I went through a similar experience, but this time it was a "woman" named Sophie Herbert. Yeah right. I wrote to "her" telling I was interested in the apartment. This was the mail that I received:
Hello,
First of all I'm sorry for the late reply but I had a lot to work and this is the time I could give you a message.Thank you for your interest. My name is Sophie Herbert and from the internet add, you could see, that the apartment located in: AMORES 1733, Del Valle Centro, Benito Juárez, Distrito Federal, 3100. It has 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 1 kitchen and 1 living room.
The kind of tenant I am looking for must be above all very responsible and preferably dynamic and communicative. Utilities such as internet, electricity, water and satellite are included in the monthly rent, which is 6,500 peso per month.
The reason for which I am renting my apartment is that I had to work in another country, which is London, United Kingdom for 6 months initially, but now I learned that my job will continue for at least 36 months more in the current location. I have already made permanent living arrangements here for me and my family, therefore we decided to put our apartment on the internet up for rent.
Thank you for your interest and I will look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sophie Herbert
P.S. Please tell me if this is what are you looking for and reply my only if you are truly interested in the apt
I told "her" I was interested and sent her an email with a screenshot of a Google map asking if that was the apartment. She never answered the question. And I made it quite a few times. This was the second mail i received:
Hello and thank you for the reply. The only matter is that I'm in London already. Like I have informed you before, the price you shall pay for one month of rent will be 6,500 pesos, plus the security deposit 6,500 pesos so the total will be 13,000 pesos, including all utilities & community with no extra fees for the duration of the contract. After that the rent will be 6,500 pesos every month.
The security deposit if you want can be used to pay the last month of rent or in the situation if you don't have money, will be used as payment for the current month, with your prior confirmation or refundable at the end of the contract.
About the money, I would like to receive it monthly into my bank account and I hope there will be no problem for you to wire the money to it. The apartment is ready for you, you only need to receive the keys with the contract so you could check it out, and see if you like it.
Obviously we need a way to complete this deal, that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are after. In order of that I have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast, and in this way you will receive the apartment keys in less than 2 days, if you move fast as well. The solution is provided by a company called TNT which is similar to FedEx, DHL or UPS, which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys.
TNT services will allow you to pay for the rent of the apartment only after you will receive the apartment keys, and through this way you will see it and decide if you will stay in the apartment or not before I receive my payment.
Let me know if you are interested, because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of next week.
I told "her" that I was interested again and asked her the steps to follow. I insisted to see the department before I made any deposits. "She" never complied. This was the third mail that i received:
Hello again,
I need to inform you the steps about how this service works and how we can make it happen. You will only have to deposit to TNT Service - one month of rent 6,500 pesos plus the deposit 6,500 pesos so the total will be 13,000 pesos - so TNT can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the apartment keys with the contract.
Like I said, I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the Keys and the contract signed by me right away. I will explain to you step by step how this will work:
1 - To start this transaction I will need to know your full shipping information, full name, full shipping address to proceed with this deal.
2 - I go to the TNT Office and leave the Keys and the contract in your name as the intended receiver.
3 - TNT will check the envelope to see if everything is OK with it and also the legal papers that will come along with the Keys.
4 - TNT will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the Keys and the papers in their custody, in which you will be told that they have the Keys and that they checked it.
5 - At this point you will have to go to a WesternUnion Agent Location and make a money transfer deposit on the TNT agent name in London assigned with this transaction for the amount we agreed, the total amount you shall deposit is 13,000 pesos.
6 - After you make the deposit you will have to send the info about the money deposit to TNT (MTCN#, sender's name and address)
7 - TNT will verify the payment information and if everything is in order they will deliver the Keys and the contract to you .
8 - After you receive the package, You will go and check the apt and in 2 days you must contact them and tell them if you keep the apartment or not, if everything is in order you will instruct TNT to release the funds to me.
If you don't like the apartment TNT will send your money back and you will send them the keys and the contract to return the package back to me on my expense. I will pay TNT Service for the shipping and you will pay WesternUnion for the Money Transfer fees. Now I must know for sure if you agree because here are a lot of peoples interested to have this apartment rented and I want to know for sure what I must tell them. If you agree what i suggested i will tell them that my apartment is already rented and I will keep it for you. If you agree then i must have all the shipping details so i will be able to make all the arrangements for the TNT delivery.
Thank you and I will wait your reply with the shipping information.
There I smelled something fishy and looked for it in Google and you know the rest. I hope they get caught. I don't know what else to do to help.
May they rot in Hell.