Cathal McMahon and Brian O'Reilly
- 'There is such huge demand out there that it is perfect for scammers' - bogus landlords are targeting desperate renters with online fraudIndependent.ieA renter has revealed how she and her pal were almost duped into handing over €2,200 to a fake a landlord advertising a bogus property online.http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/there-is-such-huge-demand-out-there-that-it-is-perfect-for-scammers-bogus-landlords-are-targeting-desperate-renters-with-online-fraud-34610320.htmlhttp://www.independent.ie/incoming/article34610309.ece/a71e7/AUTOCROP/h342/Girls_2.jpg
A renter has revealed how she and her pal were almost duped into handing over €2,200 to a fake a landlord advertising a bogus property online.
Marketing executive Laura Griffin, from Co Kildare, told Independent.ie that she and friend Roisin Greaney were desperately seeking affordable accommodation close to Dublin city centre.
And when the 24-year-old spotted a two-bedroom Smithfield apartment for €1,100 a month on a well-known website she instantly contacted the advertiser.
Ms Griffin exchanged emails with the "landlord" who asked her to pay him a deposit and one-month's rent using well-known website AirBnB.
However the conman had created a proxy page, made to look like the AirBnB homepage, in a bid to extort cash from the pair.
Ms Griffin explained that she only spotted the fraud at the last minute and has now issued a warning to others to be careful online.
"There is so much pressure on people to rent really quickly because there is such huge demand out there that it is perfect for scammers," she said.
"I just want to make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else because I can genuinely see some poor person getting caught by this.
"It was only at the last minute, I was all set to pay this guy. Then I noticed the green SSL certificate was missing from the website and I thought that something wasn't right."
Ms Griffin and Ms Greaney are living in Naas, Co Kildare but working in Dublin.
"I got really excited about the prospect of actually getting something reasonable enough in town to rent. I thought 'this is great, this is fab'. It was €550 each to rent a two double-bed in Smithfield. I got my hopes up really high.
"I can see a lot of other people getting similarly excited."
Conman
The conman told Ms Griffin that there was big demand for the property and he asked her to pay €2,200 into a holding account to secure it before viewing.
"He was very clever because he gave me the link through his email for AirBnB. He made a proxy of the website so it was a mirror image of AirBnB. He had all these reviews, he had a profile of himself.
"He had all these ratings. It looked legit, really, really well thought out."
Ms Curtin was about to pay over the cash when she spotted there was no SSL certificate on the page.
She instantly contacted AirBnB who informed her that it was a hoax page and the site, whose European headquarters is in Dublin, advised her to cease communication with the hoaxer.
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Stephen Large, Dublin Services Manager with Threshold, said they have encountered a number of similar cases.
"Unfortunately it does happen. People are vulnerable at this time. There are fewer properties available and rents are increasing.
"These scammers are playing on people's fears and desperation. There is so little out there."
He advised prospective customers that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is.
"Never pay any money until you have gone, viewed property and you are happy with tenancy agreement and the landlord."
For advice on avoiding scams click here.
Online Editors
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