Comedians stung by Edinburgh Fringe accommodation scam

Edinburgh Fringe performers have spoken of how they fell victim to a scam over their festival accommodation.

Acts lost around £4,000 in total to a conman who offered a room for the month to several tenants at the same time… which he didn’t even own.

Police are building a case against the fraudster – but the performers have been told they are unlikely to recover any cash.

They are now staging a one-off cabaret show on Saturday to try to recover their lost deposits.

Josh McAuley, who performs as drag queen Gloria Hole, pictured, lost £1,000 after responding to the conman, who advertised on a  Fringe performers’ Facebook group.

‘Most acts were approached directly after posting that they needed accommodation,’ he explained. ‘He offered the same address to people. He provided a copy of a utility bill and his passport and took partial payment off all the acts. 

‘Most of us found out in advance when a couple of acts discovered that they were renting the same room. Unfortunately at least two acts didn't find out until they arrived in Edinburgh and turned up at the flat, which belonged to his previous landlord who has an existing police case.

‘The total lost is around £4000 from victims we are aware of. Some acts cancelled shows but most of us found alternative accommodation. It reminded us of the great spirit that surrounds the Fringe, with acts being offered spaces on floors, accommodation with venue owners and support in finding new places to stay.’

Magic duo Griffin and Jones, were also stung by the same scam.

Steven Griffin said: ‘We’ve been coming up to Edinburgh Fringe as punters and performers for nine years now, and this is the first time we've experienced anything like this. It's fair to say it's made the whole experience a lot more stressful, but it'll take more than that to ruin the Fringe for us.’

His double act will be performing at the fundraiser, Scammed: A Cabaret, along with Gloria Hole and comedians Brandon Craig, Cam Davies, Patrick Spicer and Stephanie Browne 

The gig takes place at Sweet Venues Grassmarket at 9:15pm on Saturday, with advance tickets priced £5 from the venue, or pay what you want at the gig.

Published: 17 Aug 2017