GARDAÍ HAVE ISSUED a warning on student accommodation fraud ahead of an expected increase in such scams due to students returning to college.

While there has been an 11% decrease on reports of accommodation fraud to the end of June, gardaí noted that around one third of all accommodation fraud reports occur during August and September each year.

There is also an annual spike in accommodation fraud with the return-to-college timeframe between August and October.

Some 34% of victims of accommodation fraud are under 25, and 66% of victims are under 33.

In July, 12 victims reported losses of close to €21,000 to gardaí – the largest amount was €3,685 while the smallest was €380.

At least 8 of the 12 victims were deceived through social media or online adverts.

Such rental fraud occurs when a victim pays money to rent accommodation, typically in the form of a deposit, and subsequently discovers that the transaction was fraudulent.

• Gardaí say typical examples of rental fraud includes:The fraudster claims to be out of the country and cannot show the renter the property unless they pay a deposit. The victim pays the deposit and is at the loss of the deposit.
• The fraudster is living in the property and shows a number of people the property, gets a deposit from several people and then disappears with the money.
• The transaction appears normal until the renter finds that the property doesn’t exist, is already occupied or the keys do not work and the landlord has disappeared.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau has advised that there are a number of red flags to look out for and warns that if it seems too good to be through, it probably is.

Such red flags include accommodation only being advertised through social media or the person letting the location only communicating through text / WhatsApp or other social media platforms.

Another red flag is where there is a sense of urgency like “a one-time offer”, or the listing containing only very limited details or pictures of the property.

Gardaí warn that people should also be wary if the landlord is unable to meet up to show you the property in person or if the bank account you are asked to send the money to is in a different country.

People should also be aware if the property is offered with no questions asked and payment is demanded immediately before signing the lease.

Gardaí have advised that people should only use recognised letting agencies and to never agree to rent a property without first viewing it.

When it comes to payment methods, gardaí advise not to pay in cash and to instead pay in a way that is traceable and refundable and to insist upon a proper receipt.

People should also be wary if a website is asking you to send money to a random PayPal address or asking you to wire it by Western Union.