Asked for a Western Union postal deposit receipt before visiting a rental property: is this a scam?

Question

I recently responded to an apartment rental ad in Paris that the owner is managing. Flat is attractive but a smidge on the expensive side, not usually scam territory. However, the following email exchange raised a few red flags. The owner purports to have moved to a small town in the South far away and to already have had to come to Paris for a potential renter only to get stood up, and doesn't want to come in vain. They write [translated]:

As indicated in the previous email, and as stipulated in the lease agreement, the payment of the first month's rent will only be made by POSTAL DEPOSIT, the receipt of which (Western Union receipt) will be handed over on the day of the visit after signing the lease agreement. This procedure reassures us of the availability of the funds and prevents unnecessary travel due to the distance. I have already made trips for visits that ended in disappointment because either the interested parties were not present or their first month's rent was not yet ready or sometimes I receive checks without provision.

Procedure for establishing the deposit by mandate (Western Union) You go to a transfer agency (Western Union) with the 1500€ in cash (or your bank card) equipped with your ID, and you simply request to make a transfer via a relative (whom you trust and are easily in contact with); in this case, you can do it in the name of your guarantor or a relative of yours so that they can bring the receipt on the day of the visit. After cashing the funds, the postman will issue you a receipt with references (MTCN code) that should allow the sole beneficiary of the transfer (the relative in question) to withdraw the sum with their ID. Once the transfer is made, you will send me by email the proof (photo or scan) to ensure the availability of the Western Union deposit in the name of your relative; for the confirmation of the appointment. I want to be reassured of the availability of the first month's rent and that you are ready to rent the apartment to avoid any unnecessary travel and avoid being deceived again.

By mutual agreement after the visit, we will proceed with the signing of the lease/handover of the keys and at that moment we will go together to the nearest post office to change the recipient's name of the transfer to my name for withdrawal. If you do not like my apartment, which I highly doubt, you will simply cancel the deposit and your money would be returned to your account.

PS: The first month's rent is not to be sent before the visit. It is just on the details of a close relative of yours in France at first while awaiting our appointment for the visit, it is after the visit and the possible signing of the lease that we will go together to an agency to change the details so that it is put in my name immediately.

The whole procedure seems so contrived, and Western Union is kind of a red flag on its own, as are the owner's reasons for setting this up. However, I do not see where I could lose the money here; I am not familiar with Western Union transfers but it does feel like it should be safe to organize a transfer to a member of my family then to redirect it to the owner after signing the contract + getting the keys. Is this a scam?

Answer 1

Your gut is correct, this is a scam.

If you provide all the info requested they can change the receiver's name from your relative to themselves and take the money.

The Western Union Receiver's Name Change Request Form requires the MTCN code, sender info, and receiver name.

Answer 2

Because they asked for photographic proof of the Western Union transfer document.

That photo will include all the details they need to drain the money.

The idea that they have to cross the country to show the apartment is dopey. Anyone who owns Paris apartments has a local real estate agent or building management to handle emergencies like broken/leaking toilets. The local person would be the one showing the apartment.

Anytime a seller tries to force you into a particular payment method, resist absolutely. I would be like "I prefer Paypal, but I'll toss in an extra 2% to cover Paypal fees." And then step back and watch their reaction. If they work really hard to convince me to use WU, that's a scammer. A real landlord would either accept it cheerfully, or tell me to buzz off.

Now let's take a sidebar and talk about an interesting aspect of how this confidence game works, and why it can be so powerful.

I do not see where I could lose the money here; I am not familiar with Western Union transfers

So yeah. A con game is all about confidence. You think that surely there must be controls in place to protect you, and that makes sense. But the inputs that make you think that are all coming from the scammer. It's insidious how easily a reasonable person can be tricked.

They didn't find a mark in you obviously, but think about how cleverly they got their foot in the door, as it were. We tend to underestimate scammers but they really are quite good at their job.

Answer 3

There are several reasons why this is ill-advised and infeasible.

Navigating to the Western Union website, when inquiring about sending money, this warning pops up. Western Union explicitly says NOT to use their services for rental deposits or payments.

Next, for money transfers from within France: Western Union only allows very minor changes, such as correction for typos, when making a Receiver Name Change. (I think this varies by country, with more leniency in the US, as indicated by another answer.)

So, it would be impossible to do what the apartment owner asked you to do, i.e. initially using a relative's name as the Receiver. That part didn't make sense to me anyway!

Finally, Western Union is intended for transferring smaller amounts of money. Even if you were allowed to send 1500 Euros by Western Union (in France, the limit seems to be 1000 Euros per day typically), the fee would be 61 Euros. The apartment owner didn't mention whether he would pay the transfer fee, or if he would expect you to pay! It makes the rental price 4% greater.

These are reasons that the owner's proposed method of rental payment is ill-advised.

Most important of all: this is a scam. Someone who owns and rents an apartment in Paris but lives in the south of France will have sufficient assets to arrange for a local Parisian agent to show the apartment; renters need someone to alert in the event of any urgent, unexpected repairs needed, e.g. a water pipe bursts.

Answer 4

All the answers here are basically right, and go on explaining how using Western Union is, aside from a massive red flag, not secure at all for this kind of transaction.

Most answers also mentioned, but only as a side note, that a property owner living far away from the property would always have an agent or a local person to take care of emergencies (or indeed visits from prospective renters).

Well, to me this is the first, biggest, and only red flag you should consider:

Any (supposed) property owner who give you a story (any story) as to why he (or an appointed representative) cannot be there and uses this to justify an unusual transaction method is trying to scam you, period!

Western Union sure adds to the red flag list, but even without Western Union being involved, the (owner cannot be present) scam is already widespread and scammers use a myriad of other arrangments to make you feel safe with the transaction method they propose, always remember the first red flag: real owners do not do that! The person you're talking to does not even own the property, he's only aspiring to own your deposit and disapear.

That is 100% valid in France, most western europe, and likely any country where property rental regulations makes owners responsible for some aspects of the property even when the property is rented out (like safe electrical setup, working heating system, ...)

Now there will be a few edge cases, where a legitimate (cheap) remote owner is trying to cut cost and do without an local agent. Well in these cases, even if the rental offer is actually legit, you would probably do yourself a favor not to enter a deal with them as they will probably be very difficult to deal with in the future (for any repair or property matter).

Answer 5

I am not sure if you are French but this is of course a scam as others mentioned - the procedure is completely wild.

A few words from the French perspective

To start with, Western Union is basically an unknown institution in France. It is used only in some transfers to non-EU countries (to put it that way), as a matter of transferring money that is not traceable (think taxes, black market etc.).

Nobody in France will use it for transfers in France, not to mention anything related to renting, which is a highly regulated thing in France.

The landlord can request a guarantee which will be, by the contract, given back at the end of the rental. This is normal - whether you get it back or not is another story (after all this is free money for the landlord so they may do gymnastics to not give it back).

Following the Middle-Ages French Banking Tradition, this is usually in the form of a chèque de caution, which is actually a bank cheque (we still have these, alive and kicking).