In Florida, 18 families fell victim to a rental scam by the same culprit, as each family transferred upfront a deposit of $1000 to secure the same property, only to discover that it was not available. In another instance, expats in Spain and Gibraltar fell victim to scammers who tricked prospective tenants into sending them €1000’s in total deposits before fleeing to Italy. In the UK, in London, an online scammer deceived 17 victims and embezzled their paid deposits for a room which he was supposedly offering online.