Viewing a property, had this reply

Guest2

Guest2

Guest2

Soldato
Joined
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This sounds a bit dodgy. Is this sort of thing usual when renting property?


Hello Alex,

This is my contact number (his mobile no) and Viewing my property is not a problem but you have to prove that you can afford the rent before you can view my property.I was discussing with my Solicitor about the idea on how i will be so sure that i will not just waste my time to arrange a viewing for you and He advised that we can work out something via Western Union Money Transfer.He said that Western Union Money Transfer can actually hold the money as an evidence, He gave me an option on what we can do since you have the funds at hand which will be explained below:

PROCEDURE:

1) Transfer the the amount £1,400 (1 month rent and security deposit) to your friend in United Kingdom.
Your Name (as Sender) to your Friend (as Receiver) in United Kingdom .

2) Scan & Send a copy of the Western Union transaction receipt as a proof of the transaction or mail me the transaction details. (The money is safe as it is only your Friend that can pick the money Up .after My solicitor have confirm that the money is with the western union,I will arrange a Viewing for you

3) Then, we will meet for viewing.

4) If you decide to take the property, we will go to any local Western Union office close to my property and pick up the money and pay me. (You don't need to come with cash to view, after viewing we will go together, your friend will pick the money Up and then you can pay the rent to me.

5) Keys will be handed over to you after signing the contracts.

I am pretty sure that the transaction at Western Union office will require some charges, i will definitely refund the Western Union charges back to you upon viewing .

I only want to be sure that i am not going to waste my time this time around and i think with this condition, both of us can be sure we are not wasting our time.

Let me know if you are okay with this so that we can proceed. Thanks so much while i will be waiting to read from you and i am looking forward to meet you and be great friends eventually.

NB: PLS DO NOT MAKE PAYMENT TO ME OR IN MY NAME, WHAT I NEED IS JUST AN EVIDENCE THAT YOU HAVE THE CASH TO PAY ONCE YOU HAVE VIEWED.
 
sounds very dodgy to me.

why do you need to prove just to view? only need to prove yourself if you agree to take it...

never heard of proving before a viewing.
 
Me and an ex had something similar involving Western Union. Our turned out to be a scam (from Gumtree, which i will never use again).

Thankfully we never transferred any monies at all and the property advertised for rental, we found out, was not up for rental.

Just be cautious, as i am now with anything involving WU.
 
It sounds really dodgy, I have no idea why they want to do it the way they want to. I can't put my finger on why it sounds like you'd get scammed, perhaps its just the mention of Western Union which is used in scams a lot. Why should you go through all that just to go look at a flat/house? When you give him the money, he hands over the keys. Jumping through those hoops sounds dumb, and I'd bet you'd get scammed out of deposit in the future.

Edit: Why does he mention his Solicitor? His solicitor couldn't care less that he'd be 'wasting his time' with a viewing.

Stay clear, you're gonna get raped.
 
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This sounds dodgy as hell. Usually if your just viewing a property you turn up have alook decide if you want it then sort the money out. Also whats with all the western union rubbish, why cant you pay in cash, why cant you pay in his name.

Why is he not doing a credit check on you.. Personally i think its a scam.
 
InertProtocol said:
Me and an ex had something similar involving Western Union. Our turned out to be a scam (from Gumtree, which i will never use again).
Click to expand...

Why write off gumtree because a scammer used it?

Site has been invaluable to me in terms of finding house-shares or house-mates over a good 8 years, and all for free!
 
There's a 0.001% chance he's genuine but a bad landlord and not somebody you want to be dealing with.

There's a 99.999% chance that he'll take your money using the details you've sent him and disappear, there is no rental property, he's just copied someones advert and put it on some website.

There is no chance at all that this is a genuine person you will want to do business with.

Your choice.
 
Anything to do with Western Union = African or Nigerian scam.

You should report it to the police if you have 3 minutes to spare.
 
He's essentially describing an escrow service.

Which Western Union does not offer.

http://www.westernunion.com/info/faqSecurity.asp#tstfaq5

Western Union does not offer an escrow service or any type of "purchase protection" policy. Western Union's business is to transfer funds from a sender to a receiver. We caution people who use our services against sending money to people they don't know.
[..]
Western Union is not an escrow service, should not be used as an escrow service and is currently not affiliated with any escrow services.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't bet 14p on this not being a scam, let alone £1400.
 
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