'Help! My university accommodation turned out to be a scam'
Dear Which?,
I’m a UK university student currently on an exchange year in Rotterdam, Netherlands. While still living in the UK, I tried to secure accommodation in the city and fell victim to a scam.
Since most exchange students in Rotterdam do not receive university-provided housing, many of us resort to Facebook groups and housing agencies to find private accommodation.
Unfortunately, I contacted someone who was posing as a landlord in one of these Facebook groups and was sent the property details.
After being offered a contract, I was asked to make a deposit to secure the property. But once I made the payment, the individual requested additional money.
Despite the warning signs, I was hesitant to believe I had been scammed. I’d made international payments from my UK bank account totalling around £1,143.
My bank investigated but was unable to recover the funds. The receiving bank in the Netherlands also couldn’t retrieve the money.
Because of this scam, I was unable to find a home before term started and was initially forced to stay in a hostel, though I’ve now secured accommodation for the final few months of the year. Is it possible to get my money back?
James Rance, Rotterdam
Sign up for scam alerts
Our emails will alert you to scams doing the rounds, and provide practical advice to keep you one step ahead of fraudsters.
Sign up for scam alerts
Faye Lipson, Which? senior researcher, says:
Normally we advise never to pay before viewing a rental property, due to the risk of scams. But being an exchange student trying to secure accommodation before you arrive makes that very difficult advice to follow.
Knowing how challenging it can be for overseas students, it's disappointing that the university cannot help to secure accommodation for you. You’ve told me that it provides a list of genuine letting agents, but it can take months to find housing. Sadly, fraudsters are drawn to situations such as these. They know that their victims, when under stress and with a looming start date for their course, may miss or ignore warning signs.
New UK laws require victims of bank transfer scams to be reimbursed up to a maximum of £85,000, but sadly this only protects payments that are made between UK bank accounts. As it stands, overseas payments remain relatively risky.
Because there’s no right to reimbursement, it’s up to your bank to decide whether to make a goodwill payment. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees, but we hope that you receive some good news soon.
Need to know
- If you've transferred money to a scammer, you should contact your bank immediately as it may be able to recover the funds from the receiving bank.
- New protections for bank transfer scams don't apply to transactions made to non-UK bank accounts.
- If you're transferring money overseas, you need to be certain that the recipient is genuine, as recovering your losses is likely to be very difficult.
- If using a money transfer service, make sure it's an FCA-authorised firm (not just registered) – this means your money should be protected if the transfer firm goes bust while it has your money.
