Gardaí issue warning to students over rental accommodation scams as one woman loses €7,400

An Garda Síochána has warned students to be wary of rental scams over the coming weeks, highlighting one case where a 20-year-old student lost €7,400 in a scam where a property advertised in the Netherlands was never actually available for rent.

In a statement on Friday, the Garda told students to be cautious of rental scams and fraudsters over the coming weeks as people scramble to secure accommodation for the coming college year.

There was a 38 per cent increase in cases of reported accommodation fraud between 2021 and 2022, with a spike around this time of year when students return to college.

Statistics released by the Garda show around €2 million has been stolen in accommodation and rental scams in the last five years.

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More than half of victims of rental scams were young people aged under 25, while half of cases took place in Dublin.

Gardaí detailed several cases of accommodation fraud it had dealt with, including one instance where a 20-year-old woman had transferred €7,400 to a landlord in the Netherlands for accommodation.

When the young woman arrived in the country to pick up the keys to the property the supposed landlord ignored her phone calls and later blocked her number. It transpired the property advertised in the scam had never been available to rent, gardaí said.

In another case a 30-year-old man paid €4,000 to rent a property in Dublin 8, but when he later arrived at the property to meet the landlord no one was there and he was unable to contact the fraudster.

Gardaí have advised students and other renters to watch for common signs a rental agreement may be a scam.

These include claims from the alleged landlord that they are out of the country and the tenant cannot view the property before paying a deposit or rent.

In other instances gardaí said a fraudster may be living in the property and hold viewings, before taking deposits from several people and then disappearing.

Other scams include where the rental property advertised does not exist, or is occupied by someone with no connection to the fraudster advertising it for rent.