Accommodation scam
06 November 2009
LSU Advice Centre is urging all students to be careful when responding to adverts for private accommodation as there have been a number of reports of people being scammed out of money after seeing adverts on various websites.
James McGarvey of LSU VP Communities advises: “Do not, under any circumstances, send money to anyone for accommodation prior to viewing the accommodation, verifying that the person is the actual landlord or a representative of the landlord (such as a letting agent) and seeing the tenancy agreement.”
The scam usually happens when a potential tenant asks a potential landlord advertising on a website if they can view a flat. After a couple of emails (or sometimes straight away) the prospective landlord will describe a reason for not being able to show the tenant around and by proving they have money upfront they'll make the effort to show the tenant the flat (eg they have been let down by tenants before and need to know tenants are serious, or that they live abroad and need assurances the tenant has the money before travelling to show the tenant around the place).
Prospective tenants are then asked to transfer money through a payment service such as Western Union, Bidpay or Money Gram and to then fax or send a scanned copy of the receipt of the money being paid via this service along with the reference number to secure the accommodation.
Ideally you should try to rent from accredited landlords registered with Liverpool Student Homes and Liverpool Council.
If you’re not sure if your being scammed or if you have any other accommodation queries you can contact the LSU Advice Centre by emailing lsuadvice@ljmu.ac.uk or calling 0151 231 4900.
For more information visit: http://l-s-u.com/lsuadvice/content/218685/landlord_scams/
