Fake agent, forged letter: Man loses $6,700 in Toa Payoh rental scam
The document seemed quite legit, from the logo of the property agency to the real estate agent's license number.
Which is why home seeker Felix Lim said he didn't suspect anything was amiss when he put down some $6,700 of his hard-earned money to secure a HDB unit at Toa Payoh.
Only to realise later that he had been the victim of a scam.
In a now-deleted TikTok video on Dec 30, the 28-year-old freelancer shared that he and two friends have been trying to find a unit to rent together.
After hunting for just a month, they finally found a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) unit at Toa Payoh and contacted the alleged agent who had listed the unit for sale last month, Felix told AsiaOne.
To bait Lim into making payment fast, the man allegedly told him that the unit was high in demand and that if he wanted to "cut the queue", he would have to sign a Letter of Intent (LOI), including a month's rental and a deposit.
An LOI is a preliminary agreement by a tenant to lease a landlord’s property, as well as the latter’s acknowledgment.
"It had chops and everything," Lim said, adding that the document looked legitimate.
To be safe, he said he did his due diligence and looked up the agent, company and license before proceeding with the deal.
"I did my background checks and everything. I asked my friends who worked in the same company and they said this was a [legitimate] agent," Lim elaborated.
[[nid:570051]]
But it was all too good to be true because on the supposed viewing day, the "agent" allegedly didn't turn up and stopped replying to his messages.
"The scammers have really elaborate tactics nowadays," Lim said, adding that he later found out that the scammer had gotten hold of an actual property agent's signature, license number and a landlord's identification certificate.
"They were just impersonating other people."
Police report lodged
After the scammer disappeared, Lim did some digging and said that he found the actual agent's number who then told him that there were scammers who have been impersonating him.
Lim said he has since lodged a police report and contacted the bank involved. He also said that a part of the money he lost was borrowed from other friends.
He has also set up a fundraising campaign online to "get back on his feet", raising some $1,100 to date.
Last year, in another rental scam, one victim said he had been looking to upgrade from a studio apartment to a two-bedder.
After spotting a listing on Facebook, he contacted the listing agent and was later told to transfer two months' rent to the landlord for a two-year lease. He was also asked to prepare an LOI.
However, after sending his money over, the scammer ghosted him.
After seeking some help from a friend's agent, he found out that the listing was fake.
ALSO READ: Tenant complains about ridiculous demands from landlords
melissateo@asiaone.com
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
