Amsterdam Apartment Scam??

Hello..I hope someone can help with a bit of advice!
My 18 year old son is about to start uni in Amsterdam and we have been told there are no spaces on campus, this left us no choice at this short notice to try to get an apartment in the private sector. My son found an apartment on Craigslist Amsterdam that looks great , very near the uni and very cheap (compared with most ).In an Email from him he said he is now based in London and the apartment is for rent, i phoned the number he gave us and explained that i am a London black cab driver and it would be no problem for me to meet up with him for a chat, we arranged a meeting for the following morning , next morning an Email arrived saying he had to go to Lagos with his company !
His Emails are very complimentary saying " your son is just the person i am looking for to take care of my flat and you must promise to lookb after it cos its my pride and joy etc". ive just recieved another Email saying "the apartment is yours and he has drawn up papers for tenancy etc and we are to pay a months deposit and someone will meet us there with keys etc.
I would really like this to be genuine but alarm bells are ringing here...This has got to be a scam aint it or am i just being a cynical old cab driver ?.....Many thanks jimbob

Your instinct is correct. It is a typical apartment scam. The scammer does not own an apartment at all. The scammer claimed to be in London because he needed an excuse for the whole "send money without seeing the apartment " scenario.

When you said you were in London, he didn't want to admit he wasn't there, so he agreed to a meeting he had no intention of attending (actually he couldn't attend the meeting, because he was never in London.) His plan when he accepted was to invent an emergency to explain why he couldn't meet you.

The truth is, he has been in Nigeria all along, sitting at a computer conning people looking for housing.

Thanks so much for reply, i think i knew all along it didnt smell too good but so much wanted it to be true ( i guess thats how they work eh ! )...Anyway thanks again and i just want to say what a great site you have here !jimbob