Online rental fraud arrest in Almeria

A MAN passing himself off as an Almeria city estate agent is under arrest for conning at least 24 people in an online rental fraud.
Police said 39-year old J.J.S.C. offered properties to let in the provincial capital on different websites, but it was all a scam.
Would-be tenants signed contracts and handed over cash deposits or made bank transfers of between €150 and €500 to secure the rentals, but never actually saw any of the supposedly available properties first-hand, much less move into them.
To explain why he still had not handed over the keys, the conman would fob them off for a while with excuses like there were works being finished up in the property or that the previous tenants had extended their contracts.
By the time the fraud victims realised they had been swindled it was too late to get their money back, police said.
In all the fraudster got his hands on more than €9,700 since the first con in August 2015.