Rental Scams to Avoid in Europe

October 2026

Where flats are scarce, scammers follow. Students and people moving from abroad are the easiest targets: they are in a hurry, they cannot view a flat in person, and they do not know how renting works locally. The scams look alike from Amsterdam to Oslo to London.

How the scams work

Pay first, view never. The "landlord" is abroad for work and cannot show the flat, but will post the keys once you have paid the deposit and first month's rent. There are no keys. Dutch prosecutors describe this as the core of rental fraud: paying in advance for a home you have not been able to see.

A real flat, a fake landlord. Scammers copy the photos and text of a real listing and post it cheaper, elsewhere. The flat exists; it just is not theirs to let.

A fake safe payment. You are told your deposit will be held by a deposit scheme or a booking site until you move in, and you get a convincing email confirming it. Britain's police fraud reporting service warned about exactly this: the money went straight to the fraudster's account.

Fees to get a viewing. A "reservation fee", "viewing fee" or "registration fee" before you have seen anything.

Social media listings. Ads on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are harder to trace than listings on established rental sites, which check who is posting.

Warning signs

• You are asked to pay before you have seen the flat, in person or through someone you trust
• The rent is well below everything similar nearby
• The landlord cannot meet you, and has a reason why
• You are pushed to decide today, because "many others are interested"
• The payment goes by money transfer service, crypto, gift cards, or to an account in another name or country
• The listing's photos turn up elsewhere when you search for them

How to check

1. See the flat before you pay. If you cannot go, send a friend, a colleague, or someone from your employer or university. British police advice is to pay nothing until you or someone you trust has visited with the landlord or agent.
2. Search for the photos. A reverse image search shows whether the same flat is listed elsewhere under another name or price.
3. Check who owns it. Most European countries keep a land register, and several let anyone look up a property's owner for a small fee; in the Netherlands it is the Kadaster.
4. Check the agent. A real agency is in the country's business register and has an office you can visit.
5. Pay by bank transfer, to an account in the landlord's name, after you have signed a contract. In the euro area, banks now check that the name you enter matches the account. If yours warns of a mismatch, stop.
6. Know the local rules. In Norway, a deposit must go into a deposit account in your name, not the landlord's own account; a landlord who insists otherwise is breaking the law. Finding Affordable Apartments has the rules for other countries.

If you have already paid

1. Call your bank at once. A transfer can sometimes be stopped or recalled if you are quick.
2. Report it to the police. Give them the listing, messages, names, phone numbers and the account you paid into. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in 2025; in the Netherlands, the Fraudehelpdesk also takes reports.
3. Report the listing to the site or app where you found it, so it comes down before someone else pays.
4. Keep everything: screenshots, emails, receipts.

Sources

City of London Police: Report Fraud replaces Action Fraud (UK police). Openbaar Ministerie: online campaign warns of rental fraud (Dutch Public Prosecution Service). Husleieloven § 3-5 (Norway's tenancy act).