Bohemia Bunny

Renting - see the twist at the end!

April 7th, 2008 by lynnylchan under Comments

It’s rental high season again, as graduating students start looking for rooms and flats to set up a bachelor pad. The housing crunch is especially bad this year, as many NUS students have been unable to secure on-campus accommodation and will be seeking rooms in the surrounding areas. Such conditions are prime scammer fishing grounds.

Yeah okay, so I have to admit that I’m stupid enough to nearly get scammed. But not stupid enough to ACTUALLY get scammed! The story gets better the deeper in we go, so let’s start with the eye-catching ad.

This is the screenshot of the craigslist posting that I saw. The posting is gone now, but I kept the url so I could dig it up again. See the actual page here.

900 bucks for a 2-bedroom apartment is a real sweet deal! So off goes one email to the address listed.

Hi,

This is regarding your ad in Craigslist (PostingID: 629811203) for a
rental in Singapore.

I am interested in renting, but I was hoping you could answer some
questions to clear some things up.

1. Where is the apartment?
2. Is the rental price quoted (SGD900) for the whole apartment, or for
each bedroom? Does it include utilities and broadband internet access?
3. Are there any other tenants in the apartment?

-some text edited-

So I carry out step 1 of Looking For A House. A reply is soon forthcoming.

Hi Lynn,

Regard to your E-mail ,My Apartment is still available for rent for SGD 900 per month including : Air conditioning,Dishwasher ,Wardrobe,Gas Heating,Garbage disposal,Microwave,Laundry room,,DVD,Plates & cutlery,Electricity, Water and gaz.And you will be making a month deposit it is located at Burgundy Drive they are other.

Why we really want to give it out for rent is dus to my missionary work transfer to Africa my family and i are right here with me,i want someone who can take good care my apartment for me . All the keys and the document to the house is right here with me and i will ship it to you Via DHL Express Delivery and it will get to you on the next day after shipment .

Rental Application form need to fill and get back to me :

1)Your Full Name and Address :

2)How old are you? :

3)Are you married? :

4)How many people will be living in the house?

5)Do you have a pet? :

6)Do you have a car? :

7)Occupation? :

I need to hear from you

Thanks for the love you have for my Apartment

Timaya.
+2347037065078

Well! That was quick and easy! Sure the language is a bit suspect, but we don’t want to be arrogant Anglo-speakers. I reply with the information requested, along with a few more questions:

How long are you expecting to rent out your apartment?
How do I send any payments to you, and do I also pay the bills or just
send you the money?
Is there broadband internet in the apartment? If not, do I install it myself?
Does the rent price include the electricity, water, gas bills or are
these paid separately?
Is the apartment in a private housing complex or is it HDB?

I am currently also considering another offer, I will try to make a
decision as soon as possible and let you know.

So far so good, another reply comes promptly.

Hi Lynn,

Nice hearing from you, I am leaving my Apartment for a long time rent beacuse i will be staying here for long due to my missionary work but i will be comming over once in a while for cheak up.The SGD 900 per month includes Electricity, Water and gaz bills , you can go on and install your broadband internet no problem.

I want know how many months you intend to stay and aslo if you  are ready to make the 1st month rent so that i can send you my Rental Agreement form  you need to sign.

You will be making the payment directly to my Lawyer Via Western union local store around you and as soon as he confirm your payment the keys and the document of my apartment will be shipped to you via DHL Express Delivery, and you will get it on the next day delivery after shipment.

I am very happy to have a good tanat that can take good care of my Apartment just like his or her own.

Kindly get back to me with your contact phone number for easy communication.

Thanks for the love you have for my apt, need to hear from you.

God bless you
Timaya.

Western Union? That’s Red Flag #1, as Western Union is one of the services commonly used by scammers. I am, however, very impressed with the Lawyer. But I am wondering how to get proof of the apartment’s ownership, without straight-up asking for it.

Plus, the rental includes utilities? How are the bills paid then? If it’s through Giro, then why can’t I just pay directly into that bank account? Weirder and weirder.

Hi Timaya,

We intend to stay at least a year, in fact we don’t expect to move for
the next few years so you can expect us to be there for quite some
time. How long exactly do you expect to be away from Singapore, a few
months or several years?

I only need the apartment beginning in May, as I am still in the
university’s student housing till the end of my exams. So can I start
renting from you then? You can send me the keys anytime between now
and the beginning of May, since I will only need it then. You can
contact me on my mobile phone, -redacted-.
Do I pay the monthly rent via Western Union every month? I want to
know what our long-term payment arrangements will be like.

I am able to pay the rent for the first month (May), do you need any
other deposit in addition to that? I may need some time to obtain
additional funds if you want other payments in addition to the rent.
Please let me know how much I have to pay you in total so that I can
make arrangements.
-some text edited for brevity-
Could you please tell me the full address of the apartment so that I
can visit the surroundings and check out the facilities nearby?
Thanks.

After this, there’s a pause in the emailing. I start having my doubts, which the Internet partially confirms. Craigslist rental scams are common, although the cases documented online involved a genuine landlord and a scammer tenant. Craigslist also informs you that Western Union and other money transfer transactions are a red flag. And of course, the ol’ rule of thumb: If it’s too good to be true - it is. I give it up as a bad move and look online for other, genuine leads.

But hey! Story’s not done yet! Out of the blue, I get a “Private Number Calling” on the mobile. I thought it was a real estate agent getting back to me after I made some calls, but there is a man on the line. He identifies himself as Timaya and asks me to check my mail. Before he hangs up, I ask him for the unit number. When he doesn’t seem to understand, I rephrase it as “house number”. No answer is forthcoming, he just says “check your mail”.

That’s odd, not knowing your own house number. Are your alarm bells ringing yet, cos this is the major finale:

Hi Lynn

Thanks for the e-mail, i intend to stay here for years beacuse of my work i will keep you posted how many years as time goes on but i will be comming for cheak up time to time.This is the Rental Agreement form attached below :

I will advice you to make the 1st month rent SGD 900 now so that i can know you are serious about it and i will also ship the keys and the document of my apartment to you ,You need to make this first month payment Via western union directly to my Lawyer here and he will be the one to sign the reciept of your payment i will let you know if you are going to make other month payment via western union okay.

You dont need to make other payment, you are paying only for the first month rent all i need is for you to take good care of my apartment just like your own.No problem if you feel like comming in with your friend .

Apartment address :
2, Keppel Bay Drive
Singapore
098636

Nearest MRT Stations :

Harbourfront MRT Station (0.68 km)
Tiong Bahru MRT Station (2.44 km)
Redhill MRT Station (2.54 km)

Nearest Schools :

CHIJ St Theresa’s Convent (1.15 km)
Radin Mas Primary School (1.26 km)
Blangah Rise Primary School (1.29 km)

This is my Lawyer information you will need to make the Payment Via western union lacal arround below : you as soon as you make the payment and it has been confirm by my Layer the keys and the document of my apartment will be shipped out to you and you will get it on the next day after shipment.

My Lawyer information you need to make the transfer Via Western union local store around you .

Name : Reo Glance

Address : 15 bale st

City :Surulere

State :Lagos

Zipcode :23401

Amount to send : SGD 900

Country :Nigeria

Text Question : To Who

Answer : Reo
Kindly get back to me.

Thanks
Timaya.

Oh there are so many things wrong here, I’d be an idiot to not realise the scam by now.

Refer back to the first email, where I am informed that “it is located at Burgundy Drive they are other”. Strange syntax aside, Burgundy Drive is in Upper Bukit Timah, which is quite a distance away from 2 Keppel Bay Drive. How can you not know where your own apartment is?!

Second, 2 Keppel Bay Drive is listed as the Carribbean, where rental apartments don’t go for less than 3000 dollars, and are more in the range of 6000 dollars. It’s new, it’s huge, and it’s right next to VivoCity. 900 bucks for this? It’s a 3-bell fire alarm, people!

Finally, he confirms my suspicions: He is indeed operating from Nigeria. Nothing against the country or its people, but the truth is the truth: No one trusts Nigerians where money transfers are concerned. It’s not discrimination, it’s common sense. I choose to exercise common sense and call an end to all this.

 Hi Timaya,

I am sorry to inform you that I have managed to secure a better offer
from another landlord. I did inform you that I was considering other
offers, and one of those came through.

I thank you for your earnest response to my emails.

Yes, so I took the coward’s way out. I am not a scam-baiter, I’m just a fish that got away to tell the tale. Yes, I admit that I dragged it longer than I should have, but it’s out of pure foolishness and blind faith in humanity, not out of malice.

The email address, phone number and other particulars of the scammer(s) are not edited because they tend to use the same ones repeatedly, and it’s published to protect public interest. I claim no responsiblity if people with more free time than brains decide to spam or prank-call them (all the way in Nigeria).

Well, it kind of bites that a really sweet rental turned out to be just a scam concoction. It looks like I will have to put up with shared accommodation for a while longer. But at least it’s not a 900-dollar kind of bite.