Gardaí warn students of potential accommodation fraud

Gardaí have issued a warning to the public to be wary of rental scams ahead of the new college term. 

Gardaí have described rental fraud as an incident when “a victim pays money to rent accommodation (typically in the form of a deposit) and subsequently discovers that the transaction was fraudulent”.

Examples of this include a fraudster claiming to not be able to show the renter the property unless they pay a deposit first and the fraud victim then loses this deposit money. 

Another example is when the fraudster is living in the property themselves and shows it to multiple people, gets deposits from them before disappearing with the money.

A third instance of this would be when the transaction seems to be normal but the renter later discovers that the property doesn’t exist or is already occupied by another individual. 

Gardaí have confirmed that approximately one third of all accommodation fraud reports occur during August to September each year.

The return-to-college time frame (August – October) shows an annual spike in accommodation fraud, with 34% of victims being under the age of 25, and 66% of victims under 33 years of age. 

54% of victims of accommodation fraud are male, while 46% are female. 30% of victims are Irish.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) advises that there are a number of red flags/warning signs that include, “If the rent seems too good to be true then it probably is – there is no such thing as cheap accommodation especially in urban areas”.

They also warned renters to look out for advertisements that are only shown on social media or through WhatsApp, if they have spelling mistakes, if the property is advertised as a ‘one-time offer’ or if the landlord is unable to meet you in person to view the property.

Also, be vigilant if you are asked to pay in cash/ cryptocurrency or to a bank account that is in a different country.

In July 2024, 12 victims reported a loss of €20,746 (average of €1,729 each) to An Garda Síochána.

10 of these victims were Irish-based and lost €15,231 or an average of €1,523 each. Two foreign-based victims were moving to Ireland and lost €5,515 between them.