‘Airbnb fraudster tried to trick me into paying £14,000’
Airbnbs are being advertised by fraudsters as long-term lets in order to steal deposits from unsuspecting would-be tenants.
The flats are advertised at reduced rents to attract potential tenants, and official-looking documents are handed out at viewings to encourage them to pay large deposits.
But once the deposit is paid, the fraudsters disappear, leaving the victims without their money – and with no home to move into.
One two-bedroom flat, on a leafy street minutes away from Harrods in Knightsbridge, had been advertised on property website On The Market as available for long-term sharers. It was advertised at the price of £2,350 a month, or £519 a week.
The flat hunter told The Telegraph that she had arranged a viewing on May 2, with an agent supposedly working with a company called Real Estate Extravaganza Limited, which was incorporated in March this year, according to Companies House.
She was told to message the firm’s Whatsapp account where she was introduced to a man called “Edward” who arranged to meet her at the property for a viewing.
But when she got into the flat, she found the real owner, who said that the flat was not in fact available for long-term rent but he does let the property out through Airbnb.
She picked up one of the 15-page “rental agreements” that had been left on tables around the flat. It stated that she would need to pay six months’ rent up front, a sum of more than £14,000, alongside a deposit of one months’ rent.
The property owner said the scam had happened at another of his properties, which he also rents out on Airbnb, and so had become suspicious of a man taking the property for just one night.
The owner said when he went to check out his other flat, he found would-be renters taking pictures of the outside of the building. There was also an “agent” carrying out viewings, who told him he had been hired through messaging platform Telegram, and was being paid by the hour.
He said he had previously been paid to perpetrate a “similar con” on Baker Street.
When The Telegraph approached the online agency on the messaging service Whatsapp, which advertises as “Real Estate Extravaganza” and was registered as a company in March, the messages were delivered but not responded to.
‘One victim was a single father with an 11-year-old daughter’
Greg Tsuman, of ARLA Propertymark, the membership body for property agents, said that rental scams were becoming a lot more common.
“We’ve seen it a couple of times with some properties [registered with Arla]. Unfortunately, what is contributing to it is the rising rents and the fact that tenants are struggling to find properties on the open market.
“All the fraudsters have to do is advertise it for a couple of hundred pounds a month less, and suddenly they are inundated with calls from desperate tenants,” he said.
In one case, Mr Tsuman said fraudsters had managed to take money from three different tenants, who all turned up to move in at the same time.
He said: “They all arrived at the same time, thinking they were moving in. Clearly, it was all a fraud. It was quite sad because there was a single father with an 11-year-old daughter, and they had nowhere to go. It was absolutely devastating.”
Mr Tsuman said other rental frauds that are common include tenants who are about to move out subletting the property and then disappearing with the deposit and advance rent payment; and those in council homes renting out their homes to private tenants for a higher rate than they pay themselves.
Carry out checks before paying up
He said: “A Land Registry search costs about £5, and it’s available to everyone. If you are in doubt, before parting with any money, do a search, which will tell you who owns the property, their name and the address, everything you need to know.
“When you’re being shown around, make sure you see a photo ID to confirm that the person in front of you is one on the title deeds,” Mr Tsuman continued.
An Airbnb spokesman said: “We have zero tolerance for illegal activity and have banned this individual from the platform. With 1.5 billion guest stays to date, issues on Airbnb are exceptionally rare and we deploy strict measures and policies to protect our community, including removing bad actors.”
Dan Wilson Craw, of campaign group Generation Rent, said fraudsters are preying on desperate renters.
“We know that scams get more common when there is intense competition for homes, like there has been over the past couple of years, and in late summer as students look for accommodation before term starts,” he said.
“We’ve heard of Airbnbs being used for fake viewings, and sometimes scammers pretend to be legitimate letting agents.
“The government is introducing a landlord registration system which, if designed properly, will give would-be tenants one way of checking that the home they’re viewing is legal to let out.”
Mr Claw added: “In the meantime, tenants should be vigilant about the possibility of scams. If you’re being asked for a lot of money, try to contact the letting agent directly via their website to make sure you use correct payment details. And remember if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
A spokesman for On The Market said it is investigating the alleged fraud.
The spokesman continued: “Unfortunately, while rare, there are occasions when bad actors seek to take advantage of On The Market’s site. When that occurs, On The Market acts swiftly to investigate the alleged fraud, as we are doing here.”
Have you been caught out by a similar scam? Tell us about it by emailing money@telegraph.co.uk
