Is this a fraud using moneybookers escrow?

[lightfair]

Yes, it's a pretty wide-spread scam.

To prevent any misunderstanding: habitamos.com is a legit site; it's just that the scammers place their own ads there as well.

[abtomat]

and this almost happened to me also

The apartment will be ready for you (already
furnished, new duvets, covers, blankets and everything), you will need
only to receive the keys and the contract to check it, and see if you
like it.
Obviously we need a way to complete this deal, that will
allow us to make sure we receive what we are after. In order to do that I
have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast. I left
the keys and contract of the apartment, already signed by me, at a
escrow company called MoneyBookers http://www.moneybookers.com
They
will handle the transaction (payment and delivery for us).
We will
use this company just for this time so we can trust each other.
Please
let me know if you are still interested to rent my apartment and if so,
i will be in contact with Moneybookers to initiate
the exchange procedure (keys and legal documents / security deposit).
Just
so you understand, this is the procedure:

-You give me your name
and address and I will contact moneybookers, and make all the
arrangements for the transaction to be set up.
-Moneybookers contacts
you and gives you instructions
-You pay moneybookers agent assigned
with our transaction the amount of EUR 450
-Monkeybookers sends you
keys and contract
-You have 14 days to inspect apartment since the
arrival date.
-If you want to keep the apartment, they give me the
money, and we go on from there
-If you do not keep the apartment, you
give the keys/contract back to moneybookers and you get your money
back.

This will be in writing in the moneybookers contract i will
sign.
The MoneyBookers fees will be paid by me when i will initiate
the procedure, you will have to pay for the money transfer fees when you
will have to pay the moneybookers
agent.
I will wait your soon reply and if you agree, i will need
your full name, shipping address and your daytime phone number and i
will initiate the moneybookers transaction.

Sara Holdson

email: saraholdson@ymail.com]

Moneybookers Verified Agent Details:

Name: Carlos Berttodi

Street: via Frainelli 43
City: Milan
Zip Code: 20180
Country: Italy

and "moneybookers" mail came from customer-support@moneybokers.info

[PragueStudent]

Thank to that forum I found a scammer also in Prague. We tried to found this "Julia Allard" in the list of flat owners in mentioned house in the center of Prague, but we didn't find her!

Ad of cheap apartment:
http://nemovitosti.slando.cz/praha_1/kr ... nrk=CZ-PHA


Sure, this price is minimum 1/2 of obvious prices for that types of flats and for that location. Be careful.

Her mail:
juliaallard@hotmail.com

Letters are written in the same style:

Hello ,


My name is Julia Allard and I received your email of interest for the rental of my apartment located in 9 Opletalova, Prague.
I am a research engineer for a pharmaceutical company and I bought the apartment while working on a 4 year contract in Prague as an alternative to renting . I the only owner of the apartment , the apartment is paid in full and with no legal problems . The apartment is not inhabited since I am no longer living in Prague .You could be my second tenants .
My intention is to rent the apartment to nice , clean people and in order to do that I would like to know a little something about you , like how many persons do you intend to live in my apartment,do you have a steady income ,etc . I must tell you from the beginning that I don't have a problem if you are a student and I don't have a problem with pets (I own a little dog myself) and I appreciate sincerity .
Also here is a little something about the apartment and myself so we can get to know each other.
The apartment is the one in the pictures but the furniture has been moved into my private storage room . If you don't have furniture I can take it back with no extra costs for you .
The rent for 1 month is 11000 Czk (for the entire apartment) including all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, parking, air conditioning, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, private washing machine). You can rent the flat for any period of time (open end contract).
About myself, I am 56 years old and as I told you I am a research engineer for pharmaceutical products , currently living in Liverpool, my home town .
You can move in the apartment in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m already in Liverpool but I hope that we shall find a solution.

Thank you for your interest and looking forward to a future collaboration and friendship.

Best regards,

Julia Allard

Hi ,

Thank you very much for your reply and for your willingness to rent the apartment . I agree to rent the apartment to you if you are still interested , of course . I promise you that you will love the place .
Of course you will have to see the apartment before discussing any other details because you can't rent an apartment that you haven't seen . Since I removed the furniture from the apartment I am willing to send you the keys so you can visit it and see if you like it or not .
The delivery for the keys (apartment keys , inter-phone , alarm) and viewing permit (signed by me) , will be made through an authorized courier and using a Moneybookers Escrow Account to make sure that we can trust each other .
I will explain the procedure if you are interested so please email me as soon as you read this message because I really need to take care of this matter.

Julia Allard

Hi again,

The viewing procedure using the Moneybookers escrow blocked account involves 3 parties : me as the home owner , you as the prospective tenant and Moneybookers as a licensed third party responsible for good development of the transaction .
The Moneybookers Escrow Blocked account is like the blocked account where you pay the damage deposit when you rent an apartment except that instead of a bank we will use Moneybookers .Of course , nobody can touch this money until you return the keys .
The value of the deposit is equal to the first month of rent and must be paid for the activation of the Blocked Account .
The delivery for the package will be made using an authorized courier like Pegasus , DHL , Federal Express , UPS and the package will be sent by Moneybookers to your home address .
You must know that in case the keys in the package shall not correspond to the apartment keys you will receive three times the value of the security deposit from Moneybookers out of my Security Deposit fund that I have with Moneybookers .
In order to initiate the procedure I will need the following information from you :
-Shipping address (address where you want the package to be delivered) and the name of the receiver
-Arrival Schedule ( when you will be home to receive the package and sign for the receipt)
-Telephone number in case of any emergencies .
You have 14 days to inspect the apartment since the arrival date .
If you want to keep the apartment I will set up the open end (3 month notice) contract from here with your information , I will sign it and I will send it to you .
You have to sign it and send it back to me .
-If you do not keep the apartment, you give the keys/contract back to moneybookers and you collect the security deposit .
This will be in writing in the moneybookers contract I will sign.
The MoneyBookers fees will be paid by me when i will initiate the procedure, you will have to pay for the money transfer fees when you will have to pay the moneybookers agent.
I will wait your soon reply and if you agree, i will need your full name, shipping address and your daytime phone number and i will initiate the moneybookers transaction.

Thanks again for your time and look forward to hear from you soon.


Julia Allard

She didn't even answer our questions about the fact, who owns an apartment. Moreover, I think it's not a real man, but a special script.

[???]

Hey they arrived in Germany as well.
The email-adresses are angevone@hotmail.com and M_departament@consultant.com...This time it was in Stuttgart - you could rent the apartement also up to 5 years and the email-contact was the same which is described before, only details are changing....

[errrn]

they made it to argentina as well!

http://www.mundoanuncio.com.ar/anuncio/ ... 86498.html

supposed apartment owner:
First name: Nicoleta
Last name : Dorson
Address : 87 David Lee Point
City : London
PostalCode: E15-3LF
Country : United Kingdom

nicos0@hotmail.com

supposed monebookers agent:
First name: Tod
Last name : Peterson
Address : Lewisham Way 158
City/State: London
PostalCode: SE14 6PD
Country : United Kingdom

money-bookers@online-transaction-confirm.com

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in having my place for rent; it has 2 Bedroom and 2 bath and fully equipped kitchen and it's situated on República De La India 2800 - Palermo - Capital Federal, entre Cabello y Gutierrez.
I have moved to London, United Kingdom, about 4 months ago, with my husband, when I accepted my new job. I decided to keep the place because I wanted to have a comfortable and familiar place to stay when I will get back so I decided not sell it, I will just rent while I'm London. It may take up to 5 years. I will solicit for your absolute maintenance of the place and want you to treat it as your own.
The money are not the main problem I am looking for a responsible person that can take care of property. The place is available and it has not been rented before. You can rent it for the period of time suitable for you of course. You can start with a basic 6 months and we can renew the agreement any time you want.
I'm being selective so please send a description of what you do and why I should rent the place and anything else that might give you the upper hand. The Tenancy Agreement form will be forwarded to you, which would guarantee your entry to the place on the day of your arrival.
The rent for 1 month is $400 including all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, 2 parking spots, air conditioning). You can move in the apt in the same day when you receive the keys. I have ready all the necessary rental documents. The only problem is that I'm the only person who has the keys but I hope that we will find a way to solve this situation. I will really appreciate a response if you decide to rent the place.
Above all things, this is a great place and opportunity for someone. Hope to hear back from you soon!

Best Regards
Nicoleta Dorson

Hello,
I want to inform you that MoneyBookers will hold the money until you will confirm to them that you like the apt and keep the keys. If you don't like it, you only have to return the keys to them after they will refund the money to you and they will deliver the keys back to me on my expense.
I will need to inform you the steps about how this service works and how we can make it happen. You will only have to deposit to MoneyBookers Service the first month of rent - $400 USD - so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the keys and the contract.
Like I said, I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the Keys and the contract signed by me right away. I will explain to you step by step how this will work:
1 - To start this transaction i will need to know your full shipping information, full name, full shipping address to proceed with this deal .
2 - I go to the MoneyBookers Office and leave the Keys and the contract in your name as the intended receiver.
3 - MoneyBookers will check the envelope to see if everything is OK with it and also the legal papers that will come along with the Keys.
4 - MoneyBookers will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the Keys and the papers in their custody, in which you will be told that they have the Keys and that they checked it.
5 - At this point you will have to go to a WesternUnion Agent Location and make a money transfer deposit on the MoneyBookers agent name ij London assigned with this transaction for the amount we agreed, the total amount you shall deposit is for the first month of rent.
6 - After you make the deposit you will have to send the infos about the money deposit to MoneyBookers (MTCN#, sender's name and address)
7 - MoneyBookers will verify the payment informations and if everything is in order they will deliver the Keys and the contract to you .
8 - After you receive the package, You will go and check the apt and in 2 days you must contact them and tell them if you keep the apt or not, if everything is in order you will instruct MoneyBookers to release the funds to me.
If you don't like the apt they will send your money back and you will send them the keys and the contract to them to return the package back to me on my expense.I will pay MoneyBookers Service for the shipping and you will pay WesternUnion for the Money Transfer fees.Now i must know for sure if you agree because here are a lot of peoples interested to have this apartment rented and i want to know for sure what i must tell them. If you agree what i suggested i will tell them that my apartment is already rented and i will keep it for you. If you agree then i must have all the shipping details so i will be able to make all the arrangements for the MoneyBookers delivery.
Thank you for your interest and wait news from you.

renters, beware!

[errrn]

I'm one of them who didn't sense the scam. I don't know if someone got this far, but I had to write another email to them, in order to report it to the police (otherwise, I'd only "feel" scammed... ).

I ask for the money back:

Hello, Nicoleta

I'm sorry I didn't write until now, but we've found another apartment to rent. I've already contacted the people from moneybookers in order to cancel the escrew service, so if the ask you, you know what it is about. I hope you find someone worthy of your apartment and trust.

Yours sincerely

"she" answers:

Helllo,

Is not a problem if you have found a new apartment. But the problem is if you will cancel the transaction you will lose 50% of the money. Moneybookers will take 50% of your money. So if you don`t want to lose them you need to go tomorrow and send the second payment so the apartment keys can be shipped to you.
As soon as you will receive the keys you will inform MoneyBookers office that you are not satisfied of the apartment and they will refund your money back, all your money. In this way you will not lose 50% .

I wait your reply .

I write back:

Hello, Nicola.

I'm sorry, but I can't agree. I've read the FAQ on moneybookers site, and I found this:

How can an Escrow payment be cancelled?

The seller may cancel the transaction at any time and the payment and security deposit would then be returned to the buyer. The buyer may reject the transaction during the inspection period after receiving the items, but the buyer is still responsible for shipping the merchandise back to the seller, and for paying any fees.

So I'll wait then, for you to take care of this, so I can recieve the $400 I sent you, plus the $27 from the western union fees.

Regards

I'd think I won't get any more emails now. Pity that I didn't find this earlier.

[bugmenot]

Hello,

this time they tried it in Vienna, Austria.
almost exact the same emails as listened above

albert.rubin@gmx.at

take care,
sincerely

[OinkOink]

Hi! Thank you a lot for this thread, I have the same problem, I want to rent one apartment and I found one that was fantastic and I contact the person that announced that, now I will put here what he said, the speech is like the others here in this thread...


"
1-
Hello,
Thank you for your interest. My name is Felipe Gromez and from the internet add, you could see, i have available the apartment located in: R. da Reboleira 28, 4050 Porto, Portugal. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathrooms, 1 kitchen, living room.
I am looking for someone to live in it, as soon as possible, because my company has won the auction for a project, in construction, for a building that will rise up in Manchester, UK . I am a civil engineer, so my accommodation period in Manchester will be about 4 years. The renting period is from 2 months upto 1-8 years. As a result of this I want to rent, for this period, at this price and also to find the perfect person for my apartment. I`m the owner of the apt and it's like in the pics.
The apartment is furnished, but I have the option of sending all my furniture into storage if you want to bring your own (no extra costs). The rent for 1 month is 330 EUR but you must to deposit 660euro / first 2 months at rent (for the whole apartment) including all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, parking, air conditioning, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator). You can move in the apt in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m the only person who has the keys but I hope that we will find a solution."

Thank you for your interest and I will look forward to hearing from you soon.

Felipe Gromez
P.S. Please tell me if this is what are you looking for and reply my only if you are truly interested in the apt.


2 -

Thank you for your reply but the matter is that I'm in Manchester already. Like I have inform you before, the price you shall pay for first 2 months of rent will be 660euro, with no extra taxes to pay. The money, I want to recive it monthly to my bank account, so I hope it will be no problem for you to wire the money to my bank account. The apartment is ready for you, you will need only to receive the keys and the contract to check it, and see if you like it. Obviously we need a way to complete this deal, that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are after. In order of that I have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast, and in this way you will receive the Keys in less than 2 days, if you move fast as well. The solution is provided by a company called MoneyBookers which is similar to FedEx or UPS, which will handle both payment and delivery of the Keys. I have found a procedure that will allow you to pay for the rent of the apt only after you will receive the keys of it and through this way you will see it and decide if you will stay in the apt or not before I receive my payment. Please click on the link bellow to the MoneyBookers website to see how we can complete the deal safely and fast directly from the website of the company where the procedure is explained: https://www.moneybookers.com/app/help.pl?s=escrow&l=EN
Let me know if you are interested please because I really need to take care of this matter.

3 -
want to inform you that MoneyBookers will hold the money until you will confirm to them that you like the apt and keep the keys. If you don't like it, you only have to return the keys to them after they will refund the money to you and they will deliver the keys back to me on my expense.
I will need to inform you the steps about how this service works and how we can make it happen. You will only have to deposit to MoneyBookers Service the first 2 months of rent 660euro - so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the keys and the contract.
Like I said, I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the Keys and the contract signed by me right away. I will explain to you step by step how this will work:
1 - To start this transaction i will need to know your full shipping information, full name, full shipping address to proceed with this deal .
2 - I go to the MoneyBookers Office and leave the Keys and the contract in your name as the intended receiver.
3 - MoneyBookers will check the envelope to see if everything is OK with it and also the legal papers that will come along with the Keys.
4 - MoneyBookers will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the Keys and the papers in their custody, in which you will be told that they have the Keys and that they checked it.
5 - At this point you will have to go to a WesternUnion Agent Location and make a money transfer deposit on the MoneyBookers agent name in Manchester assigned with this transaction for the amount we agreed, the total amount you shall deposit is for the first 2 months of rent.
6 - After you make the deposit you will have to send the infos about the money deposit to MoneyBookers (MTCN#, sender's name and address)
7 - MoneyBookers will verify the payment informations and if everything is in order they will deliver the Keys and the contract to you .
8 - After you receive the package, You will go and check the apt and in 2 days you must contact them and tell them if you keep the apt or not, if everything is in order you will instruct MoneyBookers to release the funds to me.
If you don't like the apt they will send your money back and you will send them the keys and the contract to them to return the package back to me on my expense.I will pay MoneyBookers Service for the shipping and you will pay WesternUnion for the Money Transfer fees.Now i must know for sure if you agree because here are a lot of peoples interested to have this apartment rented and i want to know for sure what i must tell them. If you agree what i suggested i will tell them that my apartment is already rented and i will keep it for you. If you agree then i must have all the shipping details so i will be able to make all the arrangements for the MoneyBookers delivery.


very Important: WesternUnion is just a methos of payment , they are not authorized to give you any information about this transaction for your security.You just have to do a normal money transfer to a person (moneybookers agent).Only MoneyBookers has access to this transaction for more security.
Thank you for your interest and wait news from you."

The email is felipegromez@hotmail.com

This guy made me dream about this apartment, I just want to kick him in the ass

[imba99]

Hi all,

This is reocurring.
I am spanish, my girlfriend and I were looking for an apt in Madrid when we came across Daniela Garcia.
Here are the details, she has a lovely place advertised in Madrid for 700e (imposible price) on www.fotocasa.es...would not give his/her number, email was exactly the same but translated into spanish, broken spanish just the broken english they use.

Sender Information:
First name: Daniela
Last name : Garcia
Address : 87 David Lee Point
City : London
PostalCode: E15-3LF
Country : United Kingdom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MoneyBookers Agent Details:

First name: Elena
Last name : Lambert
Address : Lewisham Way 158
City/State: London
PostalCode: SE14 6PD
Country : United Kingdom

Total scam...

Never got to send the money luckily!!

Now, dont they have to personally go to the newsagent or post office where they are asking us to send the money? Cause I would mind crossing my arms for a day at that cornershop waiting for these mofos to come around pick some up...and I am a extremelly peacefull guy....or used to be!

Cheers everyone, you have safe me some money

[ola.warsaw]

The same thing is happening in Warsaw, the guy's name is Alan Replo!!!

Here are the mails that we exchanged:
1.
Hi,

My name is Alan Replo and I received your email of interest for the rental of my apartment.
I am a research engineer for a pharmaceutical company and I bought the apartment while working on a 4 year contract in Poland as an alternative to renting. I am the only owner of the apartment, the apartment is paid in full and with no legal problems. The apartment is not inhabited since I am no longer living in Poland. You could be my second tenants.
My intention is to rent the apartment to nice, clean people and in order to do that I would like to know a little something about you, like how many persons do you intend to live in my apartment, do you have a steady income,etc. I must tell you from the beginning that I don't have a problem if you are a student and I don't have a problem with pets (I own a little dog myself) and I appreciate sincerity .
Also here is a little something about the apartment and myself so we can get to know each other.
The apartment is the one in the pictures but the furniture has been moved into my private storage room. If you don't have furniture I can take it back with no extra costs for you.
The rent for 1 month is 1200 PLN (for the entire apartment) including all utilities (water, electricity, Internet, cable, parking, air conditioning, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, private washing machine). The first payment will be for 2 months (2400 PLN). You can rent the flat for any period of time (open end contract).
About myself, I am 44 years old and as I told you I am a research engineer for pharmaceutical products , currently living in Roma/Italy, my home town.
You can move in the apt in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m already in Roma but I hope that we shall find a solution.
Thank you for your interest and looking forward to a future collaboration and friendship.
Best regards,
Alan Replo"

2."Hi,
Thank you very much for your reply and for your willingness to rent the apartment . I agree to rent the apartment to you if you are still interested , of course . I promise you that you will love the place .
Of course you will have to see the apartment before discussing any other details because you can't rent an apartment that you haven't seen . I am willing to send you the keys so you can visit it and see if you like it or not .
The delivery for the keys (apartment keys , inter-phone , alarm) and viewing permit (signed by me) , will be made through an authorized courier and using a Moneybookers Escrow Account to make sure that we can trust each other .
I will explain the procedure if you are interested so please email me as soon as you read this message because I really need to take care of this matter.
Alan Replo"

3. "Hi again,
The viewing procedure using the Moneybookers escrow blocked account involves 3 parties: me as the home owner , you as the prospective tenant and Moneybookers as a licensed third party responsible for good development of the transaction.
The Moneybookers Escrow Blocked account is like the blocked account where you pay the damage deposit when you rent an apartment except that instead of a bank we will use Moneybookers. Of course , nobody can touch this money until you return the keys.
The value that you need to pay for the activation of the Blocked Account is the first 2 months...this mean 2400 PLN. The delivery for the package will be made using an authorized courier like Pegasus , DHL , Federal Express , UPS and the package will be sent by Moneybookers to your home address.
You must know that in case the keys in the package shall not correspond to the apartment keys you will receive three times the value of the security deposit from Moneybookers out of my Security Deposit fund that I have with Moneybookers.
In order to initiate the procedure I will need the following information from you:
- Shipping address (address where you want the package to be delivered) and the name of the receiver.
- Arrival Schedule ( when you will be home to receive the package and sign for the receipt).
- Telephone number in case of any emergencies.
You have 14 days to inspect the apartment since the arrival date.
If you want to keep the apartment I will set up the open end (3 month notice) mietvertrag from here with your information , I will sign it and I will send it to you .
You have to sign it and send it back to me .
- If you do not keep the apartment, you give the keys/contract back to moneybookers and you collect the security deposit.
This will be in writing in the moneybookers contract I will sign.
The MoneyBookers fees will be paid by me when i will initiate the procedure, you will have to pay for the money transfer fees when you will have to pay the moneybookers agent.
I will wait your soon reply and if you agree, i will need your full name, shipping address and your daytime phone number and i will initiate the moneybookers transaction.
Thanks again for your time and look forward to hear from you soon.

4. Hi,

I received your informations and i start the process asap. So let me know when you receive the invoice with the informations about payment and after the payment is done......you receive the keys in 1 day after the payment is done and confirmed. The furniture is in the flat, i told you if you have furniture i can take it....so dont worry. The 2400 PLN are for the first 2 months and in August you will pay me directly thru bank account, now we use MoneyBookers for both can be protected. yes, like i told you before you don`t pay anything else, only the price of 1200 PLN per month for the whole flat. So today i start the process, tomorrow you can do the payment and in 1 day you receive the keys. So let me know. Thanks

Thank god I stopped there and read this site, of course I didn't send the money.