Rental scams in Ireland: how they work, the warning signs, and what to do

By the DepositSafe team · Updated 13 October 2026 · 6 minute read

The short answer

A rental scam takes a deposit or a holding fee for a home the scammer has no right to let, and then contact stops. Gardaí recorded 399 reports of accommodation fraud in 2025, and 230 in the first seven months of 2026. The surest protection is to pay nothing before you have been inside the home. If you have already paid, call your bank at once and report it to An Garda Síochána.

How big the problem is

Around a third of each year's reports come in August and September, and Gardaí describe August to October as the peak season. In the figures published in 2023, more than half of victims were under 25 and about half of the incidents were in Dublin.

The three scams Gardaí describe

• The landlord who is abroad. The advertiser says they are out of the country and cannot show the home, and asks for a deposit to hold it or to post the keys. The deposit is paid and nothing follows.
• The home shown to everyone. Someone with access to the home, often a person living there, shows it to several people, takes a deposit from each, and disappears.
• The let that looks normal. Everything seems in order until moving day, when the keys do not work, someone else is living there, or the home does not exist, and the person who took the money cannot be reached.

The second and third mean that a viewing lowers the risk but does not remove it. Check who you are paying as well as what you are shown.

Warning signs in the ad

• The rent is well below similar homes in the area. The RTB publishes average rents you can compare against.
• The ad appears only on social media, or has few details and photos, or many spelling errors.
• The photos turn up for another address when you run a reverse image search.
• The address is vague, or does not match what a map shows.

A well-known website is not a guarantee. Gardaí say fake listings have appeared on reputable property and booking sites, and that they work with those sites to have them removed.

Warning signs in the conversation

• Contact is only by WhatsApp or Messenger, or you are asked to move off the website where you found the ad.
• The landlord cannot meet you or show the home.
• You are pressed to pay quickly, "before someone else takes it".
• You are asked to pay before any lease is signed.
• You are asked for cash, cryptocurrency or a transfer that is not through a bank.
• You are asked for personal or banking details that a landlord does not need.

Before you pay anything

• View the home, inside, with the landlord or a licensed agent.
• Check the address on the RTB register. It shows whether a tenancy is registered there, not who the landlord is.
• Ask for photo ID and a written tenancy agreement, and check that the names match the account you are paying.
• Pay in a traceable way that can be refunded, and get a receipt. Gardaí recommend a credit card where possible.
• Pay no more than the law allows: one month's rent as deposit and one month's rent in advance. See our guide to deposit rules in Ireland.

If you cannot view because you are not in Ireland yet, our guide to renting in Ireland from abroad sets out the extra checks. Students arriving from another country have their own guide: paying an accommodation deposit safely.

If you have paid a scammer

• Contact your bank or card provider immediately and ask for the payment to be recalled or disputed. The sooner you call, the better the chance.
• Report it at any Garda station. Bring the ad, the messages, the account details you paid and the payment record.
• Keep everything. Do not delete the conversation, and take screenshots of the ad before it is removed.
• Report the ad to the site or app where you found it, so others do not pay.
• Get advice from Threshold on freephone 1800 454 454 or at threshold.ie, especially if you now have nowhere to stay.

Where DepositSafe fits

DepositSafe holds the deposit in escrow from payment until move-in. The landlord verifies their identity before they can receive it, and it is released to them only after the tenant confirms the move-in. If the keys do not work or the home is not as agreed, the tenant reports a problem instead, and the deposit stays held while our team reviews it with both sides. It does not check who owns a home, so it works alongside the checks above. The tenant pays a service fee of 4% of the deposit, shown before payment.

Common questions

How do rental scams work in Ireland?

A scammer takes a deposit or a holding fee for a home they have no right to let, then stops answering. Gardaí describe three patterns: a landlord who says they are abroad, a home shown to several people who each pay a deposit, and a let that looks normal until the keys do not work.

What are the warning signs of a rental scam?

Rent well below similar homes nearby, an ad that appears only on social media, contact only by WhatsApp or Messenger, a landlord who cannot show the home, pressure to pay quickly, payment asked for before a lease is signed, and requests for cash, cryptocurrency or a transfer that is not through a bank.

What should I do if I paid a deposit to a rental scammer?

Call your bank or card provider at once and ask for the payment to be recalled or disputed. Report it at any Garda station with the ad, the messages and the payment record, keep everything, and contact Threshold on freephone 1800 454 454 for advice.

How many rental scams are reported in Ireland?

Gardaí recorded 399 reports of accommodation fraud in 2025, up 14% on 2024, and 230 reports with more than €400,000 lost in the first seven months of 2026. Reports peak from August to October.

Sources

• An Garda Síochána: student accommodation fraud warning (August 2023)
• The Irish Times: students warned of spike in accommodation scams (25 August 2026)
• Irish Examiner: students warned over fake ads (25 August 2026)
• Residential Tenancies Board: tenancy registration check
• Threshold: advice on rental accommodation for students (2024)