Scam Alert
We have been alerted to a scam and would like to spread awareness of this to all our customers and prospective customers, in order to keep you safe online.
When searching for a property to rent and booking viewings, it is important that you do not pay anything to the advertiser to secure a viewing or an application. With the change in law in June 2019, all tenant fees were banned, so that tenants cannot be charged a fee to apply for a house. Tenants may be charged a “holding deposit” equivalent to one week’s rent when applying for a house. Therefore, as a prospective tenant, you should not be charged for any viewings or applications. When you apply for a house and are asked for a “holding deposit”, that deposit should be kept in a client account and put towards your deposit should you be successful in passing referencing.
We are aware that there are online scams taking place currently where scammers are duplicating property advertising and using Facebook to scam people into paying sums of money to view or apply for houses. These scammers are either pretending to advertise as agents or as owners of the properties.
To be safe online, here are our tips:
- Rent a house from a reputable agent
- Search for properties on reputable websites like agents’ websites, Rightmove, Zoopla, On the Market, Primelocation
- If you see an advertisement on Facebook or other social media platforms, search for the same house on the reputable property portals mentioned above
- Always communicate with the phone number and email given on the agents’ or property portal websites. Do not communicate on Facebook or Messenger or Whatsapp only to book a viewing or apply for a house, as you could be communicating with anyone
- Do not pay any monies other than holding deposits, rents and deposits
- When paying monies, please check that you are paying into a client account and that your deposit will be protected
Telltale signs that you are being scammed include:
1. Getting excuses from the advertiser as to why they cannot show you the house (eg: they are away, very busy etc)
2. Advertising only appears on social media channels and not on reputable property portals
3. Advertiser asks you to pay for viewings or the application form
4. Advertiser asks you to pay into a private bank account or to a Paypal or other unverified bank accounts
5. Advertising has spelling and grammar mistakes
6. If the house is being rented out by a letting agent, you should see an official company email and a landline number. If you see a personal email and mobile number only, do a Google search for that agent and contact them from their website details.
