[bananakin]

I have been the victim of a scam at a flat in Finsbury Park - 123c. The guy placed an ad on gumtree and when I viewed the flat I paid him a holding deposit of £207. He kept in touch, keep up the act that everything was ok - I realise now that this was because he was taking money from many other people right up until the time the real tenants moved in.

He had a set of keys and showed me the flat in person I so thought I had no cause for concern. It's an awful thing to happen. If this happened to you please contact the police as soon as possible.

If you are viewing a flat through gumtree that isn't through an official estate agents, please ask for ID and proof that the owner has given permission for the flat to be rented. In this case it seems a few agencies were in charge with finding a tenant and so there were a few sets of keys going round - that either slipped into the hands of an agent who left and starting scamming people, or were passed on somehow.

Face to face scamming does happen and it's an unpleasant experience so please do be careful. It feels far worse than if I'd just had my bank details stolen but an anonymous person. This guy could see I was happy I'd found a flat I liked - he knew he was going to cause me distress and that's probably the worst thing about this experience (apart from now having to find a new place to live).