Room for Rent Scammer - Lora Colin

[Michelle]

From: [email protected]
To: Michelle

Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: Smart and Lovely One Double bedroom flat in Exeter City Centre. Bills inclusive
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:01:57 +0000

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 93.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you. Can you take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in Exeter?

Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

[email protected]

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. You can move in any time in March. I spoke with my lawyer on phone just now concerning your stay in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat as long as you'll take good care of my flat as how it is. However, it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work with M. Gould (Scunthorpe) Ltd.

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 in Exeter, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by their employers.

Henceforth, my lawyer and i have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to pay for my rent before coming for viewing. I would not ask you to send your bank statement. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is ? 400 which is refundable after your 1 month stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through Western union money transfer agent. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.

I look forward to reading from you soon. +4470240-70669

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

[Michelle]

Also using this telephone number +447024084984

[sophieprocter]

I almost got scammed by this person too.. but then I typed her name into google and your post came up, thank you!!! Mine was virtually the same, only a flat in Newcastle.

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 93.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you. Can you take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in Newcastle?

Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin


and then..

Thanks for the reply and the sincere interest you have in my flat. I spoke with my lawyer concerning your stay in my flat and we both agreed to have you in my flat as long as you'll take good care of my flat as how it is. However, it is unfortunate that my past bitter experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my flat without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me. I have traveled all the way from Ireland to take some interested candidates round my flat because that's where i work with M. Gould (Scunthorpe) Ltd.

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 in Newcastle, also some do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by their employers.

Henceforth, my lawyer and i have decided to carry out a simple test on financial ability to pay for my rent before coming for viewing. I would not ask you to send your bank statement. At least 1 month rent and security deposit which is £ 400 which is refundable after your 1 month stay in my flat, would be required from you to transfer through Western union money transfer agent. You can make the transfer with your name as a sender name and your partner or friend in UK premises as a receiver.

Once you have done this, scan the receipt to me and if you do not have scanner, you may write out the details on the receipt as i will send it to my lawyer to verify if it's truly genuine and available in your friend's custody, after verification, then we can proceed for the viewing and you can as well tell your friend or partner to pick up the money and also, i will refund back to you the cost of transfer when we meet.

I look forward to reading from you soon. +447024084984

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin

Very scary!

[Michelle]

Welcome sophieprocter

The scammer wanted you to send him money for a deposit or to prove that you have genuine interest in the property. He would have asked you send money by wire transfer (normally Western Union).

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, especially when it is collected from West Africa.

You may find this BBC news report and video of interest.... it's shows how a similar Room for Rent scam works..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/art ... ture.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7648771.stm

[kakkin]

this report has just saved us from falling for the scam, we knew there was something up with the email and type the name and company into google and this came up. your all kings.xx

[Chris Fuller]

Hi kakkin, I'm so glad that you thought to google. I wish you well in your hunt for new accommodation. Do please continue to take care!

[sophieprocter]

this is the same person.. only calling 'herself' cindy waters..

Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent my flat as long as you pay your
rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 85.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 450.00(Returnable after 2 weeks stay in my flat) Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out with all necessary house use with secure parking place. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you. Can you take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in Newcastle?

Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Water

[Ralph]

Hi Sophie

Thank you for the update, as you well know, the information you post here can and does help to prevent people from being scammed.

[victormwong]

I too have had a reply:


Thanks for the interest you have in my flat. My flat is still available for rent and you can rent my flat as long as you pay your rent at when due. Here are the necessary things you need to know about the rent and deposit.

Rent : £ 93.00 pw
Security Deposit: £ 400.00 (Returnable at the end of a month stay in my flat)
Utility bills inclusive ( water, gas, council tax, TV license and wireless Internet) Utility Cost : £ 0.00 pcm

However, my flat is fully furnished in and out and you will need to make a small deposit before we can proceed with he housing benefit. At this stage that you want to rent my flat, i need to know some few question about you. Can you take care of my flat as it is? How many months do you intend to rent and pay for? Do you have references in Birmingham?

Kindly reply for further information and i would like to know where you are coming from to stay in my flat.

Regards
Mr/Mrs Colin


If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is!

[korg]

Hi well I feel like a right mug as I have just been scammed by Lora Colin
But due to finding your website and seeing how widespread the problem is the police are going to contact all of the other forces to see if they can find the bu@@ers.

So please report all scams to the police so they can be caught.

If only I had looked first.

Hugs to you all.

[Dotti]

Welcome korg,

I'm sorry to hear you were scammed.

Unfortunately, the police will find that there is little they can do, because the scammer behind this is in another country and has not actually given any of his real information out. If there is a local mule, they may be able to stop that person, though.

Either way, reporting is always a good idea, as the officials in heavily targeted countries need to be encouraged to take stronger action, and that will never happen if they don't understand the depth of the problem.

Feel free to stop by in the future to report additonal scam attempts or ask about any questionable offers!

[Michelle]

Now using this number:-

+447024096562

[sairin]

Hello

I recently came across this same scammer... I realised though as it all sounded a bit fishy (mainly due to inproper use of English) and have reported it to the police.

BUT...

Within one week, I have come across FIVE scammers during my hunt for a new home!!!

[email protected] - "Lora Colin"
[email protected] - "Michelle Brehn"
[email protected] - "Ing Waldemar Piotr"
[email protected] - "Kate James"
[email protected] - "Jose Manuel Medina Jimenez"

I really cannot believe it. Five in a week? All I want is a nice landlord, not some scam artist. I've received a variation of e-mails too, some like the one above and others saying things like "the flat is my uncles who has recently died and now I must rent it..."

I'm so ANGRY!! I hope nobody else falls for these horrible scams.

Thanks...!

[Dotti]

Welcome Sairin,

I'm glad to hear you weren't scammed, though I can understand how frustrated you are with the incredible number of scammers.

If you could either post the emails from the other 5 scammers or forward them to one of our support staff (Michelle has an email address posted in our thread) it will help us to prevent even more people from being scammed, as often the scripts are as important as the email addresses when it comes to educating potential victims!

[kee1]

Hi I nearly got caught out by this guy, thankfully my fiance was suspicious!

here's what he sent me. Found him on gumtree.

Hello,
I will attach some pictures of the flat,floor plan and also a model of the rental contract! The flat is located on 55 Cliff Road, Plymouth PL1 2PE but I can`t give you the exactly address because there`s no one living out there and I`m afraid of thief's and I do apologies for this but I hope you understand me because I`m in Spain right now! The property benefits from access to beautifully maintained communal gardens and comprises reception room, kitchen with washing machine/tumble dryer, master bedroom with fitted wardrobes and en suite bathroom, second bedroom with fitted wardrobe and bathroom.
In the kitchen there is a dishwasher and also a Big fridge freezer! Regarding the council tax I can tell you that it is included in the price of £6480 per month and also Sky TV,internet broadband,gas and electricity are also included in this price! I am intrested in a minimum six month agreement and I request two months advance rent payment plus one month refundable deposit (£480) wich you will get it back at the end of the contract.
Regarding the plummets and all that kind of stuff I can tell you that the flat was recently renovated and all electrical part and plummets are new so that won`t be necessary any repairs anyway I have a person who can manage this starting from June.
We can sign the rental contract starting from next weekend but I need to be sure that you have serious intentions in renting the flat that`s why I attach here a model of the rental contract and also we can discuss the terms when we will meet!
If you are decided to view the flat let me know because there is another person interested in reserving it!
Kind regards,Miguel Jimenez