'No such thing as cheap accommodation': Students warned over fake ads and 'money mule' offers

Detective Inspector Alan Govern from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and Detective Sergeant Niall Smith speaking to members of the media in Dublin on Tuesday. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Students are being warned there is "no such thing as cheap accommodation" as they urged people not to fall for fake rental offers ahead of the coming academic year.

An Garda Síochána has warned that €410,000 has been stolen through accommodation scams in the first seven months of the year, with 230 reports of such scams before the “peak” autumn season as students return to college.

They are also warning teenagers and young adults that there is "no easy money" to be made from becoming money mules, where stolen money or the proceeds of crime are sent to their bank account and transferred to another in exchange for money or expensive gifts.

Around €9.4m had been laundered through money mule accounts in the year to June 2025, with gardaí warning it is becoming a more common issue across Ireland.

"It can be as simple as one student saying to another student in his class he's after buying x, y, and z out of this easy money," said Detective Sergeant Niall Smith from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.

"Unknown to that student, he may recruit another student into becoming a money mule."

Det Sgt Smith added: "In the south of the country, a particular recruiter was in there recruiting one money mule and the money mule recruited all around them and there was 18-20 people in one class that was linked into it and that was using their accounts as money mules.

"It is common and we are seeing it increasing, (as) with all fraud."

The warnings were issued by gardaí as Leaving Cert students are due to receive offers for college places through the Central Applications Office (CAO) this week.

Detective Inspector Alan Govern, of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, said reports of accommodation fraud had increased in recent years. They feature offers of college accommodation, rentals, and holiday homes.

He said in these types of crimes, fraudsters pretend to be landlords, estate agents, or property managers and ask for punters to pay a deposit, rent, or a holding fee before viewing the property.

Once the payment is made, the fraudster disappears and the victims find that the property does not exist or was not available to rent.

In 2025, there were 399 reports of accommodation fraud, up 14% on previous year, compared to 230 reports as of this year before the "peak season" of August to October.

He said sums averaging €550,000 were stolen through this type of fraud in 2023, but it has increased to €680,000 last year.

He said 103 individuals have been identified as suspects in fraudulent accommodation offers, with just 12% of total reported incidents having a suspect or suspect offender.

Det Insp Govern warned those looking to buy accommodation to view the property before paying money; to check the keys work in the property; not to pay in cash or cryptocurrency; and to use the Residential Tenancies Board website to view average rent prices in the area.

"If the rent seems too good to be true, well then it probably is — because there is no such thing as cheap accommodation,” he said.

Gardaí said they “constantly” engage with platforms such as Google and Meta and host providers such as Daft.ie and Booking.com to remove ads which appear to be false or fake.