Watch out for rogue 'landlords' on the internet, says Edel Morgan

IN THE space of a week, two people have contacted me about rental accommodation scams. In both cases the people involved were tricked out of substantial sums of money after replying to ads for apartments over the internet.

The question is: why would anyone send money to a landlord - or in these cases a "landlady" - they'd never met for an apartment they've never seen? It seems incredulous until you hear how these thieves work to gain their victim's trust and even provide ID.

In both cases the "landladies" involved were living in London and claiming to own rental properties in Dublin. Both kept in regular communication with their prey to make everything seem as plausible as possible.

Andrea Hajas, who works in an estate agency in Dublin, decided to move back to the city centre and saw pictures of a two-bed apartment on an accommodation website for €800 "which I know sounds too good to be true", she says.

When the "owner", who went under the false name Louise Millar, e-mailed her saying she couldn't come to Dublin to show her the apartment, her first instinct was to walk away. She relented when Millar told her she'd flown over recently to meet another person and they didn't show up "so she wanted to process immediately. We agreed I'd pay a €500 deposit in advance through Western Union and pay the rent on moving in," says Hajas.

The "landlady" then very helpfully said she knew another girl interested in the second room and Hajas began to e-mail her as well. The supposed landlady even e-mailed Hajas a scanned copy of her passport as proof of ID to help quell any suspicion she might have.

When the landlady was still in contact after receiving the €500, Hajas thought all was well but the plot thickened when she got in touch asking for proof that Hajas was good for the rent. Hajas suggested showing her a bank statement "but she wanted me to put through another payment of €1,150 through Western Union. We agreed she wouldn't pick up the money and I would put someone else's name on it as the receiver."

At this stage alarm bells were ringing and Hajas says she called Western Union. "They confirmed they would require a valid ID, and it was safe. I was really scared to be honest."

She lodged the money but by lunch time the same day she says the money had been cleaned out of the account. "The Garda advised me to wait for another day or two saying maybe it was a mistake ."

That night Hajas Googled the landlady's full name and discovered a discussion thread on gumtree.ie about a person using the same name who's been conning people all over the world. It turns out that the real Louise Millar, a Scottish woman who lives in Dublin, paid a deposit of €500 through Western Union to the same people and sent a scanned copy of her passport along with a signed rental agreement. Since then, the thieves have been using her ID to con others.

When I spoke to Millar, she said she knew of about 20 people around the world who have been conned using her name. Hajas has traced the e-mail IP addresses to a Nigerian service provider but has had no luck making contact with the provider.

A woman who rents to students contacted us to say that two German students staying with her were duped out of €1,200 when they tried to arrange a home on Wellington Quay before they arrived. Their suspicions were aroused when, after paying their deposit, they were asked for a month's rent in advance to redecorate.

The moral is, if you haven't seen a property, signed a lease and met the landlord/lady, don't hand over money. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is and, if your instincts tell you to walk away, then do it. There are lots of apartments to rent, so no need to take risks.