One man has revealed how he lost £3,500 after falling for a rental property scam on Facebook, in a chilling warning to others.
Charlie Temple, 31, was desperately searching for a short term rental in London. Charlie - whose name has been changed - had only four weeks left of his current rental and needed to find a four-week tenancy to tie him over until his newly purchased home was ready, reports the Daily Mail.
As a last-ditch attempt to find a place to live, the sales manager decided to publish a post on the social media platform. After publishing his plea, Charlie received a message from an "older woman", whose profile picture appeared to show her and her granddaughter, about a one bedroom flat in East London.
The message read: "Hey there. I have something for you. It is a lovely, fully fitted, well-furnished and spacious one-bedroom flat and the nearest station is Stepney Green. Rent is £1,900 and includes bills. The deposit is £1,600."
Charlie replied asking for more details and images of the property and he then was sent pictures showing a "typical London flat". This included beige walls and mismatched furniture. This basic flat "ticked all the boxes" for Charlie and a major pro was that this property allowed pets which was perfect for Charlie and his dog.
Charlie was keen to see the property and was told he could arrange a viewing with the current tenants. Charlie said: "I messaged the tenant and she said her mother was in hospital so she was away for a while but her husband could take a quick video of the apartment before he joined her in caring for her mother."
Charlie carried out his own background check on the landlord by looking through old Facebook posts and on the tenants. He asked both the address and their answers matched which gave him "peace of mind" to proceed. He also took a wander to Stepney Green to see the area and check out the exterior of the flat - however, he was unable to see inside as he was away.
Satisfied with the pictures, the video and the area, Charlie agreed to take the flat for three months from June to the end of August. He was sent a contract, which he signed and he paid the £1,600 deposit but probems began a week later. Whilst away with work, Charlie was told he needed to pay a further £1,900 as there was a problem with the deposit scheme.
He said: "I didn't feel comfortable doing this but I needed somewhere to live so I tried to negotiate. I wanted to see the flat before paying any more money but I was out of the country for a few weeks. She was quite pushy and said she would have to find another tenant if I couldn't prove I wanted it."
Charlie spoke to the lady over the phone and following the call, received a copy of her passport as proof of her identity. He then conducted further research searching her name, email address, and her address in west London and it "all checked out".
He added: "She said she was a doctor and that's what I found online. I was satisfied and transferred £1,900. We agreed that as soon as I landed, she would meet me at the property with the property manager."
This was exactly what Charlie did when he landed and after waiting at the property for 30 minutes with no answer a young woman approached the door with a set of keys in her hand.
Charlie said: "I asked if she was the current tenant. She was but she said she hadn't any plans to move out any time soon. I asked if there was maybe an upstairs flat. It was only when she said it was a three-bedroom house that I realised I'd been conned. I felt like a complete muppet and was annoyed I had fallen for it."
Charlie was then forced to rent out a home on the website Airbnb which was significantly more expensive than the typical short term let. The sales manager immediately reported the fraud to his bank, Starling, and he received a full reimbursement within eight weeks. He was told the woman who he believed he was speaking to was likely to have been hacked and her identity stolen.
According to data from Action Fraud, more than 5,400 tenants have been scammed out of deposits for non-existent rental properties in the past year. However, this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, as the majority of rental scams go unreported.
Facebook's online trading platform Marketplace has become a hotbed for rental scams with hundreds of ads for rental properties or rooms to rent are added each day. As the UK's housing crisis becomes more precarious and Brits become more desperate to find a place to live, the number of people falling victim could increase.
A spokesman for Starling Bank told the Daily Mail: "We do everything we can to protect our customers from fraud. Where Meta is facilitating and enabling fraud, they should be made responsible and bear the cost of reimbursing the customer."
A Meta spokesman said: "Facebook Marketplace is primarily a local listings service involving cash payments. Our platforms have systems to block scams. Financial services advertisers now have to be FCA authorised and we run consumer awareness campaigns."