A fake landlord scammed a UK uni student into giving him £3,809 for a property he didn’t even own.
She sent thousands of deposits, fees and bills to the “landlord” without ever viewing the property.
The student was working towards her Master’s in international development at the University of Portsmouth. In May, she found an available flat through a house share app on Lion Street in Portsmouth.
The “landlord” claimed that because lots of people were interesting in the flat and he didn’t want to waste time, the student would need to send him a £250 security deposit and sign a tenancy agreement before visiting the property.
The James Watson Building at the University of Portsmouth
(Credit: Peter Facey)
The “landlord” then insisted the student pay him the first month of rent upfront. He promised he would return her money if she didn’t like the flat once she’d seen it.
The student told The News: “The next day, I was in the area and waiting to view the flat and he said he was coming. But then he said there was a document missing and I also needed to pay some bills up front, like the TV licence and a maintenance fee.”
Over the next nine days, the scammer came up with more excuses as to why the student couldn’t see the flat, and asked for even more money.
The University House building at the University of Portsmouth
(Credit: Matty Ring)
“He said if I don’t pay then I won’t be entitled to a refund, and if I paid late I would pay a fine,” the student said, “I was very scared because my bank account was going to be almost empty. He was putting a lot of pressure on me.”
Eventually, the student became suspicious that a person from the National Landlord Association (NLA) that the “landlord” told her to contact was in fact just the “landlord” using another email address. The uni student realised she was being scammed, and stopped sending the fake landlord money.
Lloyd’s Bank eventually refunded her the money she had sent to the fake landlord.
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Featured image of the University of Portsmouth by Colin Smith.
