Flat hunting is always fun until actually
you need a flat and when you have a student budget. The stress is the worst. At
the moment I have 16 days to find a flat or I am homeless. According to the
estate agencies I have got a lot of time and no rush to find a flat but
according to my calendar I should have one already.
So I started looking for a flat. First from Zoopla, Rightmove and all these other flat search sites. Then I started looking from the estate agencies' sites and then finally from Gumtree.
I found loads of great places from Gumtree through agencies but they either didn't get back to me or the flats had already been rented. I started noticing that there where many amazing flats rented by private people for really cheap. First I was cautious because we all know what they say about those internet scam flats. I contacted a couple of the private flats and most of them emailed back. I felt relieved because I had already started stressing about the fact that I couldn't seem to find a decent and decent priced flat.
First I was contacted by Cindy Pauler. She claimed to be a divorced single mum who had to move back to Germany when she got divorced:
"Hello,
My name is Cindy Pauler and I just got an e-mail regarding your interest in my apartment .
Why is the price so low? I have just divorced from my husband (after confessed that he had fallen in love with another woman, I decided to divorce), and I had to move to Munich ,Germany. I don't want to sell the apartment because I have a 12 years old daughter who will come to study in England high school and college. So all that I want to do now is to rent the apartment to some nice and responsible persons, who will take good care of the apartment for the next years. I have won the apartment after the sharing of the of marital properties. I am the single owner, the apartment is fully paid and there is no legal problem. The apartment is unoccupied since I no longer live there.
I would like to know more details about yourself. "
The monthly rent is 600 pounds (for the whole apartment) with utilities (water, electricity, internet, cable, one parking space) - INCLUDED. You can rent the apartment for an indefinite period, but for a minimum period of two months.The security deposit is also 600 pounds, and you get it back, when you decide to leave the apartment (you will have to give me at least 30 days notice). -- If you agree and you are decided to rent the apartment i am are ready to make a trip to England and meet you in a city acceptable for both of us. If this is agreeable to you please include your location in your next reply.
I appreciate your interest in my apartment and I'm looking forward to our future collaboration and friendship.”
This all seemed alright to me. She hadn’t asked for money and the rent was cheap but she had addressed the reason why. I had dealt with security deposit like the one she mentioned in both flats I have lived in so that wasn’t suspicious at all. I replied that I could meet her anywhere in London at any time and she suggested the next Saturday which I agreed on.
“We can meet on 13 Oct in London.
So I started looking for a flat. First from Zoopla, Rightmove and all these other flat search sites. Then I started looking from the estate agencies' sites and then finally from Gumtree.
I found loads of great places from Gumtree through agencies but they either didn't get back to me or the flats had already been rented. I started noticing that there where many amazing flats rented by private people for really cheap. First I was cautious because we all know what they say about those internet scam flats. I contacted a couple of the private flats and most of them emailed back. I felt relieved because I had already started stressing about the fact that I couldn't seem to find a decent and decent priced flat.
First I was contacted by Cindy Pauler. She claimed to be a divorced single mum who had to move back to Germany when she got divorced:
"Hello,
My name is Cindy Pauler and I just got an e-mail regarding your interest in my apartment .
Why is the price so low? I have just divorced from my husband (after confessed that he had fallen in love with another woman, I decided to divorce), and I had to move to Munich ,Germany. I don't want to sell the apartment because I have a 12 years old daughter who will come to study in England high school and college. So all that I want to do now is to rent the apartment to some nice and responsible persons, who will take good care of the apartment for the next years. I have won the apartment after the sharing of the of marital properties. I am the single owner, the apartment is fully paid and there is no legal problem. The apartment is unoccupied since I no longer live there.
I would like to know more details about yourself. "
The monthly rent is 600 pounds (for the whole apartment) with utilities (water, electricity, internet, cable, one parking space) - INCLUDED. You can rent the apartment for an indefinite period, but for a minimum period of two months.The security deposit is also 600 pounds, and you get it back, when you decide to leave the apartment (you will have to give me at least 30 days notice). -- If you agree and you are decided to rent the apartment i am are ready to make a trip to England and meet you in a city acceptable for both of us. If this is agreeable to you please include your location in your next reply.
I appreciate your interest in my apartment and I'm looking forward to our future collaboration and friendship.”
This all seemed alright to me. She hadn’t asked for money and the rent was cheap but she had addressed the reason why. I had dealt with security deposit like the one she mentioned in both flats I have lived in so that wasn’t suspicious at all. I replied that I could meet her anywhere in London at any time and she suggested the next Saturday which I agreed on.
“We can meet on 13 Oct in London.
We will stay at: Jurys Inn Islington Hotel,
60 Pentonville Road, Islington, London, N1 9LA .....so we can meet at the
reception at 11 am (I have attached a picture of us for easier match).
I am ready to meet you as we agreed and
finish the deal, but before all things I must be sure that you will be there
and I will not make the journey for nothing... I hope you understand me!
My friend will go to the Western Union
Office here in Munich and she will make a transfer ON MY NAME with destination
London. I will be the beneficiary of 1200 pounds in London, the place of our
meeting. I think that the amount is considerable as a proof of coming and that
I will be there to meet you! As soon as the transfer is finished I will scan
the paper of my transfer and I will send it via e-mail!
The same thing I want from you! A best
friend or a relative of yours must go to the Western Union Office (Money
Transfer) there in your town to any Western Union Agency and make a transfer of
1200 pounds ON YOUR NAME with destination London. I want to see you the
beneficiary of 1200 pounds in London!
This way we both gain confidence, it
represents the proof for me that you have the money and you will come there to
meet me!”
In that email she had attached a picture of her and her ex-husband so that I could recognize her. I became slightly uncomfortable about the money transferring idea so I didn’t reply back immediately but decided to look around for other flats first.
Kelvin Rhodes contacted me about his flat that was available to rent for the exact same price as Cindy Pauler’s. He wrote:
“Thanks for your interest in my flat. Viewing is possible if you can meet up with my solicitors requirements. My solicitor and i had some past bitter experience of booking a viewing and reserving accommodation for tenants without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled has made me loss time and money for traveling as I currently work and Live in Leicester.
-- I will not collect any deposit from you not until i take you round my flat and you are satisfied with it, i just need to confirm your financial ability before i can come and i will also need to seek two days off from work because some tenants do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by their employees, I hope you understand this.”
And again he brought up the Western Union money transfer as a way to prove that I had the money to rent his flat:
“You re to make the transfer via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to any relative or friend of yours been the receiver and you get back to me with scan copy of the receipt which will be given to you by WESTERN UNION agent and if you don't have scanner you may write out the details as it is stated on the receipt which am to forward to my solicitor to confirm it if truly the funds is in your receiver custody for pickup,After the verification been done,i will call or email you to have your receiver pick it up.Note,i will refund the transfer charges when we meet on the viewing day, after the verification has been done, i will make my plan to meet up for the viewing.This procedure is strictly meant for assurance if you are really capable to rent my flat.If this can be done as soon as possible,i will reserve the flat for you and schedule a viewing with you at your own earliest and convenient time..”
I still wasn’t happy about transferring money around like that so I didn’t but I started to think about it. Since both Kelvin Rhodes and Cindy Pauler had mentioned it it seemed more ok.
In that email she had attached a picture of her and her ex-husband so that I could recognize her. I became slightly uncomfortable about the money transferring idea so I didn’t reply back immediately but decided to look around for other flats first.
Kelvin Rhodes contacted me about his flat that was available to rent for the exact same price as Cindy Pauler’s. He wrote:
“Thanks for your interest in my flat. Viewing is possible if you can meet up with my solicitors requirements. My solicitor and i had some past bitter experience of booking a viewing and reserving accommodation for tenants without any form of confirmation of their financial ability and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled has made me loss time and money for traveling as I currently work and Live in Leicester.
-- I will not collect any deposit from you not until i take you round my flat and you are satisfied with it, i just need to confirm your financial ability before i can come and i will also need to seek two days off from work because some tenants do not meet up with the appointments which has led to the dismissal of some landlords in office by their employees, I hope you understand this.”
And again he brought up the Western Union money transfer as a way to prove that I had the money to rent his flat:
“You re to make the transfer via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to any relative or friend of yours been the receiver and you get back to me with scan copy of the receipt which will be given to you by WESTERN UNION agent and if you don't have scanner you may write out the details as it is stated on the receipt which am to forward to my solicitor to confirm it if truly the funds is in your receiver custody for pickup,After the verification been done,i will call or email you to have your receiver pick it up.Note,i will refund the transfer charges when we meet on the viewing day, after the verification has been done, i will make my plan to meet up for the viewing.This procedure is strictly meant for assurance if you are really capable to rent my flat.If this can be done as soon as possible,i will reserve the flat for you and schedule a viewing with you at your own earliest and convenient time..”
I still wasn’t happy about transferring money around like that so I didn’t but I started to think about it. Since both Kelvin Rhodes and Cindy Pauler had mentioned it it seemed more ok.
Then came along Jordan Moore. He had
another kind of an option:
“I bought this apartment for my daughter during her studies in United Kingdom, but now she is back home in USA New York permanently, so I am renting the place for unlimited time.The price is 500GBP Monthly and 500GBP security deposit refundable at the end of the contract! Since my daughter left United Kingdom, nobody is there to take care about renting it so I will just send the keys and contract. Transpact will be our mediator. I can't trust you to simply send the keys, I hope you understand my hesitancy as we just knew each other.
You will need to make a security deposit to this company (one month + one month security deposit). Once your deposit has been received by Transpact , they will deliver the keys/contract. At this point there might be two possible situations:
1. If you like the flat, you can sign the contract (send me one copy) and move-in;
2. Otherwise, Transpact will fully refund your deposit.
However, you will receive the procedure overview and payment instructions from Transpact. Using the reference given by the company, you can track your money within their records anytime.
Please send me your name/address and telephone number so I can contact Transpact and start the procedure. Afterwards, the company should notify you regarding the further steps. This is the Transpact service i am talking about: https://www.transpact.com/default.htm”
Transpact is actually listed by Metropolitan Police as a safe company so after doing a lot of research it didn’t sound too bad. For some reason I still hesitated and didn’t send the money.
And last but not least came along Casper Rask claiming to be from Denmark:
“I'm interested in finding someone clean who can take care of this house more then getting money from renting it if you know what I mean.
The price I want is £450 per month, bills included and I am interested in a long term agreement, minimum 3 months!
If you are decided to view the flat and have the money I could come in the next few days to show you the apartment and maybe sign the tenancy agreement if you like my flat (I am sure you will love it) but first I have to be sure you really do need a place to live because two weeks ago a person told me he is really interested and he asked me to go to London to meet him and sign the tenancy agreement and when I arrived there no one showed up to rent my place and I lost time and money for nothing. Please accept my apologies if I am rude but I hope you will understand me!”
I mean the price should have made an alarm bell ring in my head but for some reason it didn’t. The flat was gorgeous and in Chelsea, Sloane Square. Now afterwards I am thinking how did I not realize! But he sent me more pictures of the flat, details and an address. He gave the house number but said he didn't want to give the flat number because there was no one and he was afraid of robbers, which seemed fair enough to me. He also sent me the tenant agreement to have a look at so that I could have a proper read before we met up so that I wouldn't have to sign it in a rush. I read it all and nothing was out of ordinary.
And again Casper Rask asked the same thing as Cindy and Kelvin to prove that I could afford it I had to send money to a friend’s or family member’s name through Western Union.
“Its a very simple procedure when you make the transaction with Western Union in person! It takes 5 minutes to fill a paper and send the money to your partner or whoever you trust more and who can come with you at the time when we will meet to show you the flat! I promise I will reimburse you the 20 30 pounds , western union fees the first thing we meet, even before I will take you for the viewing this way you will know for sure that you will take it back even if you decide not to rent the place. We will then proceed with the viewing, I will provide you with my ownership papers so you can check them out for your peace of mind and if you decide to sign the agreement I will give you the keys and then you will cash out the money and pay me. “
Trust me, it sounded convincing when you didn’t know that it was a scam! When I went to Western Union I asked the agent: “Can only my brother with his ID pick it up?” and I was guaranteed that ONLY my brother could pick it up. Well, someone else did.
After sending the money and confirming it to Casper Rask by sending the receipt he never replied to a single email. This is when it dawned to me that it was a scam. I still wasn’t sure if Cindy Pauler and Kelvin Rhodes were scams too but as soon as I told them what had happened they disappeared. Kelvin Rhodes never responded and Cindy Pauler sent me an email saying “OK bye!” which is kind of funny now. I am certain that they were trying to get to the money as well unfortunately for them Casper Rask made it there first.
I can also prove that my brother never was in the UK when the money was picked up.
Of course I made a lot of mistakes I am not denying that but I blame Western Union for giving the money out that easily. They should have more strict identification policies. I have now involved police to investigate the fraud and waiting to hear if they find anything. Thank god the investigating police officer's name sounds like detective from a detective series. I'm sure that, if anyone, he will help me.
Now I am looking for a flat with a bigger price tag, less shiny inside and a reliable agency but I haven’t found the one yet. Now looking back I can see how I fell into that fraud because it is actually so difficult to find a decent, affordable place in London.
“I bought this apartment for my daughter during her studies in United Kingdom, but now she is back home in USA New York permanently, so I am renting the place for unlimited time.The price is 500GBP Monthly and 500GBP security deposit refundable at the end of the contract! Since my daughter left United Kingdom, nobody is there to take care about renting it so I will just send the keys and contract. Transpact will be our mediator. I can't trust you to simply send the keys, I hope you understand my hesitancy as we just knew each other.
You will need to make a security deposit to this company (one month + one month security deposit). Once your deposit has been received by Transpact , they will deliver the keys/contract. At this point there might be two possible situations:
1. If you like the flat, you can sign the contract (send me one copy) and move-in;
2. Otherwise, Transpact will fully refund your deposit.
However, you will receive the procedure overview and payment instructions from Transpact. Using the reference given by the company, you can track your money within their records anytime.
Please send me your name/address and telephone number so I can contact Transpact and start the procedure. Afterwards, the company should notify you regarding the further steps. This is the Transpact service i am talking about: https://www.transpact.com/default.htm”
Transpact is actually listed by Metropolitan Police as a safe company so after doing a lot of research it didn’t sound too bad. For some reason I still hesitated and didn’t send the money.
And last but not least came along Casper Rask claiming to be from Denmark:
“I'm interested in finding someone clean who can take care of this house more then getting money from renting it if you know what I mean.
The price I want is £450 per month, bills included and I am interested in a long term agreement, minimum 3 months!
If you are decided to view the flat and have the money I could come in the next few days to show you the apartment and maybe sign the tenancy agreement if you like my flat (I am sure you will love it) but first I have to be sure you really do need a place to live because two weeks ago a person told me he is really interested and he asked me to go to London to meet him and sign the tenancy agreement and when I arrived there no one showed up to rent my place and I lost time and money for nothing. Please accept my apologies if I am rude but I hope you will understand me!”
I mean the price should have made an alarm bell ring in my head but for some reason it didn’t. The flat was gorgeous and in Chelsea, Sloane Square. Now afterwards I am thinking how did I not realize! But he sent me more pictures of the flat, details and an address. He gave the house number but said he didn't want to give the flat number because there was no one and he was afraid of robbers, which seemed fair enough to me. He also sent me the tenant agreement to have a look at so that I could have a proper read before we met up so that I wouldn't have to sign it in a rush. I read it all and nothing was out of ordinary.
And again Casper Rask asked the same thing as Cindy and Kelvin to prove that I could afford it I had to send money to a friend’s or family member’s name through Western Union.
“Its a very simple procedure when you make the transaction with Western Union in person! It takes 5 minutes to fill a paper and send the money to your partner or whoever you trust more and who can come with you at the time when we will meet to show you the flat! I promise I will reimburse you the 20 30 pounds , western union fees the first thing we meet, even before I will take you for the viewing this way you will know for sure that you will take it back even if you decide not to rent the place. We will then proceed with the viewing, I will provide you with my ownership papers so you can check them out for your peace of mind and if you decide to sign the agreement I will give you the keys and then you will cash out the money and pay me. “
Trust me, it sounded convincing when you didn’t know that it was a scam! When I went to Western Union I asked the agent: “Can only my brother with his ID pick it up?” and I was guaranteed that ONLY my brother could pick it up. Well, someone else did.
After sending the money and confirming it to Casper Rask by sending the receipt he never replied to a single email. This is when it dawned to me that it was a scam. I still wasn’t sure if Cindy Pauler and Kelvin Rhodes were scams too but as soon as I told them what had happened they disappeared. Kelvin Rhodes never responded and Cindy Pauler sent me an email saying “OK bye!” which is kind of funny now. I am certain that they were trying to get to the money as well unfortunately for them Casper Rask made it there first.
I can also prove that my brother never was in the UK when the money was picked up.
Of course I made a lot of mistakes I am not denying that but I blame Western Union for giving the money out that easily. They should have more strict identification policies. I have now involved police to investigate the fraud and waiting to hear if they find anything. Thank god the investigating police officer's name sounds like detective from a detective series. I'm sure that, if anyone, he will help me.
Now I am looking for a flat with a bigger price tag, less shiny inside and a reliable agency but I haven’t found the one yet. Now looking back I can see how I fell into that fraud because it is actually so difficult to find a decent, affordable place in London.
