Property rental scam leads to five arrests
Five people between the ages of 26 and 37 have been arrested for scamming homeowners out of more than 12,000 euros in fees for promising to rent out properties to tenants that did not exist, police said yesterday. The suspects set up business on the seventh floor of an office building in central Athens at the beginning of the year and charged each homeowner 180 euros to find them a tenant. Brochures and advertising material had also been produced to convince prospective customers that the firm was a genuine company. However, police said that the firm was a front and that the suspects did not have any intention of living up to the deal. They are thought to have scammed at least 70 victims, according to officers who are investigating whether any other people were duped.
