Lucia's nightmare, renting the perfect apartment and realizing after three days that she's the victim of a scam

Lucia speaks with wet eyes (this is not her real name). She has not yet been able to assimilate what has happened to her. She has gone from being a spectacular rental apartment in Deusto , Bilbao, to being the victim of a scam affecting several people. Everything has happened in just three days.

Luciana's suffering began on a Sunday, though she was not yet aware of it. Looking for a flat, she saw on the Idealist website the announcement of a flat in Deusto. She contacted the (presumably) owner and made an appointment to see it the next day.

It all happened quickly. She liked the apartment, and she quickly agreed to rent it. The fraudster explained that until then she had it as a tourist apartment, but she decided to rent it for a while because of complaints from neighbors. She asked for a guarantee of 1,000 euros and a rent of 1,000euros for August.

There could be about 10 victims.

He caught the scam on Wednesday. When he went to clean up the house, he was stunned.I found sevenor eight people inside. They asked me who I was. I told them I was a tenant, I had rented the apartment.

I haven't reacted yet. I've been left with a fortune, now I'm indebted. I've had to make sacrifices and now I'm going to have to work hard to get back (...) I have two jobs. My husband is on leave because he's just been operated on. I have a daughter here and another son and family in Venezuela. They need my help.

Aware of the scam, he went to the Ertzaintza to filea complaint. Other victims paid in cash, at least he has transfer certificates. He tells us that another person took all his belongings, including his bed, to the house. Now he has nowhere to go. There are also those who have been tricked through Facebook. Almost all the victims are of foreign origin .

Lucia believes there may be more than 10 victims, although she does not know the exact number. She encourages those who have suffered fraud to go to the Ertzaintza. There are more and more complaints, better. This cannot happen; they play with our needs.

A long trial ahead

At the police station he met the real ownerof the apartment, who had apparently rented it for three days on the Airbnb platform. Lucia and the other victims had not even seen the little sign near the door of the house.

The real owner of the apartment and the other victims have tried in vain to contact the fraudster. The Ertzaintza keeps the investigation open. They tell him that the trial will be long and he will have to go to court, but he can get the money back.

Lucia is hopeful that life is like a restaurant, that no one can leave without paying, that money can be recovered, that worse things could happen to us, thank goodness.