by Western Union) money in order that the keys and other documents can be couriered to you
He will ask you to send him the transfer details.
Make no mistake ! Western Union Transfers can be picked up virtually anywhere in the world and with the minimum of identification. They are almost impossible to trace once the money has been collected. You will never get to see the accommodation or your money again.
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 Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment by Western Union 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.
