Is This a Scam???? (of course is).

altin_2

Hi everyone.

Is a scam going on about wanting to rent a property at the moment???

My wife posted sometimes ago on Gumtree, and we received various replies.

I have posted now with my e-mail, and we receive the same property pictures in different location. A nice property with lower price compared to the area.

OK, I decided to reply and they say they live far,and "I need to know that you are serious and have the money to pay before i can come down to London".

I replied again and say: YES I'll pay (of course not).

Still waiting for their reply.

Anyone have experimented this before????
Will post of what they want.

clutton_2

of course it is .....

maninthestreet

They'll want you to send some money (usually one-month's rent) via Western Union to one of your friends, to prove you have the ability to pay, then send then the WU receipt showing the MTN so they can 'check' if the money is really there. They'll claim this is 'safe', as they won't be able to collect the money if they can't show ID to prove they are the person who has been sent the money, but this is not the case -if they have MTN, they can collect the money.

gnimia

Its ridiculous how many of these there are - a friend of mine was looking for a houseshare a while back, and every third property was clearly a scam... :eek: from "missionary pastors" upwards - no shame...

altin_2

Thanks maninthestreet

I was sure something is going on, but couldn't figure out how they will get the money.

This does make sense.... and someone may really get burned this way.

KittyOHara

I had this same thing last year, I was suspicious so I googled it. It seems to be another Nigerian scam thing where they say they want to rent the flat and if you go ahead with them they send you a cheque in advance for much more than you asked for. You then make out a cheque for the difference and return it to them. In the meantime, their cheque disappears from your account. Not sure how it all works, but it's definitely a scam!

EDIT: I've just re-read your post and realised I was talking about the other way around with me being the landlord, sorry! But it's still a scam.

G_M

Gumtree is full of scams.
One poster here a while back was 'shown' a beautiful flat by a 'landlord - by driving him past it! LL said the current tenants did not want disturbing and he was respecting their privacy. He then wanted a deposit and one months rent.

Needless to say the LL vanished. As did the money.

AnnaLicious_2

They've featured this scam on BBC Watchdog a couple times now I think. It's usually students that get conned - young kids with no other money, no adult life skills to cope with it, and then end up homeless and trying to start school in a strange city with no friends or family around. It makes me so angry!!

Enfieldian

More often than not these flats are advertised at well below market rent, so an element of greed AND stupidity both come in to play.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Sharon87

I find that there are some warning signs of these scams:

no picture
or just a picture of the outside of the house
ridiculoously low rental prices compared to others in area
a nigerian sounding name as contact...

FraudBuster

And a post from yesterday:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2502175=