A MUM-OF-FIVE has told how she almost lost £1,600 to a fake landlord after looking for a house on Facebook.

Furious Christine Owen Price warned other online house hunters to be vigilant after she was nearly duped into handing over wads of cash.

The 48-year-old had spotted what she thought would be a perfect home for her teenage son and his pregnant girlfriend.

But it turned out the so-called 'landlord' of the three-bed property in Fegg Hayes, Stoke-on-Trent, didn't even OWN the house.

Christine explained she had shared a post on a local Facebook page asking whether anyone knew of any suitable properties.

The gran-of-10 then received a message from a woman called "Linda", who claimed she had the ideal home to let.

The fake landlady then suspiciously told Christine she lived out of the area and requested cash upfront as security due to her "bitter experience" of a string of cancelled viewings.

But she assured the 48-year-old the money would be refunded in full if the house was not suitable for her son.

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In an error-strewn email, she told Christine: "My bitter past experience of inviting people to come and view or reserve my house and not keeping up to time as at when scheduled, has brought about great loss to me.

"I currently live and work in Canterbury and I would need to take a day off in order to come down to Stoke-on-Trent and schedule a viewing with you.

"You would need to make a deposit to secure the house," it said.

"Your funds would be protected and monitored at the NLA chairman office, so you have no worries!

"Upon the verification of payment, we will proceed immediately with the viewing or at your convenience day and time.

"Note: if you decide not to rent my house anymore when you come for the viewing, your money will be returned to you immediately without reduction."

But the fraudster's shifty stunt was rumbled when Christine's husband went to check out the home and found a Northwood estate agent's sign erected outside.

GUT INSTINCT

After contacting the property company, they confirmed they had never heard of "Linda" and explained the house already had a tenant.

Christine said told the Stoke Sentinel: "My blood's boiling as I so nearly got scammed.

"I've been looking for a house for my son and his missus as they're having a baby and want to live together. They've been saving for ages.

"At first, I thought nothing was wrong but something told me in my gut that it wasn't right.

"It turned out that they already had someone living there.The estate agent asked me the name of the supposed landlady and it wasn't right.

"It was clearly a scam. When I called Linda out, she just told me I must have been at the wrong house and even said I wasn't allowed to view her property without her there.

Christine continued."It's not against the law to suss a house out from the outside.

"She was expecting a deposit of £1,600 which she probably would have got if I didn't dig a bit deeper.

I just want to let other people looking to rent know that these scammers are out there and if something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.

"This woman should be ashamed of herself.

"I just want to let other people looking to rent know that these scammers are out there and if something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't."

She then slammed the cruel con woman for trying to swipe her son's hard-earned savings.

"They could have been back to square one if I hadn't questioned it," the mum added.

A spokesperson for Northwood's Stoke office urged prospective tenants to go thoroughly vet properties and go directly through estate agents.

They said: "We are sorry to hear that the family almost fell victim to a scam, but are relieved to know that it was found out before any harm was done.

"The property in question had already been rented out, legitimately, by this office and our best advice to anyone looking to rent is to be extremely careful when using social media platforms and ideally always seek the guidance of a fully registered and accredited lettings agent such as Northwood to help you through the process."

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