One of the most common ways of action, which practiced apartment "The Grifters" - the creation of a fictitious firm, where even the employees do not know the true owners and are unaware of their criminal intentions. Typically, such office is created for a very short time to process the "fat" client, while at the same time and all those who by chance during this period will get the hook crooks, "swallow" them skillfully cast lures. Typically, the client identified as the victim in such a firm registered in the figurehead leads gunner. Others may fall into it, after reading the usual advertising: Criminals try anything not to stand out and give the advertisement in the newspaper.

It is clear that all the documents that draws such a "realtor firm", is the most natural fake. When it comes to money, with them immediately evaporate true masters of the office. To find out any information about the owners of the apartment is almost impossible. The owners, landlords, as a rule, or are somewhere working abroad and for the flat look after some family members, either as owners of housing are long dead, and the square meters designed to, once again, nevertheless, to distant relatives living outside of Ukraine. This method is quite successfully used by fraudsters in XIX century.

A typical example is a student of the Kiev university Catherine, who became a victim of housing scams. Through a newspaper advertisement, she called the real estate agency, where she was immediately offered a flat in a convenient area for her.

"For a two-bedroom Khrushchev in Chernigov" masters "like $ 250 prepaid for six months in advance. Because the apartment was good repair, furniture, telephone and she was close to the subway, I agreed. Although, the first thing that alerted me, the landlady was not with a passport with a residence permit, but I did not pay attention to it. In the presence of a broker, we all still amounted to a contract, but it did not contain the passport details of the hostess, which she promised to give me later. The woman was so nice that I did not feel let down and gave her money for six months and still pay the broker $ 250, - says Catherine.
During this removal imaginary landlady gave the girl the keys to the apartment and when it checked the lock. When Catherine came to take root, it turned out that the keys to the castle, she rented an apartment is not suitable. The girl tried to call landlords and brokers, but they could not find. As for real estate agencies, through which a student has found shelter, it scaled back its operations and employees to find virtually impossible. Moreover, as it turned out later (the girl turned to the police), this apartment surrendered simultaneously 8 tenants, and from all scammers have been charged in six months in advance plus a percentage off their "broker".

This is not an isolated case. A similar story happened with the indigenous people of Kiev, Valery. Deciding to rent an apartment in a prestigious area, he turned in a solid real estate company, where he was offered an apartment in Podil, which bodes well for his arranged. Looking passport owners, where it was listed registration in the apartment, and signing an agreement through a broker, the guy got the keys to the apartment and paid a monthly fee for housing. Arriving with things already, Valeri opened the door, but entering saw a few strangers. As it turned out, these were the same candidates for the rental of the apartment, which "lit", as well as Valeria. Fake landlords simply made a few duplicate keys and gave them to all who wish to rent. Money is "happy" to return the tenants did not succeed.

Another very common method of fraud, as they say professional scouts - "work under a foreign flag." An experienced crook gets a fake passport or a specially made, and it starts to work in this most desirable medium-sized, real-estate firm dealing in real estate on a formal basis and without any crime.

Some time this scout behaves exclusively around and quietly, and because he is fluent in the subject of fraud, it is often even a very good standing at the helm. Then the fraudster to select suitable in all respects an apartment and begins to secretly work. It offers the same apartment they also specially selected group of clients. Naturally, they do not expect any dirty trick: the company has a good reputation, and work with them its official employee. Of course, none of the victims did not know that at the same apartment fraudster previously prepared several contracts.

Then within just one or two days swindler invites unsuspecting customers in the estimated rent an apartment, and each of them takes a deposit. Trickster works extremely brazen, energetic and very fast. The danger for him was not great - customers do not know each other, each of them is fully satisfied that the desired apartment will belong only to him. Company management and colleagues fraudster completely unaware of ongoing fraud. Can hinder only some fortuitous event, but this is rare.

After receiving money from customers offender immediately disappears, leaving us clear up the mess all the consequences. Performance of this mode is different, but, according to experts, in any case, scammers collect not less than a few hundred dollars.

Risk as those who takes shelter in a pure trust owners without signing any lease. This category of tenants generally will not be able to prove anything in the case of unscrupulous employers. An example of this - a situation occurred with Anastasia. Taking off his flat on the recommendation of friends, she signed a contract with the landlady in words, but not on paper. After five months of the owners simulated robbery apartments and one and a half to put the girl child on the street without giving her time to find decent housing.

In Kiev, there are about thousands of different real estate agencies that charge for their services is 50-100% of the monthly cost of the apartment, but because on average the most popular 1-bedroom apartments in a residential area of the capital are now 170-200 dollars a month, the agents removed a decent Snatch from tenants renting "cheap" apartments. Moreover, they themselves brokers artificially cranking housing prices, assuring owners of apartments that wages and housing demand is growing consistently. And this is also a kind of legitimate fraud.

It should be noted that the season of frauds in real estate market all year round. Although the observations of law enforcement, the number of scams is somewhat reduced in the summer, because summer real estate market is not as active as the fall or winter.