A KTLN member has warned us about a property rental scam, and we thought it may be useful to share this with you.

We provide the email chain below, together with a synopsis of the scam itself.

It's a pretty obvious scam really, but it is nevertheless interesting to see how the mind of a cyber criminal works.

The scammer approaches someone who is renting out thier property, asking for a price and availability.

The property owner goes back with this information. The 'customer' says he will go ahead, but for some contrived reason, says that you will be getting a cheque for a sum in excess of the cost, and would you mind sending him back the difference.  In this case well over £2,000.

We have not seen this one play out to the end, however the scam would probably end with their cheque bouncing, and you left out of pocket. You may also be asked to provide your own bank details - a potential phishing scam.  In the unlikely event of their cheque actually clearing, if you do as they ask, you will have assisted them with money laundering, which is a criminal offence.

What are the tell-tale signs to suggest this email should go straight in your trash folder?

Well, in this specific case, the scammer has addressed the email to himself, and the property owner has received a blind copy. This is because it is being sent to lots of potential victims - not just one person.

Initially, you are getting a standard email, which may not mention your specific property name.  If you respond, any follow up emails will be personalised, as they think they have hooked you.

In fact, in this particular scam, the originators are trawling round as many property rental websites as they can, and they have been doing this one for more than a year now.

The structure and grammar of the email is poor - typical of many spam emails trying to deceive people into parting with their money, or their personal details.  KTLN has discovered that the people behind this particular scam originate from Nigeria - that's where their IP address is anyway.  The construction of their email is not great, but as time goes by they are getting better, and they have even translated the email into other languages, so they can scam our European cousins.

Furthermore, in the real world, when you agree a price for a rental, nobody sends you more than you ask for. The only time you should be sending money back to someone is perhaps with a security deposit, after the rental period is over.

If ever you are in doubt, you can always try a Google search on their names and address - if it is a scam, you may find that others have written something online to warn you.

If you get such an email, the advice from KTLN is to hit the delete button straight away.  These chancers send out vast numbers of emails in the hope that every now and then someone may go for it.  Please make sure you are not that someone.

Here is the email - enjoy!

Email No 1 from the scammers

--- On Thu, 7/22/10, A Victim wrote:

Subject: RE: Holiday Villas and Apartments
From: A Victim: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  
To: "'David Francis'" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010, 6:51 AM

Subject: Booking and Information Needed..
From: "David Francis"
To: "A Victim"
Date: Thu 22/07/10 9:56 AM