We have written on the Landlord Law Blog about scammers before. Ben Reeve has kindly drawn my attention to this article on the BBC web-site which warns of yet another internet scam, the “advance fee fraud”.
This is where you are asked to wire money to a friend or relative to prove that you can pay the rent, and provide details to prove that you have done this. The scammer then collects the money and disappears.
Michael Banks, of Scamwarners.com told the BBC
“You think it’s secure, you’re making that payment to your relative, then you send him the details of it so he can check you’re of financial standing.
Unfortunately you don’t see your money again, it’s been collected and it’s not your brother that’s collected it.”
Scammers often post false property details on quite reputable web-sites (who do their best to stop them, but you can’t catch everyone). So be wary, and very suspicious if anyone asks you to wire money to a relative as proof of payment.
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I am Michelle – Site Moderator for Scamwarners.com.
Thank you for mentioning Scamwarners.
There are two main variations to this scam:-
The first one is the one previously mentioned in which you are asked to send a wire transfer (normally Western Union) to a trusted friend in order to prove that you are financially sound and not a time waster. You will be asked to send the details to the scammer in order that he can check the payment online.
The second variation is that the (fake) Landlord claims to be living abroad and that you will need to send a Western Union payment for a courier to despatch keys and other vital documents to you before you can view the property.
Make no mistake: Western Union Transfers can be picked up virtually anywhere in the world and with the minimum of identification. They are almost impossible to trace once the money has been collected, especially when it is collected.
*** Never send Western Union payment details to anyone you do not personally know. It is as secure as giving your Bank Card and PIN number to a stranger !
Many thanks for your comments Michelle, that is really helpful. It is important to get the message out so people are aware that this type of thing is happening.
Please let us know at Landlord Law Blog if you learn of any new scams aimed landlords and/or tenants – we are always happy to publish details and warn people.
Property fraudsters are becoming more and more common place, targeting vulnerable tenants. The old saying ‘buyer beware’ remains important; yet many seem to forget this, even when an opportunity seems too good to be true.
Letting agents should of course play a role here in protecting tenants – Upad.co.uk in all our communications to tenants for example, reminds them not to hand over money before they’ve checked out a property thoroughly; and we highlight our ’5 top tips’: http://www.upad.co.uk/blog/2009/12/dont-get-ripped-off-renting.
If tenants are concerned about properties listed on our site, we’ll suspend the adverts for background checks. Properties that turn out to be fraudulent are permanently removed from the site.
But the biggest issue we all face, is that whilst the growth of the internet has transformed many marketplaces for the better, somehow it is common to ‘trust’ a stranger who makes contact online; yet our behavior is very different offline. We shouldn’t let our guard down when strangers contact us and we should always remain vigilant”.
I thank you very much. I nearly parted with a fair amount
of cash. I think we all have to be more aware and not so
trusting!