There are quite a few scams around where ‘landlords’ advertise a property that isn’t theirs, take a deposit and disappear.

We have covered this briefly before, but the details of the scam are always worth repeating.

The basics of the scam is that a property is advertised by the scammer online, but in fact the property isn’t owned by the scammer and all the details and photos are just lifted from another advertising website. The property will look great and the rent will usually be priced very low, making it a very attractive proposition. (Remember what they say about something being too good to be true ...)

When a potential tenant makes an enquiry the scammer pretends to be abroad and says he can’t show the property to the tenant until his returns, but if the tenant pays over the deposit straight away the property will be held for the tenant until he gets back.

Payment of the deposit is often requested through a fake website, often AirBNB or Western Union.

When the money is paid, the ‘landlord’ disappears with the tenant’s cash, never to be seen or heard from again.

Don’t fall for it. It might look like a great bargain, but if it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is!

A couple of tips:

• Never part with money without seeing property
• Ask the landlord for his ID and proof of ownership – he is going to ask you for yours so shouldn’t object
• Always get receipt
• Pay by bank transfer rather than cash if possible
• Keep eye on dates for your security deposit to go into the deposit protection scheme and check this has been done
• Make sure you get your own security deposit log in.