so, I’ve been looking to rent an apartment for a while a month ago I received this by email from [email protected] and I was notified bc I was registered on one of the renting websites and it goes like this
"Thank you for your interest in renting my apartment. My German language is very bad, I hope you can understand. I would like to introduce myself: My name is Martina Lopez and I come from Madrid / Spain. The apartment is mine, I bought it together with my ex-husband….I decide not to return to Germany….so I want to rent the apartment for any period (from 1 month to 5 years or more). I don’t want to make any money renting, but what interests me is finding a responsible tenant who can keep the apartment clean and in good condition.I want a “deposit” of 600 euros which will be refunded when you leave the apartment (I need to know the date you will leave 2 months in advance).
step 1
(they want personal information)
With the information you give me, I will go to the Airbnb office and leave the keys and contract with them to begin the process.
step 2
You have to deposit the first monthly rent (464.00 €) + guarantee (600.00 €) totaling 1064.00 € with Airbnb.
step 3
**Once the payment has been made,** Airbnb will send the agent with the keys and the entire document to the address he provided to me and escort him to my apartment to visit."
I knew it a scam:
\-no one types emails like this there are a lot of unnecessary stuff that has been said just to make an excuse to rent
\-too good to be true, the pictures listed were looking too nice it even looked like its ripped off a hotel
\-paying for rent before moving or seeing the place is always a red flag at least in Germany there is no way you pay for something you didn't see or move to
after that email from I just ignored it, however after a while, I get another email from Desiree Squillace [email protected] with similar traits, also I wasn't notified this time from the renting website
"Good day Mrs \*\*\* .... I don't want to get rich by renting the apartment, so I believe the monthly rent is acceptable. I am interested in finding a responsible tenant to take care of the property. My name is Desiree Squillace of Italian origin, I am 34 years old and I am a doctor. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, I have been asked to return to Italy ... when I'm sure I've found a serious tenant. Two weeks ago I had a bad experience with a potential tenant ..... Because of this bad experience, my lawyer advised me to use Booking.com. Do you know about Booking (www.booking.com)?"
I ignored that as well, NOW most recently I received yesterday from Cathryn Vanessa Lovell <[email protected]>
"... pets are allowed, but please keep everything clean. I am interested in a long-term tenant who will take care of the property so as not to make money from rental income. Because of my unexpected return to the UK, it was only a short time to find a reliable tenant. If you can answer me in English that's fine, since I don't speak German well, I use a google translation. Here is a brief description of the process: - As owner I need to submit to Booking.com information about rental agreement, copies of some documents; - After Booking.com accepts the transaction and complete the verification of the documents has to contact you as potential tenant and check if you have enough money to rent the apartment; - After I receive the confirmation I get back to Germany to show and sign the lease contract;"
in the last one, I tried to trick him into clicking on a grabify link but he didn't click on it he just repeated the same thing so I didn't want to waste more time on him
I posted pics on Imgur if anyone is interested
https://imgur.com/a/76LBZfa