Hello!
I fell victim to a scammer a couple days ago. Luckily I didn't put any money down. But I did give away some personal information, like my address and a photograph of myself... which I feel uncomfortable about now. It makes me sick that this person knows what I look like.
The scammer posted an ad for a property to rent on the GeoExpat "classifieds" section. It seemed too good to be true... and it was! Anyway, I messaged the user on GeoExpat, and he told me to email him. He sent me long emails explaining who he was, and why he was offering the deal that he was:
"I got a contract job in an engineering company for a construction project as part of the structural engineers to build a high-rise building in Pretoria, South Africa. I am a Building tech specialist, so my accommodation period in South Africa will be about 4 years, so that's the reason why i am renting out the unit. I do not intend to make profit out of it all i want is to find a good and clean person to take good care of the place. I`m the owner of the unit and it is furnished but if you want you can make use of your furniture's and help keep mine in the storage locker which is situated both in the unit and in the building and these does not attracts any funds.The monthly rent am requesting for includes all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, 1 parking spots, air conditioning, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, stove, laundry in-suite, washer and dryer) the monthly rent you will be paying includes all this and they will be taken care of as soon as you pay your rent. Everything in this unit is functional and in good working conditions. Once you started staying in the unit and there is any case of any repairs which is as a result of normal faults like leakages, you will get in touch with me and i will get it fixed, i am in possession of the keys to the apartment which makes hard for you to view the unit. You can move into the unit when you receive the keys but the only problem is that am the only person who has the keys but i hope that we will be able to reach a compromise on this.
TERMS AND CONDITION:
~The lease is month to month , 6 month or 1 yr and can be renewed ~It can be rented furnished or unfurnished ~ You will have to take good care of my unit ~Utilities are included in the rent ~Pets Allowed Any further questions please contact and get back to me for the pics and address of the unit. Thank you for your interest and i`m awaiting your response."
And guess what! Its the exact same message that someone else reported on this website, and they reported it 8 years ago!!! The exact same message!
"SIJO3369 8 YRS AGO
I too received an email for a house avb on Holywood Road(ad on Kijiji). See Below
I got a contract job in an engineering company for a construction project as part of the structural engineers to build a high-rise building in Pretoria, South africa. I am a Building tech specialist, so my accommodation period in South Africa will be about 4 years, so that's the reason why i am renting out the unit. ...
mail from: [email protected]"
Look for the comment down below on this link: https://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/li ... m-warning/
The only difference in my case is the email address (and assuming the name of the "scammer")
[email protected]
BEWARE OF THESE TYPES OF EMAIL MESSAGES!
Take care and be wary folks! Don't fall for SCAMS.
Regards,
Adam
I fell victim to a scammer a couple days ago. Luckily I didn't put any money down. But I did give away some personal information, like my address and a photograph of myself... which I feel uncomfortable about now. It makes me sick that this person knows what I look like.
The scammer posted an ad for a property to rent on the GeoExpat "classifieds" section. It seemed too good to be true... and it was! Anyway, I messaged the user on GeoExpat, and he told me to email him. He sent me long emails explaining who he was, and why he was offering the deal that he was:
"I got a contract job in an engineering company for a construction project as part of the structural engineers to build a high-rise building in Pretoria, South Africa. I am a Building tech specialist, so my accommodation period in South Africa will be about 4 years, so that's the reason why i am renting out the unit. I do not intend to make profit out of it all i want is to find a good and clean person to take good care of the place. I`m the owner of the unit and it is furnished but if you want you can make use of your furniture's and help keep mine in the storage locker which is situated both in the unit and in the building and these does not attracts any funds.The monthly rent am requesting for includes all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, 1 parking spots, air conditioning, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, stove, laundry in-suite, washer and dryer) the monthly rent you will be paying includes all this and they will be taken care of as soon as you pay your rent. Everything in this unit is functional and in good working conditions. Once you started staying in the unit and there is any case of any repairs which is as a result of normal faults like leakages, you will get in touch with me and i will get it fixed, i am in possession of the keys to the apartment which makes hard for you to view the unit. You can move into the unit when you receive the keys but the only problem is that am the only person who has the keys but i hope that we will be able to reach a compromise on this.
TERMS AND CONDITION:
~The lease is month to month , 6 month or 1 yr and can be renewed ~It can be rented furnished or unfurnished ~ You will have to take good care of my unit ~Utilities are included in the rent ~Pets Allowed Any further questions please contact and get back to me for the pics and address of the unit. Thank you for your interest and i`m awaiting your response."
And guess what! Its the exact same message that someone else reported on this website, and they reported it 8 years ago!!! The exact same message!
"SIJO3369 8 YRS AGO
I too received an email for a house avb on Holywood Road(ad on Kijiji). See Below
I got a contract job in an engineering company for a construction project as part of the structural engineers to build a high-rise building in Pretoria, South africa. I am a Building tech specialist, so my accommodation period in South Africa will be about 4 years, so that's the reason why i am renting out the unit. ...
mail from: [email protected]"
Look for the comment down below on this link: https://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/li ... m-warning/
The only difference in my case is the email address (and assuming the name of the "scammer")
[email protected]
BEWARE OF THESE TYPES OF EMAIL MESSAGES!
Take care and be wary folks! Don't fall for SCAMS.
Regards,
Adam