A few days ago, I found an online post for an apartment
for rent, which seemed too good to be true. The renter claimed that she had
bought the property four years ago, but had to move to her own country, Spain,
thus now looking for someone who would rent the place.
From the photos attached to the post, the property was
superbly furnished. Anyway I sent a message to the listed e-mail address.
She asked me to send money amounting to S$3,600 (two-month
rent of S$2,400, and a one-month deposit) to start this rent transaction. For
me to send this amount, she requested a Western Union money transfer to a real
estate company, which, upon confirming the transfer from me, was to obtain the
keys and the contract document from her. The company subsequently would send
them to me and an authorized agent would accompany me to the property so that I
could finally decide whether to rent it.
After she specified the way for finalizing the
contract as above, I asked her to provide the exact address of the apartment.
I checked the address with Google Earth and found it
was a green field, or a cemetery, next to a mosque. In the meantime, I searched
for posts for property rental scams. I saw a post that says something like, “Owner
overseas, request for Western Union money transfer.”
Luckily, I didn’t send any money. I found this warning
in time. The name of this 51-year-old Spanish civil-engineering project
manager, as the person claims, is Gonzalez Castanon Elena. Be careful, guys.
For
the rent renewal matter, I have decided to engage a lawyer.
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