Fake rental scam: red flags and how to check before you pay

Fake rental scam: red flags and how to check before you pay

The listing is perfect: a bright apartment in a good area for well below what everything else costs. The "landlord" replies quickly on WhatsApp and is friendly, but has a problem: they're living abroad, lots of other people are interested, and they need a deposit today to hold it for you. If you pay, the property doesn't exist, or 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, irreversible payments.

How does the scam work?

The script repeats with few variations:

1. The bait. They copy photos from a real listing (on another website, in another city or another country) and advertise the property at a tempting price, 20-30% below the going rate. Enough to set off your bargain alarm, not so much that it looks impossible.
2. Contact away from the website. They ask to keep talking on WhatsApp or by phone, away from the property website's messaging, where there would be a record and where the listing could be reported.
3. The story. The landlord is away (work, an inheritance, a separation) and can't show you the property now, but there's a queue of people interested. Sometimes they send a photo of a passport or driving licence (fake, or taken from another victim) to build trust.
4. The urgent deposit. They ask for a holding deposit of €200–€500 by Revolut, instant bank transfer or even crypto. "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 the property, or they arrange to meet you at some front door and never turn up. Another version: on top of the money, they ask for your details "for the lease" (ID, payslips), and the haul includes your identity.

Notice what all the versions have in common: paying before checking, through a channel with no buyer protection. It's the same trap as any payment-app scam: the money leaves instantly and there's no way back.

What red flags give away a fake rental?

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

• A price clearly below the going rate for the area. Compare with similar properties nearby.
• Photos that appear in other listings. Do a reverse image search: if the same photos advertise properties in different cities, it's fake.
• The landlord can't show you the property but can take the deposit. That imbalance says it all: checking is hard, paying is easy.
• Artificial urgency: "I have three people waiting", "if it's not today, someone else gets it". Urgency is the tool to stop you checking.
• They want money before the viewing, by Revolut, transfer or top-up. No genuine letting requires payment before you've seen the property and signed.
• A strange or non-existent lease: no landlord details, no full address or Eircode, or simply "we'll sign after the deposit".
• The advertiser's phone number has reports against it. Look the number up in the spam numbers directory: these scammers reuse numbers, so theirs may already be flagged.

How do I check a listing before paying?

Follow 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 scam reports, rule it out.
2. Reverse-search the listing photos. If they turn up in listings for other properties, or in other cities or countries, rule it out.
3. Insist on viewing the property inside before paying a cent. No exceptions: no "I'll send you a video", no "my cousin will let you in next week". No viewing, no payment.
4. Ask for proof of ownership: the landlord's photo ID and evidence that they own the property. If they refuse, rule it out. You can check who owns a registered property with a land registry folio search through Tailte Éireann, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) advises always checking the property with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
5. Be wary of the express lease: a real letting is signed with both parties identified, an inventory and a deposit you get a receipt for. Read everything before signing and never sign under pressure.
6. Pay only by traceable means and only after signing: a bank transfer to the person named on the lease, never Revolut to a third party or cash without a receipt. If your bank warns you that the name doesn't match the account you're paying, stop. And never pay "to see the property".

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

Act fast, even though the options are limited:

1. Keep everything: the listing (screenshots), the conversations, payment receipts, phone numbers, the supposed lease and any ID they sent you.
2. Contact your bank immediately. If you paid by card, ask about a chargeback; if it was a bank transfer, ask them to try to recall it; with instant payments the options are fewer, but get it on record.
3. Report it to the Gardaí at your local Garda station with all the material. Give them the phone number and the payment details: those are the lines of investigation.
4. Report the listing to the website so it can be taken down, and the number in the spam numbers directory to cut off the next victim.
5. If you sent a copy of your passport, driving licence, PPS number or payslips, keep a close eye on your accounts and tell the Gardaí about the possible identity fraud.

The CCPC's page on rental accommodation scams covers many of the same warning signs.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to pay a deposit if they send me a photo of the landlord's ID? No. A photo of an ID proves nothing: it can be fake, stolen or someone else's. A deposit is only paid after viewing the property and with a signed lease.

The property 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 renting it to you owns it. You need to get inside and check ownership.

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

They're only asking for €50 "for viewing arrangement fees". Could that be genuine? No. Paying a fee just to view a rental property isn't normal practice: it's the cheap version of the same scam, which works because "it's only €50" and hardly anyone reports it.

In short

When renting, the legitimate order is non-negotiable: listing, viewing inside, proof of ownership, lease, and only then a traceable payment. Anything that reverses that order (paying before viewing, an urgent Revolut payment or instant 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 property, and if you've already paid, go to your bank and the Gardaí as soon as possible. More step-by-step protocols in our guides.