Rental Scam - or is it...????

[felicity]

I don''t know if this has happened to anybody else..but I have had 2 requests for renting our villa, in the last 6 months, from people from Ghana (Accra to be precise).  They always purport to be professional, middle aged couples willing to pay up front and the first one sent me a pdf of his passport and the second one sent me his weblink to some gospel church where he features (including picture).

I do the usual and e-mail the prices etc - with the first one - it got as far as me sending my bank details and then I get an e-mail from ''the bank'' asking me for exhorbitant fees in order for them to transfer the rental money to me.  Naturally I declined..and heard no more.  With this second one - I jumped the gun and said that I had received a similar request before and WOULD NOT be paying ANY bank charges to receive the rental money...and funnily enough I have heard no more...!!

Has this happened to anybody else..??  Is it a scam..??  Do people really part with money in order to get their rental money...??  I have no idea where the Ghanians get my villa details from - that is never clear otherwise I would report this ''trend'' - if it is one...!!

Let me know if you have had similar experiences.....

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=3045.0

[misty]

Felicity anything coming out of this part of the world is a scam. They are changing the format as I think everyone has cottoned on to the relative with $20,000,000 to transfer out the country. People need to be very careful as the scams are getting more convincing, rule of thumb is if they want money to pay you money its a scam.

[Chucky]

Felicity,
This is quite common. I find if you "google" the person''s name, you usually find out someone else has posted a warning and you can then report them. One of the name''s was a Reverend somebody.. but they had spelt reverend wrong and he was using a Children''s hospital to get the sympathy touch!!!

[Wendy]

Hi Felicity,

Undoubtedly a scam. As a Wedding Photographer I am always getting absurd emails offering silly money for a few snaps. They are always in bad English with really poor grammar. There doesn''t seem to be anything one can do to prevent it. I just don''t reply (unless I''m in a really foul mood!!!)

Wendy

[Blue Lizard]

don''t touch it with a bargepole..there was an article in the sunday papers sometime ago about this type of scamming.....

[Cosetta]

To confirm what has already been said, this scam has been around for a few years and by some estimates it has netted the scammers over $1000.  There are several versions of the scam, one of which is that they send you a check (bad of course) then apologize for having overpaid you and ask for the difference back, sent as a wire transfer to their bank.

I have also gotten these emails from other countries, just yesterday from someone in an Asian country.  I don''t even read them anymore I trash them and try to filter them out of my incoming email.

[streety]

We have been caught out before.  Fortunately no money exchanged, but it is annoying just feeling you have wasted so much time and effort.  I also found that every time we received an enquiry from abroad after this I was convinced we were being scammed - we weren''t, and have taken bookings from other countries, but the poor people must have thought I was really abrupt!

If you rent your villa out through Owner''s Direct, they have a section on scamming in the owner''s area, which helps with tips on what to look out for.

[Carrie]

Hi Felicity,

It is a scam no doubt..I get many of these often..usually once a month or so..

it is best desribed here,

http://www.guesttrax.net.au/scams/recognition-of-the-accommodation-email-scam.html

and here

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProtection/ScamNet/content/pages/scamTypes.html

We have identified some standard factors in all of the scam emails, and they are listed for your reference.
• Email address origin. All these email originate from a generic email address that cannot be traced. They include: yahoo.com; yahoo.co.fr; yahoo.co.uk; hotmail.com; japan.com; gmail.com; atlas.cz & myramstore.com as examples.

• Spelling. There are always spelling mistakes in the emails. While this is not something that is unusual, it is when placed in context with the emails, having regard to the person who     purports to be the writer. E.G. someone in
business from England or Scotland would be   expected to use correct spelling and grammar.

• Layout of Email. When looking at the email, in most cases it can be seen that the name of the person and their location are usually in CAPITAL letters, indicating that they have just changed those details, probably using a word processing program.
This also occurs in the email where the writer wants a quantity of goods, (normally mobile phones) sent to them before their “arrival”.
These emails are more advanced and have the changed text in colours, normally bold and blue.
Other emails have the brackets of an insert  e.g. {Haryana agency gujarat India} in the body of the text, and so the story goes on. Just check the emails properly.

• The Scenarios. Over the course of the past few years, we have watched as the story’s have developed and evolved as the scammers try new methods to extract money from their targets.

We have had emails from The George Foundation, J Trent Travel Service, Daniel Roscky, Daniel Williams, Cole Alexandre, Abad Martins, Elvis Borrow, James Smith, Vikings Consulting, Tom White, Jones Morgan, Pascal Faro, Henry Jones, Dr.Eirini Brooks, John Kelvin, Ben   Williams, Frank Cole, Harris Cole, Dr.Greg Donalds, Selly Kuncoro, Mark James, Faith Olas, Carol Jones, Lopez Fulgence, George Brown, David Morrows, George Ray Brown, John Adams, Clavaire Leblanc, George Benta, Mark Faberger.

These names have been recorded on many occasions from many properties, only the dates and alleged companies they represent and number of guests change.

The reasons almost always mention a delegation, or a group of businessmen wanting to reserve rooms or a group coming for a program or something similar.

However, some requests have sounded very legitimate, and have gone the full length of the booking, but are cancelled on the very last day, and then a refund is requested.

[Carrie]

well here is a new one for you that I just received..lol....

Hello,
I want to make a reservation in your facility for Six (6) newly
ordained priest from Greece  they will be visiting your country for a
seven (7) days religious program in the month of April 2009.

Arrival Date :10th May.2009

Departure Date:17th May.2009

Number of guest:6

Number of rooms:3

Kindly confirm availability and get back to me with the cost, so that
we can pay a deposit  for the rooms to be reserved for them, am
waiting for your swift response.

Regards

so notice the dates..they are coming to my country...no mention of the town/city/village..lol
coming in April but are looking for reservations in May..

they are getting better and better..

and this is coming from a @gmail.com account..

so be fore warned..

and I didnt know that my local little village had any religious program..we only have a mosque..

[Cosetta]

Carrie, I got one like this a year ago!  Not a very sophisticated ploy...

[Roxie]

Did you receive it on 1/4/09? Not many Greek priests in Turkey these days!
Rx

[Carrie]

Did you receive it on 1/4/09? Not many Greek priests in Turkey these days!
Rx

lol...

[Carrie]

Well here again today I got 2 mails similar to each other..here is one

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:26:51 -0700
From: xxxxxxx@yahoo.com
Subject: WEDDING ARRANGEMENT
To:

Hello,

My name is Mr.Mr.Donald Smith. I write to inform you that My lovely daughter found her heartthrob early last year and they are going to wed by 10th July, 2009. For the love i have for my daughter, i  decided to carter for the wedding as a surprise package for her and  her fiance. Please i want you to handle the wedding arrangements on  their behalf as my would-be in law is a citizen of your country and  as a result he wants the wedding in his country.

Please get back to me with any of the services which you can provide as regards the wedding arrangement of my daughter.
Location for the wedding and reception.

lodging for the guests for an estimate of fifty (32) people with break fast(10- 13) July 2009, Dinner party.

Wedding budget is at the range of 29,000 EUR for now. it could be reviewed to be increased or reduced later depending on the outcome of the arrangements process unfold Please do let me have the details of all i should know so we can make about the services you can provide as regards the arrangement.

Estimates and calculations should be based on the quoted budget. Please i hope you accept credit card payment as i will like to
make the payment with credit card.

Best Regards,
Mr.Donald Smith
xxxxxx@yahoo.com


What a joke !!!!!!!!!!!!!

and here is the second one that also found its way to my personal email adress... grrrrrrrrr

From:  Almond Mark (xxxxxxx@katamail.com) 
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 2:52:04 AM 


Hello,

Could you please confirm availability and total cost for the dates stated below for 4 guests. I am Dr Almond,
Arrival Date: 10 july 2009
Departure Date: 18th july, 2009
Number of Rooms: 2
Length of Stay: 8DAYS
Please advise availability. Moreover, what is the TOTAL COST for the entire period? and the total cost however should reflect government taxes if available. As our policy, our sponsors will make a deposit for this booking with CREDIT CARD OR CHECK, once availability and total cost is confirmed. Is this ok? Your prompt response will be appreciated and hoping that we could partner in the hospitaklity business.
I wait for your total cost immediately.

Sincerely yours,
Dr Almond

Boy do I get tired of these email scams

[Melek]

 
I know I shouldn''t laugh as lots of lovely innocent people have fallen for these evil people but I just can''t stop laughing!! Dr Almond!!!!!!!! oh thats hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blue Lizard]

Mark Almond was the lead singer with a band called "soft cell" ....not very original!!

[fidimax]

Sounds like a bit of a "SOFT CELL"to me Carrie.