The sun goes down on Auckland as it approaches Earth Hour, March 27, 2010.
The sun goes down on Auckland as it approaches Earth Hour, March 27, 2010. The Earth Hour, when everyone is asked to turn off lights for an hour from 8.30 p.m. local time, is a show of support for tougher action to confront climate change. Viaduct Harbour is seen in the foreground, the Sky Tower at right. Reuters/Nigel Marple

High demand for housing in New Zealand’s Auckland city is becoming a fertile ground for fraudsters to dupe vulnerable house hunters. Already a few have fallen prey to an international rent scam and lost thousands of dollars to some scamsters reportedly based in Nigeria.

According to 3 News report, fraudsters use a legitimate home rental advert and copy it to a website called Gumtree. When someone replies to the Ad, the fraudster will contact the potential victim and ask to pay a bond and advance rent.

Julie Craig had such an experience. She moved out of her Mt Albert rental after it was being demolished and thought she found the perfect replacement, when a three-bedroom house was advertised for rent. The Ad was on Gumtree and had an affordable rent of $450 a week.

“We're just average, middle-income people who can't afford the rents most people are asking, so when I saw the photos and it looked really nice I thought oh yes, at last',” says Craig.

The advertisement was placed by someone claiming to be a Pastor Fred Jones, who replied that he moved overseas and wanted to make the house available to someone who could not afford higher rent. He only wanted just three weeks' bond and $1800 as advance.

Luckily, before transferring the money, Ms Craig searched Jones on Google. Not seeing any trace of him, she went straight to the house and met with the owners and explained the problem. They had rented the property, but the tenant had not moved in yet. They were absolutely shocked.

Nigerian Fraudster

Later, it turned out that Jones was a Nigerian fraudster who would simply copy the legitimate rental ad for his scam on Gumtree. “Taking advantage of people in need is what it is,” says Craig. In this case, Craig did not lose money, but another Auckland house hunter lost $2000 to scammers and approached solicitors Barfoot and Thompson to file a case.

The chances of them getting that money back is quite slim, asserted Kiri Barfoot of Barfoot and Thompson. She has a simple advice for house hunters that if an Ad looks too good to be true, better smell some fraud.

Unaffordable City

Meanwhile, Stuff reports the international spotlight on Auckland and how pricey the Auckland houses have become. The 11th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has put Auckland as the 9th least affordable city in the world. This means, Auckland houses are now pricier than those in Los Angeles and reaffirms its skewed housing affordability.

(For feedback/comments contact the writer at kalyanaussie@gmail.com)