Accommodation Scam In London

[cjraver]

Hi,

I found this accomodation in London and the pictures looks great and its in the middle of London but the price sounds too cheap to be true, when I asked why they said that its because they have no agency fees, but the pictures looks like a 5 star hotel picture yet the price is the same as a hostel. They are also asking money transfer only but only a 200 pounds deposit and 5% of the total stay. When I tried to ring them, it just rang and went engaged, when asked they said the phone will be free soon I should ask my questions in emails.

It just sounds to good to be true and I don't want to send money and end up with nothing, especially from the other side of the world.

Your help would be truly apprecited.

Thank you.

_____
Details:

This is their email address and the email they sent with the payment details.

Knightsbridge Place London <[email protected]>


Below is the information to make the deposit of £305 to our Account:


Name: Knighsbridge Apartment.
Sort Code : 11-00-01
Account No : 07551783
IBAN : GB47HLFX11000107551783
BIC : HLFXGB21F08
Bank Name: Halifax Bank
Bank Address: London, United Kingdom


We will need the copy of the transfer confirmation from your bank, the scanned copy,very important.
We will send the booking confirmation and how to receive the keys once we have received your

deposit and confirm your booking.

[Ralph]

Hi CJ

Welcome to Scamwarners

It certainly looks like a scam to me, could you please post some of the emails and the header of the email where he sent that bank account would be a huge help.

If you dont know how to retreive headers, please let us know which email provider you use and we can give you specific instructions

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

[Arnold]

I would say it's a scam. The English on the website is strange. And -

Domain name:
knightsbridge-place.co.uk
Registrant:
Roger Miller
Registrant type:
UK Individual
Registrant's address:
The registrant is a non-trading individual who has opted to have their
address omitted from the WHOIS service.
Registrar:
Gandi t/a Gandi [Tag = GANDI]
URL: http://www.gandi.net
Relevant dates:
Registered on: 12-Dec-2009
Renewal date: 12-Dec-2011

[GomerPyle]

Oh yes indeedy - one very scammy and scummy website you have been handed.

I thought my eyesight had deteriorated more than usual.

No developer or landlord shows such crummy photos of their property, They have been lifted from elsewhere and over magnified until you have the 'after a drinking session' look.

I also did a check we often perform and turned up a nest of other fake sites.

It seems that Dawn, Kate, Miles & Jean visit London a lot - and always give the same glowing report

June 2009 Dawn, Kate, Miles & Jean. Fabulous Apartment, very tasteful and everything we needed. Thanks

If you then do a Google search on that comment, it throws up the following similar fake sites.

Mod Note for anybody who would like to visit the listed fake sites;
To remain on this page, right click and open the links in a new window - Ralph
http://www.mayfair-holidayrentals.co.uk ... 4537747380
http://www.always-londonvacation.co.uk/ ... 4535884526

There's a certain similarity between them - like they're all poor quality.

These cockroaches need to feel a heavy boot on their heads.

This is a peculiar expression appearing on the site which may point to the fake site builder being of French origin (possibly Benin or Cote d'Ivoire).

brand experience by the hazadours

[GomerPyle]

If you could post an e-mail from the scammer cjraver, together with headers and your personal info and mail addie deleted, we can handle getting those sites shut down, which always upsets scammers. If you can include the mail (with header) in which they sent the bank details we can handle that too.

Banks in the UK should perform what an American would term 'due diligence' on anyone seeking to open a non-personal account. It's unusual to see an non-personal account set up and used like this.

When anyone reports it to our contact - they should flag it up for special attention because of this. The bank should have a nice record of the checks they've undertaken to ensure it's not a bogus entity. As ex-bank I have no sympathy for those that don't comply with the legal requirements.

[cjraver]

Hi,

Thank you so much for al your help. I looked at the list you have on the website for the email programs but we use Windowns Mail.

Would you please kindly let me know how to get the email header so I can post it?


Thank you so so much.


Kindest Regards

[cjraver]

This was one of the email from them.


Sir/Ma,

Thank you very much for your inquiry.

For your travel dates we could offer you the following options:

Our 1 Bedroom Apartment in Knightsbridge is £250/week (All bills inclusive).

We are available throughout that time.

The cost per night is £35 a night, so for 10 nights the total is £350.

This includes all utilities. There is a fully equipped kitchen. We supply all linens, and there is Customer parking space.

There is high speed wireless internet for your convenience.

If you are interested we take 30% and refundable £200 security deposit to confirm your booking and the rest of the balance on your arrival.

Or you may pay in full at the time of the booking. The amount of 30% would be £105 plus £200 security deposit making £305.

We can confirm your booking if you make the deposit . We accept Bank transfer only.

Please let us know if you are interested and we can go from there.

You can check more pictures and information on our website at: www.knightsbridge-place.co.uk

Thank you and have a great day.


Oliver & Kathryn Ferris (Owner)
Owner Website: www.knightsbridge-place.co.uk

[Ralph]

Hi Cj

thank you for posting this information.

I am presuming you mean that you are using windows live, if that is the case, here are the header instructions

See Full Email Headers in Windows Live Hotmail
To see the full email including all header lines in Windows Live Hotmail:

Click on the desired message in the list with the right mouse button.
Select View source from the menu.

If I am wrong please let me know and I will find more instructions

[cjraver]

Hello,

I am using Windowns Mail which is part of the Microsoft Vista package. It is similiar to Outlook express but its called Windows Mail.


Kind Regards


Cjraver

[Michelle]

If it is similar to outlook express, then go to the in-box and single click on the message. A preview of the mail should appear.

curser over the preview and 'right click', then select "View Source" . A new window will open.

Copy and paste the information here ..... insure that your own name and e-mail address are removed, although if you miss anything personal a moderator will remove it.

[cjraver]

Thank you Michelle,

Here is the header:

Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: from murder ([unix socket]) by spool-host5.tpgi.com.au (Cyrus v2.2.12) with LMTPA; Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:14:26 +1100
X-TPG-Junk-Checked: Yes
X-TPG-Junk-Status: score=-3.9 tests=RCVD_IN_DNSWL_MED,RDNS_NONE
X-TPG-Antivirus: Passed
X-TPG-DNSBL: Passed
X-TPG-Abuse: host=slow3-v.mail.gandi.net; ip=217.70.178.89; date=Thu, 7 Jan 2010 21:14:24 +1100
Received: from slow3-v.mail.gandi.net (slow3-v.mail.gandi.net [217.70.178.89]) by mx2.tpgi.com.au (envelope-from [email protected]) (8.14.3/8.14.3) with ESMTP id o07AEDpo005788 for Thu, 7 Jan 2010 21:14:24 +1100
Received: from relay1-d.mail.gandi.net (relay1-d.mail.gandi.net [217.70.183.193]) by slow3-v.mail.gandi.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 94040130BE4 for Thu, 7 Jan 2010 10:36:23 +0100 (CET)
Received: from localhost (front1-v.mgt.gandi.net [10.0.10.71]) by relay1-d.mail.gandi.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 95F922552F8 for ; Thu, 7 Jan 2010 10:35:17 +0100 (CET)
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Webmail
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
To: "X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.0.6002.18005
Reply-To: "Knightsbridge Place London" <[email protected]>
X-TM-AS-Engine-Type: TMASE
X-TM-AS-Product-Ver: TMAS_OE-5.5.0.1434-6.0.1038-17116005
x-has-been-detected_normal: 1
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="utf-8"
x-has-been-checked: 1
X-TrendMicro-AntispamAddin-Checked: 1
X-TM-AS-User-Approved-Sender: Yes-Matched White List
X-Origin: 94.196.227.68
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 10:40:19 +0100
Subject: Re: Self Catering Apartment in London / Booking Reference: KNIGHS-17201109
From: "Knightsbridge Place London" <[email protected]>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-TPG-Junk-Result: determined as NOT junk email, not even with a medium detection setting

[Ralph]

Thank you CJ

That will be a huge help.

[Arnold]

X-Origin: 94.196.227.68

That's "Hutchison 3G UK Ltd", a mobile Internet provider. They do "Pay as you go", so the scammer may have given false details to Hutchison.

[GCCBee]

This is definitely a scam -- I have emailed and contacted this group by phone and they are 100% scammers. Note that the website allegedly showing the properties has now been taken down. Their activities have also been reported to the Metropolitan Police in the UK.

[Michelle]

Welcome to scamwarners.com GCCBee.

I have also noticed that all the sites that have been quoted on this page are now dead.

It wouldn't surprise me one iota if they don't reappear in another guise sometime in the future.