Here’s a weird one for you.  A friend (let’s call her Gina) recently went on to a ‘reputable’ website to find a flat share and got a gushing email from a woman who had just bought a fabulous apartment in Sydney’s CBD and was looking for a flatmate.

Unfortunately for the owner, her mother was ill and she’d had to return to Croatia to look after her.  Would my friend mind living in the flat on her own for at least six months?

Would she ever?  Then came an email telling Gina to fax over a CV, a recent bank statement  and a photocopy of her passport.  Keys would be couriered to her.

Hang on, says Gina, I haven’t seen the flat yet. “Darling, of course you must see it,” gushed another email. “But I can’t send you the keys until you send me proof of identity.”

Smelling a rat, Gina went to the address and discovered it was an office block.  She emailed the dubious ‘roomy’ that she was no longer interested.

As attempts at identity theft go, this was fairly clumsy but you have to wonder how many home-hunting hopefuls fell for it.

Tell us your weird and wonderful flat hunting stories on flatchat.com.au/forum.