Velocity Express

Hey,

Is her name [Moderated]? Sail apartment? She's offering us the same deal. Reckon it's a scam. Bit weird that she doesn't know anyone in Singapore and yet has an apartment here.  If I figure out its a scam I'm going to lead them on just to pi** them off.

Correct. That's her! I realised it was a scam because it was too weird. I don't believe in magic anyway. We should report this scam.

We fell into the same trap when looking at apartments at Marina Bay Residences. We communicated with a person named Jaslyn with the email jasldb01wng654@hotmail.com. Here's what she wrote, and when I asked her why her apartment was so cheap, her response...

Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to look at my apartment.
My name is Jaslyn Wong, I'm 34 years old and I'm the owner of the apartment located at: 18 Marina Blvd, Marina Bay Residences #21-179 Singapore 018980.I lived in this beautiful apartment for over 2 years and loved every day of it, until last month when I received a promotion and needed to move to Bologna, Italy.
The apartment is in the best conditions, it is newly furnished and equipped with all the dependencies, central air, the apartment come with two parking spots,a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture (if you don't like it and you want to use your own furniture),there is also a linen closet, washer and drier.The rent of the apartment is $3000 p/m including all utilities(water,electricity, Internet,cable, parking,air conditioning, garbage).Also the apartment is near the public transportation and other facilities.There are no problems if you have pets, as long as you clean up after them.
My contract here, in Italy, expires in October 2017, so I can rent you the apartment for max. 4 years and minimum 3 months.
Because I had to move to Italy so soon, I didn't had the time to find a trustworthy agent,so I had to take the apartment keys with me. I had a really bad experience with the renting agents from the area, with my previous home. I can't come to show you the apartment and I don't have any friends in the area to send the keys. I found an alternate solution in order to close the transaction safe for the both of us, it is an logistics company called Velocity Express (I will arrange for a 3 days delivery),they will provide assistance in handling the payment and delivery of the Keys and Lease Agreement.With this procedure you will be able to check the apartment before I receive the payment.
I really want to find a good and responsible tenant for it, and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself.
If you are interested in renting my apartment please reply back and i will send you all the details about how Velocity Express works, step by step.
Looking forward to your reply,
Best wishes,
Jaslyn



RESPONSE:

Hello again,
I am not interested to make a lot of money from the rent as I am interested to find a tenant that will take good care of the property.
We can start the lease anytime in April, but i will need to know your decision now.
Thank you for your understanding.
It's $3000 per month for the apartment, the rent included all utilities,Gas/Electricity/Dishwasher/Telephone/Cable/Internet/Car Park.
You should pay first 1 month rent + BOND (3000) so the total amount will be $6000.
In the following lines I will try to explain the procedure.You will have to send me your details (your full name and address) so I can fill out the lease agreement and start the transaction.
I will pay for a 3 days delivery so you will receive the Keys and the contract signed by me right away.
I will send you the signed lease agreement and the apartment keys through Velocity Express.They will send you a notification that they have received the keys and the lease. Next you will have to send the 1st month payment and the bond to the Velocity Express account through bank wire transfer.You will have to send the deposit information(a photocopy of the transfer receipt) to Velocity Express.
You will receive the keys and the lease from Velocity Express.You will checkout the apartment and if you like it you release the payment to me.If you don't like it you return the keys and the unsigned lease to the Velocity Express agent and they will refund the cash you deposited.
I think that this way we are both safe.I will pay for all the Velocity Express expenses and you will pay for all the bank wire transfer charges.I am hoping that this is ok with you and we can close the deal.
Best regards,
Jaslyn

1. Never pay anything before having seen (and liked) the place!

2. Every Singapore property owner must have a local bank account to pay the property tax. Just offer to transfer any payment there - if they claim to not have an account, it is a scam!

3. Velocity Express (the company really exists!) operates only in North America.

Obviously out to cheat. I'm ex-property agent. Rental price range for Marina Bay Residences frm 5-30K per mth. (4.5K your luck for 1 beded) Bear in mind this area is a District 1 CANNOT BE SO CHEAP! Pls be careful.

Note : Melissasaigh, since you have the address of the unit, maybe at random check it out & call any property agent - there are few agents who have genuine units there on hand at the moment. (eg. DTZ, SE Realty)

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I have the same experience in Australia. Got exactly the same type of email and response.

I really want to thank the members here for the valuable info, I was almost ready to pay the scammer.