A MAN’S dream flat vanished right before his very eyes in a sick rent scam.
Craig Barton, 29, handed over £450 to a fake landlord after believing he’d found the perfect property in Belfast.
GettyCraig Barton was met with radio silence when he tried to get in touch with his landlord[/caption]
The chef met the man at the home he believed was about to be exchanged into his hands.
Craig got the keys, gave over his deposit and signed a contract.
A few days later when he was ready to move in, “looking at his front door” Craig knew something was wrong.
The hopeful home owner, got in touch with the ‘landlord’ but was now being ignored.
He told the BBC: “There was no reply so I was getting the feeling that something was going wrong.
“I couldn’t get in the main door, so I rang the buzzer.
“It was someone else that answered, they said they didn’t know what I was talking about. The number [of the apartment] he gave me was wrong.
“I was gutted after, I felt like I lost all my money and everything.”
Amy Lyness of Housing Rights said fraudsters don’t care how desperate people are to own their own home.
She said: “They would understand that people are desperate, that there’s a lack of available housing along with the increased prices that people are having to pay.
“They can produce an advertisement that says there’s available housing at a slightly reduced rent.
“They’re going on the basis that desperate people will want to jump on that good deal and that’s where they’re likely to get caught without being able to establish the legitimacy of the tenancy.”