Sham letting agents put 18,605 ads on SpareRoom

A gang of crooked letting agents advertised thousands of properties on the website SpareRoom to collect deposits on properties that were not even available, a court heard. The fraudsters cashed in on London’s overheating property market to fleece desperate tenants fighting for accommodation, it is claimed Deposits they took just to view properties were never returned and the companies they set up vanished overnight, Southwark crown court heard. One company alone advertised 18,605 rooms through at least 18 different accounts…