An NHS nurse was horrified to discover his new home was actually someone else’s Airbnb rented by a fraudster ‘landlord’ just days before he moved in.
Ben Echianu, 43, was desperate to find a property big enough for his three children to stay over after breaking up with his partner.
After spotting a Gumtree ad for the three-bedroom property for £750 per month in central Manchester, Mr Echianu got in touch with a woman claiming to be called Amy.
Footage taken by Mr Echianu shows him viewing the house on June 19 with Amy who claimed to own it.
Mr Echianu said he could pay the £2,000 deposit within four days of the first viewing and was then told his application had been accepted the next morning.
He returned to the property to sign the tenancy agreement in the last week of June and said Amy opened the home with a set of keys.
The father-of-three paid £1,000 via bank transfer and £1,000 in cash and a move-in date of July 1 was agreed and an inventory meeting was scheduled for two days earlier.
But he said Amy stopped replying three days before he was due to move in, and when he visited he was stunned to find other people already staying there.
NHS nurse Ben Echianu (pictured), 43, was desperate to find a property big enough for his three kids to stay over after breaking up with his partner
The baffled NHS worker, from Chorlton, Greater Manchester, admitted he then became ‘worried’ and visited the property on June 29.
Shockingly, he found ‘other people’ inside the house he was hoping to move into.
He said: ‘The property is close to where I play football so the day before the meeting, I went there and low and behold people were already in the property.
‘I saw a lady lying on the sofa and when I knocked on the door she ran upstairs straight away and didn’t want to answer.
‘One of the lodgers asked what the problem was, I asked for Amy and she said she didn’t know anyone called that and that this was a short-term rental.’
The devastated nurse believes Amy has previously stayed at the home, had a key cut, then returned when the house was empty to show him around and pose as the landlord.
He added: ‘When I got back, she still wasn’t picking up so I thought, “this isn’t normal” and “it’s too good to be true”. The price was way below what is normal there.
‘I spoke to a lady who lives beside the property and she said to the best of her knowledge the house is used for Airbnb.
Footage taken by Mr Echianu shows him viewing the house on June 19 with Amy (pictured) who claimed to own it
‘She knows the owners and they’ve handed it over to a company that manages it. That’s when I realised it was a scam.’
The property can be found on Airbnb and Booking.com for short-term rental by property management firm City Superhost.
After calling City Superhost to report the incident last week, the management firm said they have changed the locks.
Mr Echianu, who currently lives with a friend, said he is ‘traumatised’ by the incident and claims he has been contacted by other scam victims targeted by the same woman.
Airbnb said they have removed a user from their platform following an internal investigation and Gumtree said they encourage people to report suspicious behaviour so their ‘dedicated trust and safety team’ can investigate.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed the incident is being investigated as an alleged fraud by the Action Fraud team.
Mr Echianu said he will be able to claim £1,000 back from his bank but he won’t be able to recoup the £1,000 he paid in cash.
City Superhost believes the scammer faked the house viewings during the period she had booked to stay.
Mr Echianu said he could pay the £2,000 deposit within four days of the first viewing and was then told his application had been accepted the next morning
A City Superhost spokesman said: ‘We think somebody has booked it and during their stay has had a number of people [round] and she’s acted as an estate agent.
‘We’re responsible for keeping the properties well maintained, well looked after and secure so when something like this happens our first thought is security and the safety of the guests and any future guests.
‘We’ve got both sets of locks changed, we’ve spoken with the neighbour who has a camera and she’s been very helpful and we’re in communication with the police.
‘Most people are here for genuine reasons, whether it’s visiting friends and family, for tourism or events that are on.
‘Like any industry, if you’ve got one person who wants to upset things then they’re going to try and do it.
‘City Superhost manages nearly 100 properties and this is the first time something like this has ever happened.
‘We’re Airbnb superhosts and 99 per cent of guests are fantastic and just want to use the property.’
Desperate to stop it happening to anyone else, Mr Echianu said he hopes she will face the legal consequences of her actions soon.
He added: ‘There is a housing crisis and cost-of-living crisis so when people see something where it’s quite cheap she plays on their vulnerability.
‘It makes it worse that I have heard other people have been scammed. I want to make sure she’s apprehended. She’s heartless.
‘I don’t think she knew I was taking the video of the property so I captured her face and everything.’
Airbnb said they have ‘trust and safety teams’ to identify fraud on their platform and encourage users to report suspicious activity.
The platform runs annual campaigns with online safety experts to warn users of third-party scams and have warned against unusually cheap deals or high deposits.
A spokesperson for Gumtree UK said: ‘At Gumtree, the safety of our users is our absolute priority, and we do not tolerate fraudulent activity on our platform.
‘We require that property ads on our site comply with government regulations for property advertising, and we list prominent safety advice for prospective tenants on our website, which recommends that all potential tenants check the relevant paperwork, ask to see proof of ownership, and ensure a tenancy agreement is in place before paying deposits or holding fees.
‘We strongly urge anyone who thinks they may have come across a scam or experiences suspicious behaviour to report it to us immediately via the ‘Report’ button listed next to all ads.
‘Our dedicated trust and safety team will investigate and take necessary action, such as removing adverts and blocking offending users, and supporting law enforcement in their investigations.
‘We encourage all our users to read more about our posting policies and guidance for searching for properties safely online on our help desk: help.gumtree.com.’
A spokesperson for Booking.com said: ‘In the very rare and unfortunate instance that a customer engages in unlawful behaviour at a property they have booked on our site, we offer support where needed and will cooperate with law enforcement as required.
‘Our guest management tool also allows partners to be able to instantly report guest misconduct and when necessary we will block the responsible customer account on our platform.’
