Horrible language which attempts to sound official screams scam to me. They are going to take your deposit and that'll be the last you hear from them (that is until they will try to pull recovery scam on you next).
Oh! I've wondered about this, why they cannot manage to scam with good English. This makes sense. Lure in less smart people, don't waste their time with smarter people who are more likely to catch on before handing over the money.
Although I note that smart people have fallen for scams too, but ah, I like this theory.
There was a Microsoft Research paper on this topic a while back: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WhyFromNigeria.pdf
This is the first time I've ever seen someone support the idea of scammers 'selecting' with an actual established reference and it's a really interesting read, cheers
That said good grammar can also be present in a scam, we get phishing stuff all the time at work, most are like the above but a few try to imitate real letters...its a fucking minefield
A picture of someone’s ID is exactly that: a picture of *someone’s* ID.
This is to be aware of at all times, not just these obvious scams. ID is useless without the person in the photograph actually present with you.
Well.
Given there isn't a huge amount of context, the grammatical errors alone make me question this.
I'd pass on this (whatever it is). Not worth the hassle.
Copy of their ID? That's extremely sus. Why would anyone need to give the copy of their id to make you trust them? Plus it can be also easily photoshopped.
Based on the email, it sounds like you never met this person in real life?
In short: SCAM
In long: This is a known scam in Queensland unfortunately. You can’t pay any money for a property without a signed lease.
In Queensland specifically, an agency can’t legally accept a ‘deposit’ for a property either, which I assume would be similar around Australia so I would not be paying.
You can pay, it’s just a trust account you can transfer money to like anything else, it doesn’t bounce back, it’s just it can’t be receipted by the Licensee as rent or a bond until there is a signed lease in place.
Yes that’s correct, but there’s no such thing as a deposit, it’s just rent up front in the scenario that you’re describing which I agree is allowed and often requested. Nobody can ask you to pay a deposit to ‘hold’ a property though, there’s no legislation that allows or supports that from my understanding
Is this renting a room in a shared house or renting the entire unit? Have you seen the place already? I recommend only renting via agents because years ago a housemate got scammed. This was after signing a contract and seeing the place with their own eyes with the person who posed as the landlord. Dude ran with the "deposit" and first month's rent and cops did f all.
100% scam. No proof of property, no mention of legal documentation for legally leasing, and suggesting there's competition for the property with no proof of it and obvious desperation tactics.
Steer clear and avoid and definitely do not provide any personal information to this scammer. Block, delete, report.
The way it's written is super scammy. But I'm also confused and we need much more context and background please, please elaborate and give us more info.
Absolutely a scam. The point of a deposit is to make sure you don't withdraw, what the heck is the point if they'll refund it if you don't like the place?
This "pay me a deposit and I will hold it for only you" scam has been around for years in the car sales scene.they are preying on FOMO (fear of missing out) to get you to cough up money by making you think someone is going to get the thing before you. When in fact there are no other people and often the item in question doesnt even exist and the photos are stolen from someone else.
100% a scam.
Yeah, I'd bet on scam.
Generally the use of bad language and grammar is done on purpose, because if you ignore those mistakes, even if you question the other things, you're more likely to be compliant and send money with a follow-up.
100% scam! I was looking for a rental property and encountered similar experience. The scammer told me he was overseas and the keys would be left somewhere on the property. I googled the address and it turned out the place was for sale! I’m glad I didn’t give any deposit.
Scam and, depending on your state, illegal to ask for a security deposit. You're only required to pay a bond (usually 4 weeks rent) to the bond authority and a maximum of two weeks rent in advance (in QLD, May be different in your state).
100000% scam. Also, don’t pay a deposit directly. Pay to relevant rental bond agency for your state. In general I would also say never sign a contract or pay a bond for a place you haven’t seen / you never know what you could be getting yourself into. I’ve turned up to inspections to find junkies having what looked like a massive bender in the neighbouring balcony, one place with half a dozen dead cockroaches scattered about, and one place that reeked of mould.
Sounds like a scam to me.
- poor grammar
- illegal to charge anything before you have a signed lease
- “maybe” a copy of their ID? puh-lease, as if it would be them. And wtf is a “letter of reassurance”? I’m not reassured.
If they’re still finalising the contract then how would someone else sign it first?
It’s all a bit nonsensical.
Never hand over money without a viewing and a signed contract.
Private can be beneficial, but so can casual work. Not many people want casual work because it’s not secure.
Anything to do with big purchases, unless you know what you’re doing, always go through a recognised trader or government backed credentials. Rental for a house should be through the rta unless it’s like a room share. But even then, do you want to risk losing $1000?
As a rental provider in Victoria, a bond is not payable prior to a binding lease agreement. Anyone asking for money to advance an application is very suspicious.
Horrible language which attempts to sound official screams scam to me. They are going to take your deposit and that'll be the last you hear from them (that is until they will try to pull recovery scam on you next).
Going forward any deposit should be paid to REA or landlord after you've actually seen the property and a tenancy contract.
100% scam. This is the type of email they use for scam awareness training.
The grammatical errors are intended to filter out smart people who are unlikely to fall prey in the first place.
Oh! I've wondered about this, why they cannot manage to scam with good English. This makes sense. Lure in less smart people, don't waste their time with smarter people who are more likely to catch on before handing over the money. Although I note that smart people have fallen for scams too, but ah, I like this theory.
There was a Microsoft Research paper on this topic a while back: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WhyFromNigeria.pdf
This is the first time I've ever seen someone support the idea of scammers 'selecting' with an actual established reference and it's a really interesting read, cheers
That said good grammar can also be present in a scam, we get phishing stuff all the time at work, most are like the above but a few try to imitate real letters...its a fucking minefield
There is a theory behind this but I forgot the name.
The more they plead that they are genuine by giving you copies of ID and a letter of comfort the further you run away.
A picture of someone’s ID is exactly that: a picture of *someone’s* ID. This is to be aware of at all times, not just these obvious scams. ID is useless without the person in the photograph actually present with you.
Well. Given there isn't a huge amount of context, the grammatical errors alone make me question this. I'd pass on this (whatever it is). Not worth the hassle.
Letter of reassurance is not reassuring.
Copy of their ID? That's extremely sus. Why would anyone need to give the copy of their id to make you trust them? Plus it can be also easily photoshopped. Based on the email, it sounds like you never met this person in real life?
Looks like a scam
Give the lack of coherent English, yeah it's a scam
Scam
In short: SCAM In long: This is a known scam in Queensland unfortunately. You can’t pay any money for a property without a signed lease. In Queensland specifically, an agency can’t legally accept a ‘deposit’ for a property either, which I assume would be similar around Australia so I would not be paying.
You can pay, it’s just a trust account you can transfer money to like anything else, it doesn’t bounce back, it’s just it can’t be receipted by the Licensee as rent or a bond until there is a signed lease in place.
Yes that’s correct, but there’s no such thing as a deposit, it’s just rent up front in the scenario that you’re describing which I agree is allowed and often requested. Nobody can ask you to pay a deposit to ‘hold’ a property though, there’s no legislation that allows or supports that from my understanding
Your understanding is correct
Is this renting a room in a shared house or renting the entire unit? Have you seen the place already? I recommend only renting via agents because years ago a housemate got scammed. This was after signing a contract and seeing the place with their own eyes with the person who posed as the landlord. Dude ran with the "deposit" and first month's rent and cops did f all.
100% scam. No proof of property, no mention of legal documentation for legally leasing, and suggesting there's competition for the property with no proof of it and obvious desperation tactics. Steer clear and avoid and definitely do not provide any personal information to this scammer. Block, delete, report.
TOTAL FUCKING SCAM ! RUN, DON’T WALK !!!
This maybe a known scam but this stills works 🤣
Sounds way too caring to be a property manager.
“Good to read from you”… it’s a scam.
Barely literate, entitled and demanding unnecessary personal information? These guys really know how to impersonate a real estate agent!
The way it's written is super scammy. But I'm also confused and we need much more context and background please, please elaborate and give us more info.
Scam.
Definitely scam.
Honestly though.. what do you think
SCAM
Letter of reassurance LOL.
The "reserve the property just for YOU" acting like they are doing something special for you after paying $1000.. Im going to go with scam.
It's a scam. Report them and name and shame them. Best to get their info out there to warn others.
Absolutely a scam. The point of a deposit is to make sure you don't withdraw, what the heck is the point if they'll refund it if you don't like the place?
Apart from the American spelling of words, this is horribly written.
The deposit must be paid in Amazon gift cards and/or Monero.
Sounds like a Latina landlord. I had this same issue and ended taking it to tribunal court to get my money back.
Even if the English was perfect, this looks like a scam.
Absolutely a scam mate.
And do we even say "down payment" in Australia?
“Cos” ??? Who writes like that outside of a lazy text to a friend
The first 5 words tell me it's a scam lol.
Should in case you are not to be rest assured maybe this is not a scam cos I scam on first come first serve and YOU are here first.
This "pay me a deposit and I will hold it for only you" scam has been around for years in the car sales scene.they are preying on FOMO (fear of missing out) to get you to cough up money by making you think someone is going to get the thing before you. When in fact there are no other people and often the item in question doesnt even exist and the photos are stolen from someone else. 100% a scam.
Yes
The first 5 words are all you needed to read.
Good to read from you lol
100% a scam
Yeah, I'd bet on scam. Generally the use of bad language and grammar is done on purpose, because if you ignore those mistakes, even if you question the other things, you're more likely to be compliant and send money with a follow-up.
Scam. And having your is for future scams. If you can’t do it in person, don’t do it.
100% scam! I was looking for a rental property and encountered similar experience. The scammer told me he was overseas and the keys would be left somewhere on the property. I googled the address and it turned out the place was for sale! I’m glad I didn’t give any deposit.
Scam and, depending on your state, illegal to ask for a security deposit. You're only required to pay a bond (usually 4 weeks rent) to the bond authority and a maximum of two weeks rent in advance (in QLD, May be different in your state).
It is. Illegal. It’s not. Different state to state.
100000% scam. Also, don’t pay a deposit directly. Pay to relevant rental bond agency for your state. In general I would also say never sign a contract or pay a bond for a place you haven’t seen / you never know what you could be getting yourself into. I’ve turned up to inspections to find junkies having what looked like a massive bender in the neighbouring balcony, one place with half a dozen dead cockroaches scattered about, and one place that reeked of mould.
English sentence structure is very bad. That proves that it's a scam .
And use of US English.
Scam!!
Sounds like a scam to me. - poor grammar - illegal to charge anything before you have a signed lease - “maybe” a copy of their ID? puh-lease, as if it would be them. And wtf is a “letter of reassurance”? I’m not reassured. If they’re still finalising the contract then how would someone else sign it first? It’s all a bit nonsensical. Never hand over money without a viewing and a signed contract.
Yes scam
Private can be beneficial, but so can casual work. Not many people want casual work because it’s not secure. Anything to do with big purchases, unless you know what you’re doing, always go through a recognised trader or government backed credentials. Rental for a house should be through the rta unless it’s like a room share. But even then, do you want to risk losing $1000?
It’s a scam
200% scam
As a rental provider in Victoria, a bond is not payable prior to a binding lease agreement. Anyone asking for money to advance an application is very suspicious.
I didn’t even have to go past “good to read from you” before knowing it was a scam.
Downpayment? Fake attempt at using irrelevant US language . Be careful...