Scam listing?

[Dafne7]

I got this email earlier today and I had found his posting on [Link hidden] a few days ago (no longer up)

this is for an apartment in [Personal information hidden] Jersey City, NJ

Hello,
Sorry for the late reply. Thank you for taking the time to look at my apartment. I'm the owner, my name is Christopher [Personal information hidden].
Now a few words about the place. The apartment comes fully furnished, is very clean, quiet, and you can move in immediately. It has cable TV, high-speed internet, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer. There are two parking spots and if you prefer to use your own furniture there is a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture. Well behaved pets are allowed. The area is just great and a very safe neighborhood.
The monthly rent is $710 - utilities included (Cable, water, sewer, electricity, heat) and please note that the rent is for the entire apartment. I am looking for someone to rent anywhere from 1 month to 5 years or more. Most of the time I'm offshore, I inspect oil rigs for a living and I'm looking for a responsible person that can take a very good care of my apartment. I had some bad tenants and now I had the property completely refurbished (see attached photos). As you can see I am not after a high profit, but after good tenants who will treat my property as their own home and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself.
The property is being managed by Airbnb and they will handle the whole rental process since I work offshore for the time being.
If you want to know more about the rental process please get back to me and I will send you the step by step procedure.

Find attached more photos and let me know if you like the apartment.

Regards,
Eng. Christopher [Personal information hidden]

I replied with some details about me but nothing personal, then he replied back this

Hello again Dafne,
Thank you for the brief introduction. As I already told you in my first email, Airbnb will handle the renting process in my behalf due to my offshore job. I will have to contact the Airbnb agency and provide them all the necessary information so they can start the rental process.For that I will need your full name, rental period with exact move-in date, if other persons will be living with you, your email, phone number and a copy if your ID or Passport if possible.
To secure the apartment you will be instructed to pay just the security deposit of $500 to Airbnb to confirm reservation ( which is fully refundable in case you don't like the apartment ).Only once the deposit is paid an agent will be assigned to handle the visit/ inspection so you will not be able to visit the apartment before the reservation.(Aibnb is a 20 billion dollars company but it has to manage more than 1,500,000 locations, so they would need an impossible number of agents to present every location they have without a deposit confirmation)
Once you confirm the payment you'll have two options, I could send you the keys by FedEx or you can meet the agent that will hand over the keys and rental agreement. Please note they require up to 48 hours to process your payment and rental details before they assign the agent that will handle the walk-through and all. The $500 security deposit will be refunded immediately if you don't like the place or once the contract will end if you decide to rent. ( but only If the apartment is not vandalized or something).
If you are satisfied with the apartment all you have to do is to provide a valid ID, pay the first month rent and sign the lease agreement. After you move in, the monthly payment will be sent directly to my bank account. If that is acceptable please provide the requested details and I will submit your application right away. I will send the Airbnb reservation offer to your email and you can take it from there.

Very important !!  Please reply only if you fully understand the process as I have been disappointed lately with unserious persons when it comes to reserving. I'll have to pay for the transaction fees and just in case you change your mind I will not receive a refund from them!

You will find attached a photo of my passport for more transparency.  

Regards,

Eng. Christopher [Personal information hidden]

And i haven't sent anything back yet bc it seems too good to be true. He also sent me a picture of his passport...

what do you guys think? Please let me know 

[Andrew1970]

Just received similar scam from a Portland, OR Craigslist house for rent posting. Here was his reply:

My place is available from the 28th of June as it's currently being rented short term until then. It comes fully furnished but unfurnished or partially furnished could be an option (I do have a storage unit, so I could take all my stuff there but the rent will be the same). Also, the utilities are included (water, sewer, cable, wifi, electricity and garbage).

I would like to tell you a little bit about me, if you're gonna rent the place. I work as a petroleum engineer for Exxon and my job keeps me away for most of the time, so I'm used to rent the place short term on Airbnb when I am away. Now I'm looking to rent it long term as I will be away for 2 years at least, working on the Thunder Horse oil field. So it's too much hassle for me to handle the short term renting and I'm looking for a minimum 3 months rental period but I would definitely prefer a long term lease. I will be back on the 26th of June to sign a rental agreement with whoever will be the tenant and hand over the keys. Now I would like to know a little bit about yourself, so I have some questions:

What kind of lease/length of rental are you seeking?
When are you planning to move in?
How many people are going to move in?
Are you working? What is your yearly income?
Would you be able to provide rental references?

I have a lot of people interested and I want to make sure I choose the right person to rent my place to. Looking forward to hearing from you.

--

Oliver Mattsson,

Petroleum Engineer, Exxon Mobil Corporation.

[Ashley1039]

@Andrew1970 did you have further contact with this person? My husband received an almost exact email w a different name and company, and he had some discussion but didn’t send money or anything. My husband’s email signature includes his full name, phone number, & email so I am concerned about the guy having this info! He also sent him a photo of our family & told him where he works, which I was unaware of and not happy about. I told him to stop communicating immediately!