Students are warned to be cautious when looking for accommodation - as the Metropolitan Police Fraud Prevention Team revealed that one-third of the recent internet-related crime reports were involved in housing Scams.

The Metropolitan Police Fraud Prevention team have warned students to be cautious when looking for accommodation - as a recent review demonstrated that housing scams currently make up one third of all internet-related crimes.

As the new academic year gets underway, the market is being flooded with Students eagerly seeking accommodation before University term time begins. Bogus Landlords are capitalising on this rush of demand by listing “non-existent” properties for rent on the internet.  These scams typically occur within the bargain properties category advertised on free property listing websites.

In order to secure this “highly desirable property”, prospective Tenants are requested to provide their bank details or transfer a sum of money to these bogus Landlords in advance.  The Landlord - in question - subsequently disappears once information needed has been obtained.

Since the majority of Landlords prefer dealing with Tenants via the telephone, Detective Sergeant Chris Felton - from the Metropolitan Fraud Prevention Unit - advised prospective Tenants to be suspicious of any advertisements that withheld telephone numbers or offered free sign-up emails accounts.  He also recommended Students not to rush into deals even if they had not been offered accommodation via University Halls and gain official University guidance when seeking outside accommodation wherever possible.

Although the warning is mainly targeted at Students, officials also confirmed that anyone currently using free property listing websites should be vigilant as the same type of scams are now surfacing within the Holiday Home and Car Sales industries.