When Chanuki Bavington found what looked like the perfect flat to rent she was delighted and relieved. After living in supported accommodation and recovering from health problems, she longed for her own place.

The offer of the one-bedroom flat in Exeter had come after she placed an advert on Gumtree asking for benefit-friendly landlords. However, the landlady said she lived in Coventry and couldn’t get the time off work to show Bavington around. “She said she’d had time-wasters in the past,” says Bavington. “We spoke at length, and her story seemed valid.” Bavington transferred £500 to the woman’s account, but several weeks later the 28-year-old was devastated to learn she had fallen for a scam.

Her experience is far from unique. Latest figures show an increasing number of people are being scammed by fraudsters taking advantage of a highly competitive rental market.

Reports of rental fraud in the UK jumped by around a third in 2015 compared with the previous year, with 2,940 incidents, according to Action Fraud, the national fraud and internet crime reporting centre. In the first nine months of this year 1,891 people reported they had been a victim of rental fraud.

In Bavington’s case the fraudster had taken pictures from a legitimate property listing on another site, changing key details to convince her victims. “She sent a signed tenancy agreement and deposit guarantee letter, adding that I’d get a full refund if I didn’t move into the property – I decided to take the risk,” she says.

The rise in fraud comes at a time when securing appropriate housing is becoming increasingly difficult. “Intense competition for a dwindling number of homes has left thousands of people with little choice over where they live or who they rent from. It’s all too common for us to hear from people ripped off by fraudsters,” says Roger Harding, director of policy and campaigns at housing charity Shelter.

Scammers use various methods to deceive tenants hunting for a property, according to Action Fraud. These can range from fake listings to perpetrators advertising properties that are already rented out and then disappearing with deposits.

The most common deception, however, involves cheap properties being advertised for rent in prime locations. The properties – dubbed “phantom flats” – are owned by somebody else or simply do not exist.

It is the duty of a website to show some due diligence in establishing that a property is valid Andrew Goodacre, RLA

Another common scam is when fraudsters convince users of property rental sites to transfer money straight into their bank accounts to “secure the property” before viewing, playing on people’s worries about competition from other renters, high demand and a need to act fast. After payment has been made, the “landlord” disappears.

PhD student Vitor Fernandes, 31, and his girlfriend were also victims of rental fraud, in their case losing £1,050. They saw an advert for a studio flat in Cambridge on a popular local property website. “Prices are high and there is lots of competition – but ideally we wanted to avoid extra agency fees,” he says. Two other properties were listed in the same building, with a landlord who was based in Germany. They made an inquiry and got an email from “Andreas” which included a tenancy agreement and proof of identity. He had also added a link to a Research Gate profile, the professional network for scientists.

“We were told other people were interested who could move in straight away, and some were willing to pay the deposit without viewing,” says Fernandes. “But ‘Andreas’ said he preferred us as we wanted a longer tenancy. We had lengthy conversations, checked out his identity and that the property existed – and appeared empty.”

The couple eventually agreed to sign a contract and pay a deposit. “He agreed to give us the keys when he was next passing through, but we never got hold of him again.”

It turns out that more than 17 people had been tricked by the fake adverts. “He was a professional fraudster who won our trust,” Fernandes says. The proof of identity he had provided later turned out to be stolen.

Large classified websites such as Gumtree say they have systems to investigate reported ads, working with the police to tackle rental fraud.

“We are very sorry to hear that someone has been a victim of a scam when looking for a property. While millions of people use Gumtree every day safely and securely, some people are intent on criminal behaviour, and scammers will try to take advantage of people who don’t follow our safety advice,” says a spokesman. “We always encourage people to follow our safety advice and guides, which can be found on our website and also pop up when users are viewing home rental adverts directly.”

However, Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the Residential Landlords Association, thinks more needs to be done to vet listed properties. “Simple warning messages are needed, such as never handing over money before viewing a property,” he says. “It’s the duty of websites where properties are advertised to show some due diligence in establishing that a property is valid.”

A spokesman for property advertising website The House Shop says: “Scammers have become highly sophisticated, while the number of low-cost or free advertising platforms has risen – some bogus adverts may still slip through nets even when they’re reviewed.

“We all know scams are going on, but nobody wants to talk about it openly because they don’t want to admit fraud is happening on their website. For big players in the classified ad space, there may be little they can do to prevent it.”

For those who fall victim to an online rental scam, there is little hope of getting their money back. People have been advised to report suspicious adverts to the website if it appears something is not right. Victims’ banks should be contacted as soon as it is feared there has been a fraud, in case the money has not yet left the account.

Meanwhile, several websites have emerged which offer services to protect against falling victim to rental fraud. Among them, RentProfile provides a searchable database of landlords, and includes identity checks, whether they own the property or have been subject to any housing prosecutions, and reports from previous renters. If there isn’t a record of a particular landlord, tenants can request a landlord check report costing £9.

“While at university I was the victim of a fake landlord and lost £1,000,” says co-founder David Munday. “I met the landlord who appeared genuine. He had a tenancy agreement and said a bank transfer was fine. On the day I was due to move in he texted to ask for another month’s rent. I didn’t agree to this, and after that I couldn’t get hold of him – and realised I’d been scammed.” Munday and his brother set up the website after they discovered that this was a common occurrence.

Some property advertising websites are also increasing their security. The House Shop, for example, has joined forces with the Land Registry to launch a landlord verification process. Anyone listing something for rent must confirm official details of the property, which is checked against the Land Registry database to confirm ownership.

STAYING SAFE

There are several ways renters can protect themselves from scams:

■ Never hand over any money before viewing a property in person.

■ Ideally, visit the property with the landlord and take somebody with you.

■ Ask lots of questions. An honest landlord should know the answers.

■ Ask the landlord to verify their ID and for any safety certificates such as for gas and electricity.

■ Research the property to check it actually exists.

■ Check the landlord is the legal owner of the property using the Land Registry.

■ Landlords must be part of a registered tenancy deposit scheme. Check which scheme a landlord is registered with.

■ Pay a deposit using a credit card if possible, which will provide some protection. Never hand over cash.

■ Only hand over money when you have seen a written contract and checked it.

■ Shelter offers information on how to check if your deposit is protected.

■ Look for a landlord who is a member of a professional body such as National Landlords Association (NLA).

■ If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, so walk away.

For more tips go to guides.gumtree.com/property-safety

• This article was amended on 24 October 2016 to introduce the quotation marks around the word “landlords” in the headline, as initially it did not correctly reflect the story.