The internet classified listings service Gumtree will meet with the Residential Landlords Association to discuss scams in which fraudsters posing as landlords demand cash for viewings.

Letting Agent Today carried a report on the problem last month. 

The RLA has issued a warning over the online advertisements which often include cloned logos which can superficially give a level of authority to the display.

The ads typically show well-located and competitively-priced apartments, but often with the landlord apparently living overseas. 

When prospective tenants call to arrange a viewing they are typically told that they must provide a deposit to secure even a viewing – the so-called landlord or agent acting on their behalf then, predictably, does not show and the payment is lost to the prospective tenant.

The RLA says anyone caught up in a scam of this kind should telephone 0300 123 2040.