And the Search icon is a magnifying glass. And “settings” is a little gear wheel, the sort of thing an engineer would adjust delicately on an early 20th century machine.

Oooh, would that work in a bathroom?With a non-problematic power source, obvs.

And then the money gets transferred rapidly through several accounts, increasingly including mule accounts (“Hi! We’ll slip you £20 if you just let us rest our £800 in your account overnight, then pay it to us in cash”).

So that bank transfer joins the vast ocean of financial fraud which banks and police don’t have any tools to trace or prevent.

Nope, this isn’t paranoid. Scammer pressurises the renter to pay by bank transfer in advance, then disappears with the money.

Colleges routinely warn new students about these scams, as it’s very easy to fall. Often the “estate agent” who shows the renter around is hired help, and has no idea they’re part of a scam. The scammer online is the one who pressures for payment.

Smile: “Sure, you can ask. But there’s no guarantee I’ll give you an answer”.