Possible/Probable Scam

Bawnmore

A bit of a long one, but guessing this is most likely a scam. I got this email after a few back and forth mails with questions about an apartment in North Dublin. I know very little about Western Union, but I'm guessing this is a sure fire way of losing €800 quid very easily. Anyone know any more?

Phone number rings out on the ad listing too. If people here agree it's probably a scam, I'll report the ad.

Thanks for your interest in my property once again.I can send a copy of my ID to you for the purpose of trust if you wish.

There are two separate one bedroom flats in the same building so you and your partner can stay in one of them and have all the privacy you want.


I will like to let you know that there are some other interested candidates like you but you are among the top candidates after reading through your last email and i see you sound responsible but note that we will only deal on a first come first serve basis.

I can reserve my property for you till we meet in Dublin because i will like to let you know that there are some other interested candidates but you are among the top candidates after reading through your last email and i see you sound responsible but note that we will only deal on a first come first serve basis.

If you really want my apartment,you will have to make a deposit of €800 via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER with your name as the sender's name and my name as the receiver's name so that i can reserve my flat for you.

You can also decide to send the money directly to my bank account or my lawyer's bank account and if you do not feel comfortable sending it to me or my lawyer,you have an option of sending the deposit through western union money transfer between you and a friend or relative,what i mean is that your name will be the sender,then the receiver's name can be anyname of somebody you know then you will send the evidence of transfer to me but make sure that the receiver's address is written as London,United Kingdom so that i can be able to verify the transfer easily then when we meet in Dublin,i will tell you how the receiver's name will be changed back to mine so that when i get back to London i can pick up the money so the choice is yours.

After confirmation that the transfer has been truly been done,i will give you the go ahead for the receiver of the money to pick the money but this option of sending to a friend or relative will only work with western union money transfer so that i can easily confirm the transfer but if you choose to send through bank transfer,it has to be to my bank account or that of my lawyer's so let me know.

Immediately after I confirm from WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER that the deposit has truly been sent by you, i can reserve my property for you and shelve aside other interested candidates who may pay the deposit before you if you are not fast enough.



The details I will need after the transfer are if you use WESTERN UNION are below:

SENDER'S NAME: YOUR NAME
RECEIVER'S NAME: XXXXX XXXXXX
SENDER'S ADDRESS:YOUR ADDRESS
RECEIVER'S ADDRESS:LONDON,UNITED KINGDOM
10 DIGIT WESTERN UNION MTCN NUMBER:?(YOU WILL PROVIDE THIS FROM THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER RECEIPT WHERE YOU MAKE THE TRANSFER FROM)
EXACT AMOUNT TO SEND:€800

I will like to let You know about a bitter experience I had recently in the hands of one so-called interested candidate who made Me fly down from London,England claiming He was interested and on getting to the Dublin,I waited for Him at the meeting spot and the idiot ended up wasting My precious time and money coming to Dublin only for him to call Me later on that He was sorry and that He will not be able to rent My flat anymore because the person He was expecting money from disappointed him so I have resolved that anybody interested in my flat must show signs of seriousness by paying a deposit of €800 before i travel down to Dublin so after viewing and you are totally satisfied,i will tell you how you can change the receiver's name from whatever name you use to my name and we can then sign the necessary documents.

After making the transfer,get back to me with the evidence that you have made the deposit by scanning a copy of the western union money transfer receipt and just in case you do not have access to a scanner,you can send the details in typing and after i have confirmed with western union that the deposit has been truly made by you,I will come down to Dublin.


You can do the transfer at the western union website with your master or visa credit card or from any of the western union money transfer outlets around you or even from any bank in your country.

To get a list of western union agents where you can do the transfer from,go to the link below and fill in your address:

http://www.westernunion.com/info/agentLocator.asp?country=global


I am also aware that there is a very small fee for western union charges but I promise to pay that back to you when you get to London.

Hope to reads from You soon.

REGARDS.
MR AND MRS XXXXXXXXX

wobbles

Thanks for your interest in my property once again.I can send a copy of my ID to you for the purpose of trust if you wish.

If you really want my apartment,you will have to make a deposit of €800 via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER with your name as the sender's name and my name as the receiver's name so that i can reserve my flat for you.

Thats all i needed to read OP. Report the ad as fraud. No one would offer a copy of their ID up front for trust reasons, they are trying to hard to seem honest.

If your still not sure, string them along for a while, but they will always try get out of any meet up, and continually ask for western union transfers

Smur

Anyone would be mad to send 800 euro to a person they've never met before for an apartment they've never seen before. Definitely a scam

missmyler

Scam, never send money through Western Union to anyone. Unless they are a Nigerian Prince of course!

In all seriousness though emails similar to yours can be found on scam warners site

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=22574&p=68470

Bawnmore

missmyler wrote: »

Scam, never send money through Western Union to anyone. Unless they are a Nigerian Prince of course!

In all seriousness though emails similar to yours can be found on scam warners site

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=22574&p=68470

I'd never heard of the site before, but funny looking at the example you posted:

Thanks for your interest in my property.I am James Osborne,the owner of the property You are interested in.My room comes with bed if you want and you can move in with your own bed so the choice is yours.


Me and My wife to be used to stay in the property but right now,We are currently in Manchester,UK due to a contract I have there with the UK Midland and Scottish Railway Company but i can fly down to Geneva for You to view anytime you want to.

Almost word for word, the name "James Osborne" included. Is there a subscription site where scammers copy and paste their content from :rolleyes: a little originality would go a long way I'd imagine. Reporting the ad in any case. Thanks for the confirmation!

xper

missmyler wrote: »

Scam, never send money through Western Union to anyone. ...

That may be a little misleading. Western Union is a long etablished international corporation and their money trasfer service is perfectly legit.

However, it is just the means to an end here. The person asking for an eight hundred euro deposit just to view flat is chancing their arm. Scam central.

Victor

MR AND MRS XXXXXXXXX

Scam.

tricky D

missmyler wrote: »

Scam, never send money through Western Union to anyone. Unless they are a Nigerian Prince of course!

In all seriousness though emails similar to yours can be found on scam warners site

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=22574&p=68470

Western Union is fine, but only for people you know and trust which isn't the case here.

Other scam clues are strange capitalisation (He, My) and vocabulary (candidate) and the lack of reference to PPS numbers, PTRB, previous landlord references and being based abroad.

Bawnmore

Just an update - reported ad and it's been taken down. Got an email from Daft to say same. Thanks again!

BostonB

I can't believe you had to ask.

missmyler

xper wrote: »

That may be a little misleading. Western Union is a long etablished international corporation and their money trasfer service is perfectly legit.

Ok I'll rephrase. Never trust an ad that mentions Western Union as a means of money transfer. I have yet to see one that is genuine. Everyone has a bank account these days and it is the only way I will hand over money.

Unfortunately these scammers have ruined Western Unions reputation

BostonB

missmyler wrote: »

...Unfortunately these scammers have ruined Western Unions reputation

+1. I'd just delete any thing web related that has WU in it.

But the language in that email is not natural. That alone screams scam.

Bawnmore

BostonB wrote: »

I can't believe you had to ask.

Looking over it now again, it's very obvious

Apparently it's very easy to subconsciously turn a blind eye when you really want something :pac: