Yeah, there's one very good reason for that saying: "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is".
A woman named Cristina Grossi contacted me offering a beautiful apartment here in Oporto with a 450 EUR rent, well below the average price even for a studio, or whatever it is called. I was surprised initially by how nice the apartment seemed by its pictures and by how affordable it was, but I kept thinking that it was too good to be true. And boy was I right!
Although I was suspicious, I replied, but the first thing I noticed was she first sent me an email from cristinagrossi78@outlook.com, then from cristinagrossi10@hotmail.com and her signature had the address cristinagrossi72@hotmail.com.
That was the first clue, so I did some digging and here I am, feeling good that I discovered this scam before I went any further, but feeling bad for the people who actually sent the money to these guys.
Here is the first email, in Portuguese:
Apartamento T0 Porto Centro
Obrigado pelo seu interesse no meu apartamento localizado na Rua do Campo Alegre 754 4150-003 Porto .
O aluguel é de 450 Eur por mês sem custo extra (aquecimento, água, eletricidade, internet e TV, 1 parking estão incluídos
no aluguel mensal).Se você está realmente interessado em alugá-lo, escreva-me e eu vou explicar como podemos prosseguir.
Será ótimo se você fala inglês para uma melhor comunicação.
Área útil 63 m²
Todo o apartamento custa 450 euros com todos os utilitários incluídos.
Apartamento T1 de alta qualidade em localização Premium, com acabamentos modernos de excelência e grande luminosidade.
Cozinha totalmente equipada.Para sua comodidade, o apartamento ficará totalmente mobilado e equipado.
Here is the second:
I just read your e-mail regarding my apartment located in Rua do Campo Alegre 754, 4150-003 Porto.
It has 1 bedroom , 1 living room with kitchen and 1 bathroom (630m2).
I bought this apartment for my daughter during her studies in Portugal, but now she's back home permanently, so I'm renting the place for unlimited time. Before we go any further I would like to know a little something about you, like how many persons you intend to live in the apartment, and for how long. The flat is exactly like in the pictures, furnished and renovated. The utilities (coldhot water, electricity, wireless broadband Internet, digital TV, etc.) are included in the price of rent ,you will have one parking spot , the rent is 450 EURmonth . The guarantee deposit is EUR 450,00, and you get it back, when you decide to leave the apartment (you will have to give me at least 30 days notice). As for me, you can rest assured that I will never ask you to leave the apartment. My daughter is building her life here, and i am too old to move to Portugal, so we won't disturb you.
You can use my furniture, or you can also use your own if you prefer. If you decide to use yours, you will have access to a very large and well ventilated cellar, where you can store my furniture.
Now, a little bit about myself so we can get to know each other better. My name is Cristina Grossi and I'm a 56 years old ,Company Director of Italfarmaco SpA from Milan/Italy, planning to retire in the next 2 years. I have a lovely husband, Emilio and a 26 year old daughter, Rosalia. I am very proud to say that soon I'm going to be a grandmother ). Another member of our family is a 8 year old Labrador which we all love, so, I have no problem if you will keep pets.
The only inconvenience is that my job doesn't allow me to leave Milano even for one single day. We just hired some new staff and I'm in charge of their training.
But this won't affect you at all. I can make arrangements to rent the apartment from Milan (on my expense of course).
Looking forward to hear from you soon.
All the best from Italy!
Yeah, so thank God I was careful and that my Spidey sense was working well. One thing to note is she hadn't mentioned anything about Airbnb yet, but I believe it would be one of their next steps if I showed interest.
