Fake rental scam: warning signs and how to check before you pay

Fake rental scam: warning signs and how to check before you pay

The listing is perfect: a bright flat in a good area for well below what everyone else is asking. The "landlord" replies quickly on WhatsApp and is friendly, but there's a problem: they live abroad, other people are interested, and they need a holding deposit today to keep it for you. If you pay, the flat doesn't exist, or it isn't theirs, and your money never comes back. This is the fake rental scam, and it works because it combines the pressure of the rental market with instant payments that are hard to reverse.

How does the scam work?

The script repeats with few variations:

1. The bait. They copy photos from a genuine listing (on another website, in another city or another country) and advertise the flat at a tempting rent, 20–30% below the going rate. Enough to trigger your bargain alarm, not so much that it looks impossible.
2. Contact away from the website. They ask to carry on the conversation on WhatsApp or by phone, away from the property website's messages, where there would be a record and where the listing could be reported.
3. The story. The landlord is away (work, an inheritance, a divorce) and can't show you the flat right now, but there's a queue of people interested. Sometimes they send a photo of a passport or driving licence (fake, or stolen from another victim) to build trust.
4. The urgent deposit. They ask for a holding deposit of a few hundred pounds by bank transfer, or even in cryptocurrency. "Just to hold it until the viewing." As soon as you pay, they vanish or ask for a second payment ("the agency needs a month's rent in advance").
5. The variations. Sometimes there is a viewing, but an accomplice shows you round, or they arrange to meet you outside a random building and never turn up. Another variation: they ask for your documents "for the tenancy agreement" (passport, payslips) as well as the money, and the haul includes your identity.

Notice what all the variations have in common: paying before checking, through a channel with no buyer protection. The money leaves your account instantly, and getting it back is never guaranteed.

What warning signs give away a fake rental?

None of them is proof on its own, but two or three together mean walk away:

• A rent clearly below the going rate for the area. Compare it with similar flats in the same neighbourhood on Rightmove, Zoopla, OpenRent or SpareRoom.
• Photos that appear in other listings. Do a reverse image search: if the same photos advertise flats in different cities, it's fake.
• The landlord can't show you the flat but can take your deposit. That imbalance says it all: checking is hard, paying is easy.
• Artificial urgency: "I've got three people waiting", "if it's not today, someone else will take it". Urgency is the tool that stops you checking.
• They want money before the viewing, by bank transfer or gift card. A genuine landlord or letting agent won't push you to pay for a property you haven't seen.
• A strange or missing tenancy agreement: no landlord's name or address, or simply "we'll sign once you've paid the deposit".
• The advertiser's phone number has reports against it. Look it up in the spam numbers directory: these scammers reuse numbers and are often already flagged.

How do I check a listing before paying?

Work through this list in order, and don't pay anything until you've finished it:

1. Look up the phone number in the spam numbers directory and in a general search engine. If it's linked to several listings or to scam reports, rule it out.
2. Reverse-search the listing's photos. If they turn up on other websites, in other cities or in other countries, rule it out.
3. Insist on viewing the flat inside before paying a single penny. No exceptions: no "I'll send you a video", no "my cousin can let you in next week". No viewing, no payment.
4. Ask for proof that they own the property. In England and Wales, the landlord's name should match the owner on the HM Land Registry title register, which you can search on GOV.UK. If they refuse or the names don't match, rule it out.
5. Be wary of a rushed agreement: a genuine tenancy names both parties, comes with an inventory and handles the deposit properly. In England and Wales, a landlord must protect your tenancy deposit in a government-approved scheme. Read everything before signing and never sign under pressure; in England, the government's How to rent checklist on GOV.UK helps you know what to expect.
6. Pay only after viewing, to the landlord or letting agent named in the agreement, and keep a receipt: never to a third party's account, never in cryptocurrency or gift cards, and never in cash without a receipt. And never pay "to view the flat".

What do I do if I've already paid the deposit?

Act fast, even though your options are limited:

1. Keep everything: the listing (screenshots), conversations, payment receipts, phone numbers, the supposed agreement and any ID they sent you.
2. Tell your bank straight away and ask them to try to recover the payment. If you were tricked into making a bank transfer, ask about the reimbursement rules for authorised push payment (APP) fraud, under which banks have to refund many victims. If your bank says no, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You'll find more on recovering money on the NoCall blog.
3. Report it to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) on 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland on 101, with all the material. Give them the phone number and the payment details: those are the lines of enquiry. You'll get a crime reference number your bank may ask for. For advice, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service (in Scotland, Advice Direct Scotland; in Northern Ireland, Consumerline).
4. Report the listing on the property website, and the number in the spam numbers directory, to stop them finding their next victim. Scam adverts can also be reported through the National Cyber Security Centre.
5. If you sent your passport, driving licence or payslips, keep an eye on your accounts, check your credit file with the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) and mention the possible identity theft when you report it.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to pay a deposit if they send me a photo of the landlord's passport? No. A photo of an ID document proves nothing: it could be fake, stolen or someone else's. Money only changes hands after you've viewed the flat, with a written agreement from a landlord or agent you've been able to identify.

The flat exists and I've seen it from outside. Is that enough? No. Seeing the front door or the building doesn't prove that the person letting it to you owns it. You have to go inside and check who the owner is.

Are the big property websites free of these listings? No. Websites remove fraudulent listings when they spot them or when they're reported, but scammers keep reposting. Checking is up to you on every website.

They're only asking for £50 "to arrange the viewing". Could that be genuine? No. Charging you to view a rental is not genuine practice: it's the cut-price version of the same scam, which works because "it's only £50" and hardly anyone reports it.

In short

When renting, the genuine order is non-negotiable: listing, viewing inside, proof of ownership, written agreement, and only then a traceable payment. Anything that reverses that order (paying before viewing, an urgent transfer, a landlord you can never meet) is the fake rental scam in one of its forms. Check the phone number in the NoCall spam numbers directory before you fall for the flat and, if you've already paid, contact your bank and report it as soon as possible. More step-by-step advice in our guides.