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 Post subject: roomate scam in australia
PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:09 pm 
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Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:54 pm
Posts: 2
i replied to an ad on a website advertising a room in a 3 bedroom house for a ridiculously low price in a great location etc, in the small victorian country town of ballarat, australia. i thought it seemed to good to be true but i thought id check it out. so i sent an email saying very little, except that i was interested.
the reply was:

Thanks for your interest. The apartment is still available. I recently moved my work in London,United Kindgom, but the rent is high here, I decided to offer for rent the apartment that i have in Ballarat. I can rent the apartment for maximum 5 years ... This is the period that I have a contract here, but I can rent it for a shorter period as well. I own the ground and is exactly as in the photos. The rent for 1 week is 115$ and includes all your utilities (water, Internet, cable). If is a long period we can negociate the price .You can enter the apartment on the same day when receiving the keys .. The only problem is that I am the only person who has the keys, but I hope to find a compromise. If you're interested, write me back .

i thought this was weird, people usually dont say they "own the ground," not in australia anyway. and we usually call 'cable "pay tv." but i still thought, hey, theres a chance this bloke just speaks differently and that hes unaware of prices because hes overseas. my reply was short, about six lines. i got this reaaly really really long reply and i thought - SCAM.


Hi,
Yes, for the moment i am in UK with my family and some friends . This is not a problem because we can make the agreement .First of all if you want to rent the apartment you need to pay 1 month of rent + 1 month of warranty (460$+460$-920$ but i will let you at 900$ ) ! ( but that month of warranty you will receive back after you finish the contract !
The contract will be made on minimum 2 months and maximum 5 years !
The price is cheap because i want to find a good person who take care of my apartment !
If we decide to proceed with this transaction, I will have to contact TNT and provide them all the necessary information, so they can start the process right away. I will need your full name and address for that. You will receive a notification from TNT shortly after that, together with all the instructions to follow and the invoice as well. Regarding the payment, you will be instructed to deposit the money to a TNT account. They will hold and insure your money until you check the apartment and decide if you want take it or not. That is how their buyer protection policy works. As far as my concerns, I will be glad to know that TNT has the possession of the money during the delivery period. That is my insurance.As soon as the funds have been deposited into their account, they will immediately start the shipping process.
The keys and rental contract will be delivered at your address in no more than 3 working days. You will be given a ten days inspection period from the day you receive the keys and contract at home. If you decide to hold the apartment, then you will have to authorize TNT to release the funds to me, and the transaction will be completed. If you will not be satisfied with the apartment, you will be able to send the keys and contract back through the same service and ask TNT to return the funds to you. Through I am sure you will love the apartment, it is good to know that you do have this second option available. If you wish to proceed with renting the apartment, please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through TNT right away.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.


Thank you

iI requested that we instead make the arrangements through a third party that I could meet face to face in ballarat, show me the house and if I liked it, I would give them the money and they give me the keys. I never heard from “benny martin” again.


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 Post subject: Re: roomate scam in australia
PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:14 pm 
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Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:54 pm
Posts: 2
i would also like to add that whoever this "benny martin" is and where-ever he is, he replied to my emails, very very quickly. not instantaneously, but within 15-20 mins.


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 Post subject: Re: roomate scam in australia
PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:14 am 
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Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
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 Post subject: Re: roomate scam in australia
PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:55 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:48 pm
Posts: 1
I've been looking for apartments on immobilienscout24.de in Germany (Munich) and have just got back exactly the same response to two enquiries I made this morning. The first one started to ring alarm bells, but when I got two independent responses from two ads with exactly the same wording I did a google search and arrived here...! Disappointing (cos the places looked amazing) but I'm glad I did!

Dodgy e-mail addresses are Mayoufi Nadja <mayoufinadja8@hotmail.com> - wanted me to send money to the company TNT; and Frank Ulis <frankulis@yahoo.com> - wanted money sent to Rent.com. A copy of the response follows.

Quote:
If we decide to proceed with this transaction, I will have to contact the real estate agency Rent.com and provide them all the necessary information, so they can start the process right away. I will need your full name and address for that. You will receive a notification from Rent.com shortly after that, together with all the instructions to follow and the invoice as well. Regarding the payment, you will be instructed to deposit the money to a Rent.com account. They will hold and marry your money until you check the apartment and decide if you want take it or not. That is how their buyer protection policy works. As far as my concerns, I will be glad to know that Rent.com has the possession of the money during the delivery period. That is my insurance.As soon as the funds have been deposited into their account, they will immediately start the shipping process.The keys and rental contract will be delivered at your address in no more than 3 working days. You will be given a ten days inspection period from the day you receive the keys and contract at home. If you decide to hold the apartment, then you will have to Authorize Rent.com to release the funds to me, and the transaction will be completed. If you will not be satisfied with the apartment, you will be able to send the keys and contract back through the same service and ask Rent.com to return the funds to you. Through I am sure you will love the apartment, it is good to know that you do have this second option available. If you wish to proceed with renting the apartment, please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through real estate agency Rent.com right away.


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