Possible parking scam - what's the angle?

[IanOE]

I have just agreed to rent a parking space and garage a few minutes walk from where I live in London, which in theory is great.

The rate that I've rented the parking space for is less than 10% of the usual going rate for parking spaces or garages (I've been looking on and off for a while, the cost usually puts me off), so it sounds even better.

I have received a remote control fob which gives me access to the garage and have paid a months rent up front plus a small deposit. The bloke that I am renting from is keen for it all to be done in cash, which isn't a problem to me. The garage is below a small block of flats and he showed me his driving licence which showed that he lived in the block.

This all seems too good to be true and from experience, if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is.

I've looked all the angles (of the deal, not of the garage) that I can think of and I can't work out how it is a scam - have I just got a really good deal, or have I just not worked out what the scam is?

[Sump]

Have you gone into the guys flat ?

[IanOE]

Sump said:

Have you gone into the guys flat ?

No, I just met him outside and saw the garage, he opened the gates to the compound area and the garage with the key fob.

[joe oliver]

Your car isn't a BMW is it?

[jke11y]

So you are renting it at 90% off?

Unless he is asking for 3/6/9 months in advance, I cant really see how you think he could be scamming you. I have rented a number of parking spaces and currently rent a garage on exactly the same basis as you (apart from the 90% off part).

[hornetrider]

Cash... no paperwork? Could you end up returning to a cleaned out garage?

[IanOE]

joe oliver said:

Your car isn't a BMW is it?

No it's not. I am currently reviewing my car owning options, if I have access to a garage then it changes everything for me in a good way.

[Sump]

Any reviews or recommendations of him? How did you find him?

[IanOE]

jke11y said:

So you are renting it at 90% off?

Unless he is asking for 3/6/9 months in advance, I cant really see how you think he could be scamming you. I have rented a number of parking spaces and currently rent a garage on exactly the same basis as you (apart from the 90% off part).

Yep, I just worked it out and it seems to be appox 5-7% of the usual cost. That's what makes it seem so odd. I paid one month up front and a small deposit (under £100 in total).

It's a terrible state of affairs really when you get offered a good deal and it makes you suspicious!

[IanOE]

hornetrider said:

Cash... no paperwork? Could you end up returning to a cleaned out garage?

It's possible but it seems like a pretty elaborate set up if that is the case, especially as I've seen ID that he lives there and have met him. Of course, the ID could be fake.

[marshalla]

How many other people has he rented it to ?

[Sump]

Definetly, I got offered Jurid pads and discs for £80 delivered from a legit business, however, everyone else wanted around £120. I became suspicious that they were fake and went for some Brembos.

[IanOE]

Sump said:

Any reviews or recommendations of him? How did you find him?

I found out about it on a website called parkatmyhouse.com that is a service to rent garages and parking spaces but after we'd made contact we're not going through the service as i presumed that he'd want to avoid the fees.

[IanOE]

marshalla said:

How many other people has he rented it to ?

Do you mean that he may be renting the same garage to multiple people at the same time? If he has then he'll get found out quite quickly and it seems a lot of hassle for him for less than £100.

[jke11y]

It does sound suspicious.

We were looking to rent a flat a couple of years back, and went to view one in Hampstead. Turned out to be two guys who took first-month and deposits off of almost 30 people before vanishing. I had my suspicions and told the guy I would meet him at his home (having companies housed him and found nothing) and it was a fake address, we were lucky we had given him no cash at this point.

Quick way to nett £50k.

pm me the details if you want a hand doing some digging?

[66comanche]

IanOE said:

marshalla said:

How many other people has he rented it to ?

Do you mean that he may be renting the same garage to multiple people at the same time? If he has then he'll get found out quite quickly and it seems a lot of hassle for him for less than £100.

How long had it been advertised for and is it still advertised anywhere? If he's had a lot of interest, he may have 'rented' this garage to 50 people, at £100 a pop (all cash no doubt) not bad going for the cost of a forged driving licence.

[marshalla]

IanOE said:

marshalla said:

How many other people has he rented it to ?

Do you mean that he may be renting the same garage to multiple people at the same time? If he has then he'll get found out quite quickly and it seems a lot of hassle for him for less than £100.

multiply it up by the number of victims...

You have no proof that he any right to let that garage. The driving licence address means that he has a piece of paper with an address on it, nothing more. There is no paper trail to him. I hope I'm wrong, but it sounds like a cheaper version of the flat rental scam to me. (I.e. Rent a flat for a month and collect deposits from several "new tenants" before vanishing with the cash)

[IanOE]

jke11y said:

It does sound suspicious.

We were looking to rent a flat a couple of years back, and went to view on in Hampstead. Turned out to be two guys who took first-month and deposits off of almost 30 people before vanishing. I had my suspicions and told the guy I would meet him at his home (having companies housed him and found nothing) and it was a fake address, we were lucky we had given him no cash at this point.

I was thinking it could be something like that, but the fact that he showed me his driving licence (which could of course be fake) and the fact that it's not a massive amount of money implies to me that this isn't the angle. Of course I could be wrong.

I am glad that you checked those blokes out and didn't lose money though.

[jke11y]

Is it in SE1?

[IanOE]

66comanche said:

How long had it been advertised for and is it still advertised anywhere? If he's had a lot of interest, he may have 'rented' this garage to 50 people, at £100 a pop (all cash no doubt) not bad going for the cost of a forged driving licence.

I don't now how long the advert had been going, I emailed him about it earlier this week and had been asking questions through the week and met him this morning.

He gave me the electronic fob that opens the gate and garage door too, so the cost of that has to be taken into account. Unless the key fob that he gave me was just a dead one and he had one that works hidden that he used.