Rental Scammer - [email protected]

Hi guys,

New name for the same scammer is PAUL HART. I have just received the email from him:

Thanks for your interest in my flat.Viewing is possible if you can meet up with my solicitors requirements.
My solicitor and i had some past bitter experience of booking a viewing and reserving accommodation for tenants without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled has made me loss time and money for traveling as I currently work and Live in ireland.

I will not collect any deposit from you not until i take you round my flat and you are satisfied with it, i just need to confirm your financial ability before i can come and i will also need to seek two days off from work because some tenants do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by their employees, I hope you understand this.

Therefore my Solicitor has acknowledge a protocol by which you can confirm your financial ability to me before i can make arrangement for my coming,In this case, a bank-statement wont be accepted as we have had wayward tenants tendering fake documents, also you don't need to pay any upfront or reservation yet, all we require is, You transferring at least 4 weeks rent payment(£600) and the security deposit(£600) to your friend,partner or family member living within the UK premises.

You re to make the transfer via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to any relative or friend of yours been the receiver and you get back to me with scan copy of the receipt which will be given to you by WESTERN UNION agent and if you don't have scanner you may write out the details as it is stated on the receipt which am to forward to my solicitor to confirm it if truly the funds is in your receiver custody for pickup,After the verification been done,i will call or email you to have your receiver pick it up.Note,i will refund the transfer charges when we meet on the viewing day, after the verification has been done, i will make my plan to meet up for the viewing.This procedure is strictly meant for assurance if you are really capable to rent my flat.If this can be done as soon as possible,i will reserve the flat for you and schedule a viewing with you at your own earliest and convinient time..


Kindly reply or feel free to call me if you have questions to ask. +447031843889 or +447031844671.


Regards

PAUL....

The ad was found on gumtree: http://www.gumtree.com/p/flats-houses/a ... /104386446

His email: PAUL HART [email protected]

Fortunatelly my girlfriend used to work as a Western Union agent so she knows how it operates...

Thanks for the information on this website. I contacted a Paul Hart in relation to a flat he had for rent on Gumtree and I received a suspicious reply that looked too much as other phishing emails...His first answer was:

Hello,
Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can move in as soon as possible as you like,here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Type of property : Private one bedroom flat(Livingroom,double bedroom,bathroom and kitchen)
Rent : £150.00 pwk(£600 per month)All bills inclusive...
Minimum Stay : 2 weeks
Maximum Stay : For as long as you may like..
Type of lease : Both short and long term
Security Deposit: £ 600.00 (Refundable at the end of a week stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet)
Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm
All bills included: its fully furnished, bath/wc phone.
Fully-equipped kitchen
Vaulted ceilings
Washer/dryer in unit
Central Heating & Double Glazed
Broadband internet connection in each room
Air conditioning
Fireplace/select units
modern English furniture
Car Park
pets allowed
Dss allowed

Available for singles or couples.
viewing can be arranged asap..

Get back to me if you are satisfied and your present location.

PAUL....



I did not trust this flat made in heaven, so I typed his email on google and yours was the first answer...So thanks for confirming my suspicious, I didn't need to get to the Money Transfer stage to find out about the scam!!!

I contacted a Paul Hart in relation to a flat he had for rent on Gumtree and I received a suspicious reply that looked too much as other phishing emails...His first answer was:
(...)

Yeah, he sent me exactly the same email. This very email seems to have been around for at least few years: http://pseudonymous.hubpages.com/hub/Th ... Union-Scam

I examined the email header and the guy seems to be operating from Egypt. Let's track him down and throw him under the camel

Hello everybody,

I had to reply to this as I have just had the same experience. Beautiful flat, was curious about the price- seemed too good to be true. Enquired further but became suspicious when the emails appeared scripted, my question asking for the postal address was ignored as was my request for his solicitor's details....

Very clever scam, he continually claims he is not taking money from you but simply verifying that you have the available funds. Sounds very reasonable, it certainly isn't! I'm very glad I also saw this article to confirm my suspicions! I hope he hasn't managed to fool anyone so far...I suspect unfortunatley maybe he has.

Thanks guys for posting hopefully potential victims might see these posts!

BEWARE!!! [email protected]

Hello,

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can move in as soon as possible as you like,here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.



Type of property : Private one bedroom flat(Livingroom,double bedroom,bathroom and kitchen)

Rent : £150.00 pwk(£600 per month)All bills inclusive...

Minimum Stay : 2 weeks

Maximum Stay : For as long as you may like..

Type of lease : Both short and long term

Security Deposit: £ 600.00 (Refundable at the end of a week stay in my flat)

Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet)

Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

All bills included: its fully furnished, bath/wc phone.

Fully-equipped kitchen

Vaulted ceilings

Washer/dryer in unit

Central Heating & Double Glazed

Broadband internet connection in each room

Air conditioning

Fireplace/select units

modern English furniture

Car Park

pets allowed

Dss allowed



Available for singles or couples.

viewing can be arranged asap..



Get back to me if you are satisfied and your present location.



DAVID....

*ALMOST IDENTICAL EMAIL FROM UNDOUBTABLY THE SAME SCAM MENTIONED ON THIS POST. EMAIL RECEIVED TODAY FOR A FLAT I WAS INTERESTED IN IN MANCHESTER. BEWARE!! SCAM ALERT!!

Also glad, like a previous poster that i deemed this offer too good to be true and subsequently investigated further. I have happily not put any money down and will see who i can report this to more officially.

He is also operating under email: [email protected]
and advertising on following websites (i found 1 bed apartment in Knightsbridge, Clerkenwell):

easyexpat.com
londynek.net
studenthousing.co.uk

Emails word to word as copied in in previous links!!!

He appears to also be doing the same under the address [email protected]/ [email protected] on streeteasy.com. His response is below:

Thanks for your quick response.I want you to know i have been receiving alot of offers regarding this spacious apartment,some have been requesting for viewing while some have not.However, At this stage that you want to rent my apartment, i need to ask some few questions from you.

1. Can you take care of my apartment ?

2. How many months do you intend to rent and pay for?

It is unfortunate that my past experiences of inviting people for the apartment viewing without any form of payment and financial confirmation, ability,seriousness,commitment and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, this has brought about great losses to me. I have traveled all the way from Utah to take some interested candidates round my apartment.


Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are residing in the city, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.


So you will need to make a deposit but before that, i will need some information from you to draft a contract which has to be signed and bring along with you to the apartment on the day of viewing.

Your full name:
Present address:
Confirmed move in date:
Phone Number :

Kindly get back to me with these information so that i can tell you how to proceed with the Payment.

Regards..

PAUL

Much thanks to this forum! I have also had contact with this scammer, whose name is now David Mark. This is the email I received (very similar to the ones above)!.....So BEWARE OF THIS GUY AND ABSOLUTELY NEVER WIRE HIM MONEY! Note he could conveniently not supply proof of ownership.

"Thanks for getting back to me, The apartment is located at 22 CONCORD AVE CAMBRIDGE, MA 02138 on the 2nd floor of the building. Yes that was the pictures of the apartment on the website.

off-street parking is included in the $1500/month rent
pets are allowed ( Cat or Dog)

About the proof of ownership i don't think i can provide you that. we only provide it to the rental site administrator before the listing is been approved, this is a private document i am a professional landlord and i have never had any problem with my tenants in the past i think understand am sorry about that, because if i don't have that my listing we not be approved on the website.

However, At this stage that you want to rent my apartment, i need to ask some few question from you.

1) Can you take care of my apartment as it is?
2) How many months do you intend to rent and pay for?
3) Do you have references?

Some outside tenants do not have the money to pay the rent and yet they disturb the the landlord to arrange a viewing with their friend or relative who are residing in the city, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by there employees.

So you will need to make a reservation deposit and also the first month rent payment to reserve the flat for you. but before that, my lawyer will need some information from you to draft a contract which you will print and bring along with you while coming for the apartment viewing. Below are the details needed.

Your full name:
Present address:
Confirmed move in date:
Moving out date:
Phone Number :

Kindly get back to me with these information so that i can tell you how to proceed with the reservation deposit and the first month rent or feel free to call me if you have questions to ask

Regard..."