Up to 30 people fall victim to Dublin rental scam

Up to 30 people have reportedly been conned out of €35,000 in a rental scam at an upmarket apartment block in Dublin.

Reports this morning said a man claiming to be the landlord had advertised the two-bedroom apartment in the Ballsbridge area on property website Daft.ie and then rented it out to everybody who was interested.

He gave a set of keys and a lease agreement, which he signed, to each prospective tenant and collected a €1,150 deposit and month's rents in advance.

However, when the tenants showed up, they keys did not work.

Up to 30 people are understood to have fallen victim to the scam, which happened at the Sweepstakes complex.

Daft.ie director Brian Fallon said that the site would now consider starting a "bond authority" scheme, with the tenant paying the booking deposit directly to Daft.ie.