Hi everybody,
I am a live in landlord and have always met tenants to decide if I like them and showed them round the house before signing a contract. However, today I received a text from a gilr saying she was 'highly interested' in the room I was advertising and wanted to know how much the rent was (this was clearly stated on my ad). I emailed her and asked when she wanted the room because it would not be vacated for a while, and also some info about herself. This was her reply:

Thanks for your email,i will be very happy to occupy the room and am also happy with the price of the room for £95 per including bills, am 26 years of age and i was born and brought up in South Africa in the city of Cape Town,i don't smoke but i do drink occasionally. am a professional and i will like to rent the room for 1 year for a start and extend my contract if need be,i have not gotten any job yet but i hope to get one when i arrive and i normally do a managerial work.

Am presently in South Africa at moment,so i won't be able to come and view the house but if you don't mind my uncle will be paying for my rent with all other house bills with some monthly rent in advance.

Just calculate everything i will have to pay for the first month before moving into the house if the room is mine and my uncle will make the payment available to you immediately cause am ready to move into the room.

I will be waiting to read back from you as soon as possible and the payment will be made available to you in full.

Best Regards

Am I right to be suspicious? :suspect: I replied insistently asking when she would be moving and why she was moving here. I also made it clear we wanted to meet her before deciding if she was the right tenant, therefore she would be able to pay us in cash when she came over.
What do people think? Just ignore her, or explain that I'm being cautious? :confused:
Advice appreciated!
Anna

Hi Anna

I'm afraid it does sound a bit dodgy, you might find yourself being asked to accept a cheque which is much more than the first month's rental, and then asked to refund the rest. The cheque appears to clear in your bank and you send off the overpayment, then the cheque is later found to be a forgery and you lose the money you send off.

I haven't heard of this scam being done on a rental before, but it is well known on other large items, on ebay for instance.

You could give her the benefit of the doubt, but ask for a cash payment in advance.

Hi, This reply has just arrived, think I might just ignore it...:suspect:

My uncle will never allow me to come over to the UK unless he sort out my rent with some month rent in advance because he will be very scared cause we don't have any family or relative in the UK and my uncle he's in United States at the moment on business trip but he use to live in the UK also.

I have decided to move over to the UK because i want to start a new life but i have worked in some many company's here as a manager and i will like to continue my managerial work due to my experience in the job,so i will be glad if you can accept like 3-4 month rent in advance and then i can come over to the UK as soon as you receive the payment.

Hope to hear back from you with your decision as soon as possible cause my uncle is ready to sort out my rent immediately.

Best Regards

I'd just email back telling her unfortunatly you do not accept tenants witout an interview and therefore you can not offer her accomodation. Its sounds well dodgy to me, plus if your living in ......... you dont want a nutter

it a scam for your bank details etc

You may find she is wanting to pay by Western Union money transfer. Dont go near this with a bargepole!

What pinklady said:-
it just screams "scam!"

yeah i've had a few emails very similar to this over the time i've worked in my current job, it's always the same story. one of them wanted to sign a contract for a house without even seeing it (or providing any kind of references at that) as they wanted to secure the house before arriving from south africa.. and even offered a higher rent. just delete it as it's a total scam.

It's a variant on a '419' scam.

I'd simply bar all emails from that sender. Definitely, definitely a scam.

it was spain when we got an email of a similar nature

it would be useful for the authorities to set up receiving accounts for these cheques to catch the culprits

I'd notify the police about this one, as somebody else is likely to fall into the trap

it would be useful for the authorities to set up receiving accounts for these cheques to catch the culprits


a specific account, like the acounts which landlords have to set up for the safekeeping of tenants' bond cheques, would be an excellent idea. I don't know why it hadn't been thought of before. It might put paid to a lot of this type of fraud.

I have had mails similar to this on a number of occasions replying to ads on here and on gumtree - I have ignored them. They vary from someones daughter moving from US to a model from Africa. Seemed dodgy to me so ignored them.

I'm advertising a room for rent and I got a very similar email - asking for rent details even though this was in the ad, and saying she's from South Africa but is coming to Sheffield to do a Masters at the uni. It gave a few details about her (hobbies, age, etc) and didn't seem particularly dodgy, so I emailed her back with info on rent and bills and said she was welcome to come and see the room when she arrived in England. She emailed back and said that she wanted to sort out a room before she arrived (which is fair enough) and that she'd like to take the room in my house if that was OK with me. She also apparently had a very generous uncle who was going to pay for all of her rent and was happy to send a large deposit as soon as I let her know where to send it! I decided it sounded far too dodgy, plus I'd only just put the advert out so it wasn't like I was desperate to find a lodger straight away. I told her I had people coming to see the room that week and that they would have priority. Never heard from her again.

i know its a scam but what i dont understand is .......... how can the cheque be in the bank the required amount of time and the bank cash it only to revoke it a day later, why does the bank allow it to cash when its a dud:confused:

i know its a scam but what i dont understand is .......... how can the cheque be in the bank the required amount of time and the bank cash it only to revoke it a day later, why does the bank allow it to cash when its a dud:confused:

The banks are very bad at this they show it in the account for a day or two but the money is not available, then suddenly it is available, then first thing next day its been returned, and not in your account, I've had it quite often.

Hi, its a scam! I have had quite a few of these normally when I have been adveristing on gumtree!
If you put (at) instead of @ sign in your email address that usually stops them as they can't be bothered to change it.
Some of them are quite funny though... I like it when they send the photos of the beautiful yet mysterious young lady!! LOL
Its a bit like those ones that you get asking you if they can deposit a large number of money into your account for safe keeping and you can keep the interest.
Ahhh, if only!!
If something sounds too good to be true... it probably is!!

Hi Guys and girls. I am in Exeter Devon but found your forum when googling for some scam info. Seems I was lucky too as I have just recieved this when advertising on Gumtree

Hello,

Thanks so much for your mail,I'm very much alright with the price of the room and i will look for another accommodation as soon as my rent expire in case you need your apartment and i will be coming as soon as you receive the check ,My Uncle is paying for all my Bills including my Flight ticket.

And unfortunately right now my Uncle is out of town to Australia on a Business trip but he has instructed one of his reliable client to issue you a Certified Bank Check and have it send to you as soon as possible with the total cost of the Accommodation including the Deposit with other necessary bills if required.

Kindly reply me as soon as possible with the information below so my Uncle client can have the check send to you in a timely manner.Am still in South Africa now.I will like to come over when you receive the check in hand which it will takes about 7-8 working days.I want the flat because is me and my friend that coming down.

Full Name:

Physical Address:

City:

States:

Zip Code

Country:

Name of Your Bank;

Cell Phone:

Total Cost of the Rent + Deposit:

Your urgent response will be highly appreciated


Asked her to supply UK Job References. Not heared from her since

The whole thing is obviously a scam. How on earth is her Uncle, whether in America or Australia (Both miles away and not in British legal system), going to provide a valid cheque in GBP? If she is a Manager who is expected to do her dealings in English she is a non-starter in any case. I have two golden rules about e-mails. One, I never provide personal details to people I don't know well, two nor do I make any financial arrangements by e-mail.

I would refer this "scam" to the Police and notify my bank that this attempt to make financial dealings via my account has happened. The bank would then be alerted at least.

I would imagine that the 'payment' that arrives will be for more than the required amount - an extra nought perhaps - and you will be asked to 'refund' the difference via Western Union.

Hi guys, I'm on the other side, I have had an offer of a room, the wording was quite strange, and the rent was out of the range I specified in the ad. When I pointed this out, they knocked nearly 200 off the rent. Am I right to be suspiscious? Are they fishing for identity stuff? This is from gumtree too!

Sarah

My recent 3 are from 'Smith Dakins', Randy Smith', and Fasuba Bartosz' Some of them can't spoke England, and are ususally desperate to confirm the tenancy (allegedly!).

Hi guys, I'm on the other side, I have had an offer of a room, the wording was quite strange, and the rent was out of the range I specified in the ad. When I pointed this out, they knocked nearly 200 off the rent. Am I right to be suspiscious? Are they fishing for identity stuff? This is from gumtree too!

Sarah

Gumtree seem to attract these dodgy people.

I am an experienced landlord and would not touch this one with a barge pole - stay clear she will move in and steal your identity!!! try advertising on spareroom.com it is free - if you want a tenancy agreements and credit checks and references done we can do for £50 chargeable to the tenant be careful - if it sounds dogy it usally is!

Oh look ANOTHER......:rant:

Good-Day, I' m RXXXXXXX WXXXXXX Searching through the apartment rent page, i saw your apt posted for rent with the little description you gave in there, i was impressed and it reduces any stress of searching around for an apt. I have an interest and i would like to make an inquiry if it still available for rent duration in which you want to lease the unit. Preferably 12months If you require any specific information, pls let me know if you really want to rent this apartment out .Am a family orientated man, no pets, no smoke and no drugs Give me the detail of the fees. 1- Security deposit fee ? 2- Monthly rent fees ? 3- Utilities if applicable ? 4- Dimension/measurement of the unit {s} ? 5- Crime rate of the area where the apt is located ? 6- Park lots if any ? 7- If the unit is Furnished or Unfurnished ? 8- Total Move in fees ? Thank you, God Bless Your Home RW

Hello,

Thanks for the email and nice to read from you,Regarding the viewing i can assure you of the viewing but i will like to discuss some thing with you, as you know am in Liverpool currently and before i can come down to Sheffield for the viewing i will like to see a proof of your financial capacity and to know how serious you are in need of the property because i have been fooled so many times and i will not let that to happen to me again, Been fooled by several tenant telling me to come from Liverpool to Sheffield to show them my property but when i got there for the viewing they will never show up and when i called there phone they will keep on banging the phone on me so it has been a very sad and disappointing occasion for me and i waste alot of money also for transport when coming for the viewing, so i don't want that to happen to me anymore,that is why my solicitor advice me that any tenant that want me to come for a viewing or want me to reserve my property down for him/she will have to show me a proof of there seriousness in the property,well this is what you will have to do for me before i can come down for the viewing, If you have a partner or friend in UK,what you will have to do is to locate a western union money transfer around you and transfer the the security deposit plus one month rent to your partner's name or your friend's name,after you've made the transfer finish you will be given a receipt from the western union agent,you will have to scan and email me the receipt to make the confirmation from western union if you made any transaction from them or not, immediately i made the confirmation from them and i confirm that you have made the transfer through them then i will give you a call to tell you to go and pick your money back from western union when i have made the confirmation finish and let you know where we going to meet for the viewing, I will want you to read this and understand me better, just to let you know this am not asking you to send me any money before showing you my property but i just need a proof through western union receipt, I want you to know that there are so many people who have sent me fake bank statement and reference for a proof but it's all fake, and moreover i don't like interfering with other people's privacy so i will not like to see any reference from anywhere or bank statement, (am sorry for sounding rude) but as you know i need to tell you my feelings and what is pitching me.

Regarding the western union charges that you use to make the transfer will be refunded to you back on the viewing day so you don't have anything to loose when you make the transfer, if you made the transfer finish and i make the necessary confirmation i wanted to make i will tell you to go and pick up your money back and pay me in cash. even if you don't like the property when you viewing it i am going to return the western union charges back to you, and help you in locating a property that is better, But to tell you when you see my property you going to love it......... Get back to me to know if your interest concerning what i said and the property.

Regard,
Austine.



It really annoys me they're getting away with this, but there's nothing that can be done.

My recent 3 are from 'Smith Dakins', Randy Smith', and Fasuba Bartosz' Some of them can't spoke England, and are ususally desperate to confirm the tenancy (allegedly!).

I've seen Smith Dakins and Randy Smith replying to ads on uni of shef accomodation board and spareroom.co.uk. Randy directly contacted me. Name made me giggle so ignored it!