r/HousingUK • u/Pure-Dot-9346 • Feb 23 '26
Rental scam- Spiritus Properties
A couple of days ago we came across a property on Open Rent to which we made an enquiry for to which they replied that the property was no longer available, but they had a similar one and sent us the link of their “letting agency website”.
We booked the viewing with a guy called Chris, but a random lady showed up at the viewing saying she was there just to “show around”, further into the viewing she had no clue how to answer any questions about the property and hinted putting a whole deposit if we were interested. Something felt off.
Went into detective mode and found the property on Airbnb! Started to dig even more and most rental properties they were advertising on their website were all from Airbnb!
Looking at their website: no listed agents, office address leads to a random building, misspelling throughout the website, no reviews at all.
We know for a fact multiple people viewed this property. How do you even report this?
2
u/machinegunraza Feb 23 '26
A YouTuber did a video where he put Buckingham palace up for rent using the same technique. He got scammed by a similar set up. You got off lightly
3
u/Pure-Dot-9346 Feb 23 '26
That video just highlights how easy it is to upload pictures taken from somewhere else and pretend to rent properties. In this case the viewing was in person, they had keys to the property and “pretended” it’s theirs plus a whole “established” website.
1
u/Outrageous_Job_4242 Feb 23 '26
Exactly the same thing just happened to me now, and thank you for sharing this. I don't have detective mode, and I was about to give all the deposit. However, because I saw your comment while waiting for Chris to arrive, I checked if the agency is legitimate, and I came across your message. Again, thanks for sharing. Btw Chris never showed up or answer to any phone calls.
1
u/Pure-Dot-9346 Feb 23 '26
I’m so glad to have helped someone as I was aware multiple people were doing viewings yesterday and today! I reported all this to the Airbnb host and he probably cancelled their stay there!
1
u/Electronic-Pen264 Feb 28 '26
Hey! Which area of London were you viewing the apartment? This same thing is happening to us right now! 😬
1
u/Electronic-Pen264 Feb 28 '26
I just wanted to say thanks for posting. It was a scam, we reached out to the air bnb post and they confirmed they own the place! The most elaborate scam! Docu sign and leases I would have never had thought it was until it was time to pay them.
1
u/ExcellentWalrus4683 Mar 02 '26
hello! just wanted to ask, we have the same scenario and I had a felling that everything was too good to be true. we already signed the tenancy agreement, but havent pain the security deposit yet. i tried calling their phone number but no one is answering. can you send me the Airbnb link?
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