Do you have a relative who is looking for a student apartment? Currently, a new scam that does not appear to be rife on online personal classifieds sites. A foreign student had the bitter experience of this. Testimony.
THE online scams spare almost no sector, including that of House rental. Lately, a scam of a whole new kind is rampant on online ad sites, concerning rentals of student accommodation. On Twitter, in a long post, a lecturer at Lyon 1 University took the floor to alert students and their families to this new scourge that seems more real than life. It all started when one of his foreign students, whom he supervises, started looking for a student apartment to rent in Lyon.
A correct accommodation announcement, a conclusive visit
One day, he comes across an interesting ad for a furnished studio on a well-known classifieds site. The offer seems fair, the rent is reasonable… Neither one nor two, the young student contacts the owner to arrange a visit. At the time of the appointment, he is greeted by a woman who claims to be the cousin of the owner of the accommodation. The visit goes smoothly, so the student submits his file and sends the supporting documents requested.
A few days later, the young man contacted the owner again to find out his decision. He informs him that his file has been accepted. Very quickly, the student receives the signed lease and all the documents required for renting accommodation (owner’s bank details, extracts of laws, joint surety for the guarantor, etc.). At the same time, the owner answers his various questions. Until then, all the indicators are green. For the professor at the university, who reread all the documents, everything also seemed correct. Except that two days before handing over the keys, the student pays the owner the first month’s rent and the security deposit, i.e. a total of 1,200 euros. He warns her of the payment and that’s when the owner will never hear from her again. The scam has made a new victim!
A well-crafted scam
In this story, the student was the victim of a scam. In reality, the person he was in contact with was not the owner of the accommodation. Returning to the address of the apartment, the student and his teacher realized thatit was a rental accommodation, Airbnb type.
A foreign student that I am supervising has just been the victim of a particularly vicious real estate rental scam, so in case it could be used to protect other people, I will tell you what happened. 1/N
— Antoine (@a_berut) June 30, 2023
According to the teacher, and after checking with the real owner, “people rented the apartment on a holiday platform, organized fake visits, to scam people into believing that they were going to be able to rent it”, says the professor’s tweet. Following this testimony, other victims came forward in comments. The student and his teacher have decided to file a complaint. Remember that it is best never to pay anything before having collected the keys to the accommodation. And to avoid identity theft when sharing certain personal documents, there is a service offered by the state, called DossierFacile. On this site, each student can compile a secure rental file, in which their identity papers are protected.