I would like to warn people moving to Italy of the potential dangers of sending deposit's for accommodation prior to viewing, especially via Western Union.
I have had 2 dubious landlords who demanded money up front & when questioned further they just stopped responding to e-mails.
I even had picture's of the flat's which I sent to Italian friends & all came to the same conclusion, the picture's were not even taken in Italy, looked like a typical British house.
I am not judging all potential landlord's/ flatmates nor am I suggesting they are all Charlatan's, I am just warning of the risks. Both advertised in EasyStanza & were undoubtedly English mother tongue.

I have had the same experience- pix not taken in Italy, the LL conveniently lived out of Italy for some strange reason, price too low- just weird circumstances all over. The posting I found fishy were off Craigslist.

This something that seems to be widespread, especially in the car and motorhome market in which we have been doing a lot of looking first for a car and then a motorhome. There will be a listing with pictures and all and a price very low. Most or all the time the pictures are taken off the internet from somone eles's ad. I one case I stumbled onto the real ad. The story is always similar, the person says they are living in the UK and have to sell the vehicle because they can't use it there. They will go on to tell you that they had a buyer renig on deal and therefore will only deal with you if you send a deposit. But the deposit is sent to yourself for your protection, via Western Union to another city. Then you send the "seller" a copy of the receit so he knows you are serious. Somehow I think they can get the money you send even if not sent to them directly. In fact there is a warning on Ebay about Western Union. So as always if the deal is too good to be true it probably isn't. Another way to recognize these ads is that the phone number is usually fake and the name of the person will not be Italian.

We did not fall for any of these but did do a little correspondence with one, and then just for fun checked out a couple more.

This is a classic scam, often referred to as a 419, or Western Union scam. They can get the money because Western Union does not require ID to claim, only the number (Western Union is supposed to be a way to get money when you've had everything stolen, including your ID.) Scammers use it with any item under the sun. The steadfast rule should always be: never send money with Western Union, EVER, unless it is an emergency with a close friend or family member.

La mia ragazza started falling into one of these scams recently... In reviewing the emails she'd received I noticed several subtle gimmicks in the language and over-all presentation that prompted me to do more research on the scam... turns out there are places on the internet where you can download blank WU receipts and fill in bogus info if you want to toy with them... let them try and explain it when they go in and try to claim it!

This is the e-mail I received from the fraudster which is very similar to your experience jhelm.

My way is very safe and will be ok for you as the money is not going to me,what i want you to do is to go to any nearest western union to you with your friend, make a transaction using his name as the sender then you as the receiver of the money, then you will send me the scan receipt showing that the money is ready, doing this i will reserve my place and remove my ad and i might even send the you the keys and welcome you in anytime you feel like.You'll be sending the first month rent together with the security deposit.

Hope to hear from you.

Jeremiah

Good idea justin i'm going to look for that form.

Good grief! this sounds like a pathetic variation of the Nigerian banking scams, but with a whole lot less chutzpah and style (the first Nige fax I got way back in 1993 was so gorgeous I wanted to frame it and put it on the inside of our WC door for users to contemplate in all its glory).

its sad but really the message is do not trust anyone, especially when money is involved.

Have you seen the other thread on here about the Cascine in Florence. The LL won't tell the potential renter the street name.. I wonder if this is going along similar lines.

Your bang on Alyson the LL would not tell me the name of the street or which tube stop was nearest.Pretty difficult though to impart that information when you've never left Slough.

quote:

Originally posted by Justin B:
This is a classic scam, often referred to as a 419, or Western Union scam. They can get the money because Western Union does not require ID to claim, only the number (Western Union is supposed to be a way to get money when you've had everything stolen, including your ID.) Scammers use it with any item under the sun. The steadfast rule should always be: never send money with Western Union, EVER, unless it is an emergency with a close friend or family member.

Wow, I've never used Western Union so I had no idea it was that easy. I just suspected that there was a way get the money using fake ID or something similar. Now I see why it is so popular a scam. It's also interesting to see that some of the ads are so ridiculous, like a motorhome that should go for 300,000 listed for 50,000. But it must work or they wouldn't keep doing it.

Sadder still, it's argued by some that WU could more effectively prevent these kinds of transactions (they DO say explicitly on their site not to send money to strangers)... but they do take a good chunk of change each year on the transfer fees generated by the scams...

A fun guy named Gilbert runs a scambusting site out of the UK and spends his free time sending scammers on wild goose chases for non-existent transfers. Not only does he provide blank WU and MoneyGram receipts... he also has invented a few money transfer systems, complete with downloadable receipt forms ("I really want to take advantage of this great offer, but I don't trust WU, I'll send it with this other service...") Some examples are the Guaranteed International Money Provisions Service, Federal United Consolidated Worldwide International Transfer Service, and Transglobal Worldwide Automated Transfer System... Feel free to find the acronyms yourself! Nothing like a scammer running from bank to bank looking for a GIMPS form...