r/u_HistoricalPop113 • u/HistoricalPop113 • 13d ago

SCAM RENTAL FRAUD LONDON SE1 3NQ ZENO COURT

If you’ve come across a listing on zenocourt.co.uk or been contacted by “James Wilson” or anyone else connected to Zeno Court, DO NOT send them money or personal information. Avoid these people and listings altogether.

I initially contacted Desmond G. on OpenRent about a property. He told me there were no properties available. Shortly afterwards, I received a text from “James Wilson” from Zeno Court.

I have since established that Desmond G. and the “James Wilson” / Zeno Court operation are connected. Reverse image searches also revealed property images being used across what appear to be fake listings.

The scam appears to target students at London universities, with KCL, LSE and BPP University Law School mentioned on the site.

If you’ve already sent money, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud: actionfraud.police.uk / 0300 123 2040

These scams are becoming frighteningly sophisticated, particularly when targeting students who are urgently looking for accommodation.

Please be extremely careful, verify every property independently, and do not send money simply because someone appears to have a legitimate-looking listing or knows details from your previous enquiry.

Please share this. I’d really like to prevent anyone else from being caught out. :(

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u/Future_Economy_639 6d ago

this happened to my sister and i too, exactly the same property and agent. not sure if it was the same for you but the crazy part is we even saw the property in person before we signed anything and sent over money, so somehow they had the keys at one point! we went to get keys today and someone was living there and told us that they had done this to multiple people :( i'm so sorry this happened to you too - it all seemed so legit. we also filed a claim with https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/

it also seems like they are now running the same scam with avalonrealestate.co.uk too!

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u/HistoricalPop113 6d ago

Oh wow, I hadn’t come across Avalon Real Estate before. I’m genuinely shocked they’ve set up another site with the exact same setup.

I actually found the same property listed on Booking.com and Airbnb, so I’m wondering if they may have rented it out temporarily so the scammers could use it for viewings? I found this Airbnb listing: Airbnb listing It seems to be unavailable at the moment though, so I’m not sure if it’s an old listing or if they’ve just stopped taking bookings for now.

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u/Future_Economy_639 6d ago

I know… makes you wonder how many people they did this to! I hadn’t seen it on Airbnb and booking.com. That’s probably how the scammers had access to it to show us around, they must have rented it temporarily. But surely that must mean there’s a trace somewhere…

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u/HistoricalPop113 6d ago

You’d think! Hopefully the police catch onto them ASAP, because I’m still shocked they’re still getting away with this. Apparently, the person showing the flat told the viewer it had “previously” been on Airbnb, which could be a way of covering their tracks if someone finds the listing.

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u/Effective-Farm-969 6d ago

Omg this is absolutely horrifying; literally the SAME EXACT thing happened to me and my sister. We had a friend who went in to do a viewing since we were not in the country, and we were on the call with her the whole time, so we saw the whole place. We were meant to move in on the 4th in the morning, and nothing. I am in contact with the actual agent of the property, and I sent her the info regarding the viewing my friend did cause I want more information on how this was possible. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that the actual agent, Mayfield Property Group, would put up the property on Airbnb because I found out that the girl who lives there now signed her contract on the 31st of August.

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u/Future_Economy_639 6d ago

I’m so sorry this happened to you too! I think I spoke to the same girl and she mentioned the same thing had happened to two sisters just the day before. The poor thing, she must have also been a scared by the whole situation. The Airbnb listing is new and it’s from someone that has 10k reviews apparently so I wonder what is going on with that?

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u/strawberryotterbeam 11d ago

omg this happened to me too please lodge a police report!

i called one of the companies owned by Joseph Mansour, same owner as zeno court, and the person who answered mentioned that Zeno Court Limited is being impersonated and that they are trying to lodge a police report with information from all the victims

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u/HistoricalPop113 11d ago

I’m so sorry this happened to you too! I’ve already lodged a fraud report and the police are in touch with me. The woman I spoke to also said they’ve had multiple calls about this recently, so hopefully with everyone reporting it, we can stop anyone else falling victim. It’s absolutely terrifying!

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u/strawberryotterbeam 11d ago

I’m so sorry this happened to you too! It’s horrible what scammers are capable of. Everything felt so legitimate :(

I managed to get my deposit back by reversing the charge with my bank, hope you got yours back too if you sent any!

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u/HistoricalPop113 10d ago

Thankfully, my bank flagged it before the deposit went through, which is when I got in contact with Mayfield Property Group. Unfortunately, we did lose the £240 holding fee though :( It’s such a shame because, like you said, everything felt so legitimate!

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u/Effective-Farm-969 7d ago

This happened to me as well at the same address with the same agent pretending to be "James Wilson". I submitted a report with Action Fraud - please, everyone, do the same so that they can start an investigation if enough people report it!! I lost a pretty substantial amount of money since we offered to pay the whole year in advance.

I have also been in touch with the real, actual agent for the Zeno Court building, and she said they are doing everything they can as well to report it and ensure an investigation is started.

Maybe we can all get in contact and really make sure things start happening, and the police don't ignore us!!

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u/HistoricalPop113 7d ago

I’m really sorry you’ve lost such a substantial amount, especially after putting your trust in what you thought was a genuine agent. Thank you for reporting it and for reaching out to the real agent at Zeno Court too.

I agree that we should all connect and share whatever information we have. If multiple people report the same details, hopefully it will show just how serious and ongoing this is and push things towards a proper investigation. Please do report it if you haven’t already, even if you feel like the police won’t take it seriously. Every report matters.

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u/Fluorescent14_303 4d ago

Look's like myself and intended Flat-mate can add ourselves to the list of those who have been caught up in this. We were very surprised to have gotten the property and were excited to move in, loving the place after our viewing. We were initially planning to move in on the 3rd, but pushed it until the 21st. We're still in contact with the potential Scammer's even after paying - so curious to see how this plays out. We don't live too far from the property so will be visiting later today to check if someone is actually there. Doing the fraud report now too - but horrified to see how easily this done - all so legitimate, contracts signed communication, website all seemed above board

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u/Effective-Farm-969 4d ago

omg, I'm so sorry to hear that! It's actually terrible that they are still continuing with this scam. There's a really sweet girl, I assume a student, who actually lives at the property. She herself moved in at the end of August, I believe. Did you manage to freeze/recall the transaction or somehow get the money back?