'If it's too good to be true, it's a scam' - 22% more people fall victim to rent fraud

While rent scams can happen at any time, Threshold said they occur more often when students are returning to college. File photo

The number of people falling victim to rental scams increased by 22% last year. It comes as gardaí confirmed a steady rise in the issue over the last three years.

In 90% of cases since January 2019, the frauds related to renting out a property, with the remaining 10% relating to booking short-term accommodation, such as hotels.

Accommodation fraud incidents peak around August or September, but prior to the pandemic gardaí also found that levels were elevated during the summer.

Almost half (45%) of all incidents of accommodation fraud last year were reported between August and October. Similarly, in 2020 almost 40% were reported during this time period.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Last year, 279 incidents were reported, with 103 incidents within the third quarter of that year alone, compared to an overall total of 228 incidents in 2020. In 2019, the total figure stood even lower with 231 incidents, 82 of which were reported in the second quarter of the year and 72 within the third quarter.

When compared to 2020 and 2019, there was an approximate increase of 22% in incidents of accommodation fraud in 2021. Almost half of all injured parties are under the age of 25, including a large number of students on the hunt for college accommodation.

Edel Conlon, Southern Regional Manager at Threshold, said that over the past two years they have seen some international students falling victims to rental scams. While scams can happen at any time, she said they occur more often when students are returning to college.

Ms Conlon warned against incidences where a person letting a property claims to be out of the country.

She advised:
Never agree to rent a property without viewing it. And if it looks too good to be true, it usually is a scam.

She urged people to “err on the side of caution” when looking for a place to rent.

Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Gardaí National Economic Crime Bureau advised house hunters to be wary of social media advertisements or where a person will only communicate via apps such as Messenger or Whatsapp.

If taking up an offer, he recommended using a credit card as such transactions can be refunded and covered by a provider's insurance in some cases.

“Be wary if a website is asking you to send money to a random PayPal address, wire it by Western Union, pay in iTunes gift cards or only deals in cryptocurrency,” he said.

“The majority of the time, those methods are done to avoid scrutiny and ensure that a transaction can’t be reversed.”