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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[IanOE]

jke11y said:

Is it in SE1?

No, it's N1

[IanOE]

marshalla said:

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)

The driving licence was the picture part of it, which I appreciate could still be fake.

I suppose also if it smaller amount of money then people are less likely to report it to the police as it's too much hassle for under £100, or they are a bit embarassed to admit being scammed.

[IanOE]

jke11y said:

You can check how long the guy has been a member of parkatmyhouse by hovering on the username.

It will probably be fine (says he optimistically) but I guess you are right to be cautious. If he was going to scam folks it would surely be at "going rate" so as not to alert suspicions.

Oh yes, well spotted. It says that he's been a member since April 08. I've noticed that the parking space is marked as a grey bubble now on that website, which I think means the space isn't not available any more.

I suppose one way to check would be to create another profile or for someone else to send an enquiry to see if the space is available, if he says no it's not available then either he's scammed enough people or it's okay...

[IanOE]

craigjm said:

Lets get this straight here, you think you have a bargain, you have paid (including a deposit) less than £100 for a months secure parking near your house in N1. Have you started parking there yet or checked the space is always free? if so then you have a bargain. If its taken then you have been scammed. Simple as that really. If you have been scammed and can't access the space you have lost £100 BUT if you didn't pay the £100 you could be paying much more now for a similar space which could equally be as dodgy. Suck it and see and if there is something wrong it will flush itself out before long.

I haven't parked there yet, I only went and met the bloke and got the key fob an hour and a half ago. I am a bit reluctant to park there yet in case it's a scam to get access to my car for whatever reason. Maybe I'll go and have a look tomorrow morning to see if there's a car parked there yet! And that's if I haven't been stung with a broken key fob.

[IanOE]

The Count said:

Hi Ian, could you ask a friend to email/call him to see if its still available?

I think that may be something that I will do after I go around a few times in the next week to check that the space is still free.

[IanOE]

johnnyBv8 said:

Doesnt sound like you have anything to lose - if it turns out to be a scam, then you've barely lost any money.

You've only paid a month up front, so at 5-7% of the going rate, you only need to park the car there for 1.5 days to get your money's worth!

That's what I am hoping as well! Although I did pay a deposit too although it was still under £100 all up, which is never nice to lose but if I do then it won't kill me financially.

I have noticed that quite a lot of parking around the area is the same money per day for what I have (hopefully!) got for a month, so maybe when he was researching prices he didn't look properly and that's what he came up with.

[IanOE]

jke11y said:

Or you have mixed up the pw and the pcm numbers and he`s expecting three more installments this month.

It said pcm in the advert and I clarified it in our email correspondence and when we met this morning. To be fair, it'll still be cheaper that the rest even if it was weekly!

I'm getting all sorts of ideas about what other car I can get to park in there but I need to just make sure it's not a scam first.

[IanOE]

eltax91 said:

He probably is renting the flat he showed you ID for, but is not allowed to sublet the garage, so wants it all in cash. Just go careful over a week or two and put some stuff in there rather than a car. With the money you have saved could you insure the contents of the garage and put something tasty in there to tempt him?

You could be right about him subletting the garage, which shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, I'm not going to go shouting around about it to the neighbours or anything.

I may just go back there a few times over the next week or two and check the garage out, I'll take a tape measure with me and I can just say I was checking the dimensions of the garage out.

I'm not sure I want to bother with the hassle of insurance for the garage, if I park a car in there it will definitely be insured!

[IanOE]

All that jazz said:

Current style photocard or the old style photocard? If it was the old style one then there's a strong chance it was fake. They can be bought for £250 if you know where to look, and unless you know what you're looking for you're unlikely to know it's fake.

And the question that everyone else is probably wondering but too afraid to ask... was he a native Brit?

Personally, if he has the noggin to search out a dedicated parking-space-for-rent website then he more than likely has the noggin to know how much 'his' space is worth, so if your "less than 10% of the market value" calculations are correct then I'd be very surprised if this is not a scam.

To be honest I'm not sure of the difference between the old style and the new style photocards and if I did then I can't remember which it was.

He was a "native Brit".

My head keeps on saying that it must be a scam, but the idea fo having a garage close by to where I live so cheap has been what's made me go for it, I will continue to be cautious in my next moves...

[IanOE]

jke11y said:

I pay £140 for a garage in W14. I havent looked, but I would have thought prices would be similar in N1. Is he really letting it for £15-20 a month? If so, it hardly seems worth his trouble. Weird.

It does sound very odd. The going rate that I've seen in N1 seems to be about £150-200 a month, this one is £10. If only everything was as good as it sounds!

Edited by IanOE on Saturday 9th June 14:10

[IanOE]

marshalla said:

If it's the one I've just found at that rate (join date matches the one you posted, his initials are DG) - it's a motorcycle space.

Those are the correct initials, there's a motorcycle space and a car space at the same location.