ebay escrow

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ebay escrow

Postby sophiecarron » Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:54 pm

Hi,

I'm thinking about renting an appartment and saw an add on an online site. The appartment almost seemed to good to be true, it was newly redone and the rent was very cheap. I got in contact with the owner and she told me the story that she once got to belgium on a business trip and saw this appartement and bought it and redid it for selling purposes. But because of the bad market she actually is not getting a good price and she is going to rent it to me, open end contract.
This story gave me some goosebumps, business trip, buying an appartment, redoing it if you're never around...
Anyway, she suggested escrow as a payment method and even gave me the ebay page about escrow: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/pay/accept ... tml#escrow
So I thought... maybe I'm just a lucky bastard...
So I told her I agreed on transferring via escrow and gave my shipping adress.
The very next day I got an e-mail from ebay@escrow-accounts.com with congratulations, rental procedure initiated!
In the mail was listed the goods, the invoice number etc. further down the page the transactions was written down as follows:
Send the payment by Bank Transfer (Priority Service) using the following eBay Representative account Details :


eBay Representative Account Name : Peter Abendroth
Bank Name : Barclays Bank PLC
Bank Address : 748 LordShip Lane, Wood Green, N22 5JU, London, United Kingdom
Account Number : 83977218
Sort code : 20-53-33
IBAN : GB75 BARC 2053 3383 9772 18
BIC / SWIFT : BARCGB22

NOTE: Normally a bank transfer takes 4 days, until will be available into our agent bank account. To expedite the process, we suggest you ask your administrator for a bank account to bank transfer by using the option urgent. For a faster transaction you can make the deposit online from your bank account. Once the payment was sent, Email us the receipt from your bank.


Now my suspiciousness regrew! This seems very odd to me, to transfer money to this account, urgently, without any verification via escrow or login via escrow.com...

I'm asking now, if I can trust this transfer or if you think this is a scam?

I already sent an e-mail to barclays asking the legitimacy of this account.

Thanks in advance,
Sophie
sophiecarron
NewBorn
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:31 pm
Location: Belgium

Re: ebay escrow

Postby lightfair » Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:54 pm

Hello,

thanks for sharing your story.

It's indeed a scam. The dead giveaway is here:

sophiecarron wrote:Hi,

The very next day I got an e-mail from ebay@escrow-accounts.com


escrow-accounts.com doesn't really sound like ebay, does it? Here's the WHOIS data:

Code: Select all
   Domain Name: ESCROW-ACCOUNTS.COM
   Registrar: REGISTER.COM, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.register.com
   Referral URL: http://www.register.com
   Name Server: A.NS.INTERLAND.NET
   Name Server: B.NS.INTERLAND.NET
   Name Server: C.NS.INTERLAND.NET
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 07-nov-2013
   Creation Date: 07-nov-2013
   Expiration Date: 07-nov-2014

[...]

Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: escrow-accounts.com
Registrant Organization: Domain Discreet Privacy Service
Registrant Street: 12808 Gran Bay Pkwy, West
Registrant City: Jacksonville
Registrant State/Province: FL
Registrant Postal Code: 32258
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.9027492701
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext.:
Registrant Email: dbgktlq86miq5a4t1f4ho70vv8@domaindiscreet.com
Registry Admin ID:


and so on.

There are at least two things we can see:

1. The registrant is hidden through an anonymizing service. This is very unusual for businesses and may even be illegal for businesses offering financial services.
2. The domain was registered less than two weeks ago!

So yes, it's a scam. Don't send any money.
There are numerous stories about this type of "rental scam"; a Google search for certain typical phrases from the mail will turn up more.

"we suggest you ask your administrator for a bank account" (including the quotes) is a good starting point.
lightfair
Master
 
Posts: 865
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:54 pm

help from ROMANIA

Postby marian0102 » Wed Nov 20, 2013 7:14 am

Dear Sophie,

First of all,i have added you in my friends list...you can do that 2...on escrow-fraud.com :)

Than i suggest you find a home in Belgium on www.immoweb.be,i think its the biggest rental website in that region.Here are a few tips to help you on your way:

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
If the price of rent is unusually low, there might be a catch! Check other similar properties in the same area to get a good idea of what you should expect to pay.

Visit the property
It sounds obvious, but you should always visit a property before handing over any money to a landlord. People who are not willing to show you their property or meet with you before accepting you as their tenant might not be legitimate.

Know who you are dealing with
You should always find out who you are dealing with. Research a company online, and ask to meet the landlord or letting agent. You should always ask to see proof of ownership and the contract for the property – if you are still unsure after seeing a contract then seek legal advice from a solicitor, Citizens Advice or other legal body. For extra piece of mind consider renting from an agent that is a member of a professional accreditation scheme.

Ask questions and speak to the current tenants
When visiting the property, ask plenty of questions of the landlord or letting agent. They should know the important details about the property and surrounding area. And if there are any current tenants, ask them questions too – you may learn something you didn’t know!

Payment
Never part with large sums of cash without doing the proper checks, and we always recommend that you exchange funds in a safe, public environment with witnesses and a contract agreement. Never use Western Union, MoneyGram or money transfer services to send cash or payments to another party. These services are not designed for these forms of transaction.

Personal Information
Never provide personal information and documents over the internet. Only provide this information once you have met the person you are sending them to, have agreed to proceed with a rental arrangement. Requests for personal information by someone you haven’t met should be met with caution.

Common Signs of Fraud
Look out for these key indicators of suspect behaviour:

A landlord that mentions money transfer services such as Western Union, MoneyGram or escrow services

You’re not allowed direct contact with landlord – for instance that they live are abroad

You’re not allowed to visit the property before handing over payment or proof of funds

You’re put under undue pressure to complete the transaction


You can write me anytime and ask for help,i wanna help without any costs.

Have a nice day!
marian0102
Infant
 
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:06 pm
Location: Craiova

Re: ebay escrow

Postby sophiecarron » Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:20 pm

Hi,

Thanks for helping me out. I have sent this info to the police department and immoweb, hoping they will check it out.
Luckily I didn't loose any money this way.

kind regards,
Sophie
sophiecarron
NewBorn
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:31 pm
Location: Belgium


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