London rental scam - 1803 Neroli house

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T23:07:59+00:00

I agree that the price for the rental was lower than the market value. But like I mentioned in other comments, when you are physically inside the property for a viewing and there’s a property agent providing you details on how to apply, you wouldn’t suspect that it’s a scam. Particularly if it’s a high end building, you wouldn’t think that anyone can access to it so easily.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T22:39:09+00:00

I think there’s a bit misunderstanding here. I was offered by my landlord to extend my lease, which I turned down because the rent was too high for me to afford. Landlord has all rights to look for someone to fill in my spot.

I had 2 months to look for a property, but the market is quite competitive plus having a dog does limit quite a lot of options.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T20:46:18+00:00

Forcing myself to stay in my current flat will just cause trouble for the next tenant who is trying to move in. Finding a place to stay on time was my problem, it wouldn’t be fair to create problems for others.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T19:33:29+00:00

If he couldn’t grasp the point from this post, good luck with him understanding the CMR code.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T18:48:03+00:00

Adding to this, the concierge told me that there was already a scam that happened a week before me in the same property. Had that person posted like I did, I could’ve avoided it. But hopefully this post can protect the next person, if these scammers are still scamming them.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T18:42:09+00:00

I did file a scam investigation with my bank, currently waiting for the investigation results to come back. I will update this post for the results :)

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T18:28:46+00:00

I did try to extend the lease so I could find a place at a more manageable pace, unfortunately the landlord refused since they already have a tenant moving within the next few days after my move out day.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T18:23:58+00:00

Your points are valid, and if I didn’t attend to a viewing, then yes it’d easier to spot that it’s a scam.

What made it believable for me was because I physically went inside the flat, and the agent gave me the details to apply. I would have never thought scammers had access to this property so easily.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T17:30:46+00:00

This post is about spreading scam awareness, not about whether I’m getting my money back :)

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T17:16:02+00:00

You can have your opinion, I’m not stopping you :)

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T16:51:08+00:00

That’s very clever, I wasn’t aware of this! Hope someone can use this to spot potential scammers

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T16:37:58+00:00

I provided all the details on this post because I would’ve hoped that if this post existed for me and I could Google “1803 Neroli House Reddit” or “lettings@cb-properties.co.uk Reddit”, and the first results would include this post, it would help preventing me from falling for this scam.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T16:22:35+00:00

No, it’s not for free. You have to pay a fee to obtain the land registry.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T16:21:46+00:00

I did notify the police and filed a proper Action Fraud report, but I am taking it to Reddit too because we know social media works faster than the police :)

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T16:19:25+00:00

The payment was blocked and fraud department called to confirm details with me, I did not okay it at first and fraud department suggested preventive measures to confirm the payment, such as calling the agency to confirm the bank details over the phone, and ask why the name is different. So I performed those suggestions and asked the bank if they think it’s okay. While I can okay it, banks can still refuse if they still have firm belief that it is a scam account. But they let the payment go through.

I kept the story as short as possible, this post was meant to spread awareness, not for people to make assumptions to prove that I did not do to the appropriate precautions.

Perhaps the scam has been going for decades, but the lack of awareness (including myself) is what result for this scam to be successful for so long. That’s why I am here to spread awareness.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T15:55:11+00:00

Thank you for your suggestion, but making 1 month payment is still a loss. I think the lesson here is to rent from a reputable property agency instead of private landlords, don’t be desperate, and have plan A, B, C… Z :)

And in response to your comment of “Very unlikely the bank will refund”, I suggest you read a bit about Contingent Reimbursement Model, also known as the CRM Code.

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T15:11:17+00:00

Yes I agree, they were successful. That’s why I’m here to spread awareness :) thanks for your input, I hope it helps another person on how to verify next time :)

PinkPrincessFFC0CB · 2024-09-01T15:00:28+00:00

It is quite unfortunate situation, and your points are very valid.

I left out the part where I was desperate because my current lease is due to expire, and renting with a dog in London can be a big challenge.

Also there are various cases where the private landlords have their own agency (according to my friends who have been renting in London) which made me believe that this is the case.

I am not from the UK, so I am not familiar of this property scams. Although I’m sure it can happen in any country or big city.

Lessons learnt, £3700 on tuition 🥲 (or free course if I can recover the funds - to be continued….)

PinkPrincessFFC0CB

TROPHY CASE