Mietbetrug oder doch üblich?

Guten Tag,

ich bin derzeit auf der Suche nach einer Wohnung in Hamburg. Dabei habe ich eine sehr günstige, möblierte Wohnung gefunden. Allerdings kommt mir der Mailverkehr etwas „spanisch“ vor. (Auch wenn er auf Englisch ist)

Meine Frage also: Handelt es sich hierbei um eine übliche Betrügermasche oder ist es realistisch, dass Wohnungen auf diese Art und Weise vermietet werden. Wenn es sich um ein Betrug handelt, was soll ich tun?

Mail 1:
Hello,
My name is XXXX and I am the owner of the apartment.
I am from Manchester, Great Britain. I inherited the apartment in Germany from my father in 2007. I never lived in that apartment because my mother and father were divorced and I was raised by my mother in Manchester. The apartment is available for rent because I Live England. I tried to sell the apartment but I couldn’t get a fair price for it so I decided together with my mother and my wife to rent it. This is the main reason I want to rent this place to a good person, that will take care of the apartment. You can rent the apartment for minimum 2 months, the renting period is unlimited, the renting price will be the same.
The apartment is exactly as in picture. The rent for 1 month is 400 EUR, including all costs. You can move in the apartment on the same day when the keys are in your hand. I have the keys with me in UK, but this is not a problem. I arranged everything so you can receive the keys and the renting contract in maximum 48 hours.
Can you tell me a little something about you ?
Greetings and hope to read from you soon.

Mail 2:

The apartment is ready for you, you will need only to receive the keys and the contract to check it, and see if you like it. Obviously we need a way to complete this deal, that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are after.you can also share that apartment with a friend. In order of that I have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast, and in this way you will receive the Keys in less than 2 days, if you move fast as well. The solution is provided by a company called DHL which is similar to FedEx, TNT or UPS, which will handle both payment and delivery of the Keys. I have found a procedure that will allow you to pay for the rent of the apartment after you will receive the keys of it and through this way you will see it and decide if you will stay in the apt or not before I receive my payment.
Let me know if you are interested please because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of the next week!

Mail 3:
Hi,
I’m sorry but I have a problem with my land line, it doesn’t accept any international calls. I am trying to fix this, until then we can talk by e-mail. Can you give me your phone number, maybe I can call you.
I will need to inform you the steps about how this service works and how we can make it happen. You will only have to deposit to DHL Service the security deposit and two month rent (total of 1000 EUR), so they can proceed with the shipping, and you can receive the keys and the contract. Like I said, I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the keys and the contract signed by me right away.
I will explain to you step by step how this will work:
1 - To start this transaction I will need to know your full shipping name and address to proceed with this deal.
2 - I go to the DHL Office and leave the Keys and the contract in your name as the intended receiver.
3 - DHL will check the envelope to see if everything is OK with it and also the legal papers that will come along with the keys.
4 - DHL will send you a delivery notification to let you know they have the keys and the papers in their custody.
5 - At this point you will have to go and make a money transfer deposit on the DHL agent name assigned with this transaction.
6 - After you make the deposit you will have to send the infos about the money deposit to DHL (MTCN, sender’s name and address).
7 - DHL will verify the payment information and if everything is ok they will deliver the keys and the contract to you.
8 - After you receive the package, You will go and check the apartment and in 2 days you must contact them and tell them if you keep the apartment or not, if everything is in order you will instruct DHL to release the funds to me. If you don’t like the apartment, they will send your money back and you will send them the keys and the contract to return the package back to me on my expense.
Now I must know for sure if you agree because here are a lot of peoples interested to have this apartment rented and I want to know for sure what I must tell them. If you agree what i suggested i will tell them that my apartment is already rented and i will keep it for you. If you agree then I must have all the shipping details so I will be able to make all the arrangements for the DHL delivery.
Thank you and I am waiting news from you!

In der zweiten Mail fragte ich nach einem Telefonat. Daher die Aussage, dass es keine Festnetznummer gibt.

Guten Tag,
Es sah auch für mich nach dickem Betrug aus - und schasu mal, was ich im Internet gefunden habe!!!
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Also geh da bloß nicht drauf ein!!!