An advertisement offering a rental apartment in Arrecife at a price below the market, in which its advertiser ends up asking for money in advance to show the house, has raised alarms in Lanzarote about a possible scam. In fact, although police forces have stated to La Voz that for the moment there are no complaints about this specific case, they have indicated that it seems to be "100%" a scam. In addition, the Civil Guard has confirmed that in the last six months there have been "at least ten complaints" in Lanzarote for other cases of rental apartment scams, "with victims both residents on the island and from the Peninsula."
It was a reader of La Voz de Lanzarote who raised the alarm last week denouncing a possible scam after having contacted an advertiser through the website Milanuncios.com who claimed to rent an apartment in Arrecife. However, this media outlet was also able to verify it firsthand days later through a similar advertisement.
In both cases, homes were offered on Manolo Millares street in Arrecife, although at different numbers on the street. The rental price in the case of the advertisement contacted by La Voz was 330 euros plus 660 euros deposit, with expenses included, garage space, and pets were also accepted. The advertisement was accompanied by photographs showing a modern building and it also indicated an email address as contact, with the advertiser assuring that he had problems receiving messages through the web platform.
La Voz, direct victim
After a first email showing interest in renting the apartment, the advertiser responded to La Voz stating that he was an "English" man, who had "lived in Spain for nine years", where he married "a Spanish woman" and that he had bought the apartment for that, but that now he had "returned to the United Kingdom" permanently and that is why he was renting the apartment for a long season.
However, he pointed out that he did not have anyone in Lanzarote to show the apartment, being him "the only person who has the keys". "That's why you can't see the apartment before", he explained. The supposed owner of the house added that he was "willing" to send the keys and "sign the contract" through a well-known vacation rental company. A fact that already caught the attention of La Voz, given that what he was supposedly offering was a long-term rental and not a vacation rental, and also the advertisement did not even appear on the page of that company. "To be both insured, to trust and be 100% safe", he indicated, stating that he had already rented the apartment through that website and that he had "very good references from other clients".
In the email, the advertiser asked the sender if he was interested in the apartment to "explain the procedure" for its rental and sent a link with photographs of the property, which at that time did not even appear on the web of milanuncios.com. However, it is unknown if the advertiser himself removed it or if it was the company, since La Voz contacted the advertisement portal to ask about it without obtaining a response.
La Voz then decided to write again to the supposed owner of the apartment, insisting on being able to see it before making any payment. However, he simply responded by explaining the procedure for its rental. Specifically, he requested that the data of the person who was going to rent be sent to him (full name, address and telephone number), the date on which he wished to move in and a photocopy of the ID, indicating that once he had them he would register the transaction with the well-known vacation rental company and a link would be sent to make the reservation on the web platform of the same.
"Then they will give you the payment details, how and where you can confirm the deposit of the total (990 EUR)", he stated, pointing out that once it was made, "an agent" of the company would meet with us "to inspect and make the inventory". "You approve the property, sign the contract and move in", indicated the advertiser, who on the other hand pointed out that the contract would be "from one month to unlimited time". If we decided not to rent the apartment, he assured that the full money would be returned "in 24 hours" and "without any extra charge".
Asks for the rent and deposit money in advance
In a third attempt, La Voz insisted again on the need to see the apartment first. "Unfortunately, before making the payment to the company, the visit cannot be made, because I am out of the country", responded the advertiser, who justified the request for money in that "the agent comes from far away to show the apartment and cannot come if he does not have a guarantee". In this new response, he also urged us to let him know "as soon as possible" if we agreed with the procedure, stating that it could not be done "in any other way".
Once it was verified that there was no advertisement of the apartment that this person was offering on the website of the well-known vacation rental company with which he claimed to work, this media outlet contacted the advertiser again, then requesting that he send us the link directly to make the reservation through the platform of this company. "In order to send you the link, I must leave the notice on the line. This means that I will be able to receive reservations for the season as well. I will send you the link only once I receive your data in order to make the contract and start the procedures".
Some of those affected in Lanzarote even paid
La Voz de Lanzarote decided to cut off communication with the advertiser at this point and contact the different police forces to ask if there had been any complaints about it. "There have been no complaints, but it is a 100% scam", La Voz was told from the press department of the National Police.
The Civil Guard also stated that the procedure of this advertiser was the "recurring mode" in cases of rental apartment scams and, although they did not specify if complaints had been registered for this specific case, they did point out that "at least 10 complaints for the same thing in Lanzarote in the last six months" had been filed, pointing out that those affected are both people residing in the Peninsula and on the island. "They are people who even copy real advertisements changing the contact information, advertisements that do not have to be on the island of Lanzarote", they pointed out from the Benemérita, from where they confirmed that some of the victims had even paid. "They advance the money, they never see it again and obviously they are left without an answer", he added.
La Voz de Lanzarote also entered the email address that was stated in the advertisement of the apartment offered in Arrecife in Google, appearing references to other publications of rental homes in other places in Spain although, when trying to access them, the advertisements also appear as already removed.
