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Key points of the article
- Overseas apartment rental scams affect thousands of students and expatriates every year.
- Fake ads, fake owners, advance payments: several types of rental scams exist.
- Identifying a fake rental ad involves simple and accessible verifications.
- Verifying the identity of the lessor owner is an essential step before making any payment.
- Clear warning signs make it possible to avoid scams before signing a contract.
- In the event of financial fraud, remedies exist: file a complaint, report, DGCCRF.
- Going through secure platforms considerably reduces the risks of real estate fraud.
Every year, thousands of students and mobile professionals fall into the trap of foreign apartment rental scams. From Berlin to Athens, via all of Europe, fraudsters have perfected their techniques to deceive future tenants remotely. A well-constructed fake rental ad, a convincing false landlord, pressure on the emergency: warning signs are often discreet for those who do not know what to look for.
The reality is striking. According to data from the DGCCRF, scams related to renting real estate on the internet have been on the rise constantly for several years. Whether it's an apartment in Athens, a flatshare in Berlin or a studio apartment for vacation rental, housing scams know no borders or seasons.
This guide was designed to give you concrete keys: how to identify a fake rental ad, what precautions to take before paying money, how to verify the identity of a landlord, and what to do if you are the victim of a financial scam. Each stage of your search for accommodation abroad deserves to be secure.
The Different Types of Real Estate Rental Scams
Scammers have no shortage of imagination. Each type of housing scam targets a different flaw in the real estate rental search process. To know them is already to protect yourself.
Here are the most common forms of foreign apartment rental scams:
- The fake rental ad : a non-existent or already rented accommodation, presented at an attractive price to attract as many future tenants as possible.
- The duplicate ad : a real ad copied and pasted on other platforms, with the contact details replaced by those of the scammer.
- The financial scam of prepayment: the false owner requires a bank transfer or a reservation check before any visit or contract signature.
- The scam of cheques greater than the amount : the so-called lessor sends a check for an amount greater than the deposit requested and requires a partial refund before the check is debited.
- Hidden fees and fraudulent additional costs : “file processing” fees, “guarantee” fees or “reservation” costs invented from scratch.
- Illegal renting without a contract : housing offered without an official contract, exposing the tenant to a major legal and financial risk.
The financial rental scam affects both students going on Erasmus and professionals looking for an apartment in Berlin or Greece. No profile is safe.
Fake Ads and Duplicate Rental Ads
The fake rental ad is the most used technique on the internet. The scammer retrieves photos and descriptions of real housing, then creates a misleading ad on several platforms simultaneously. The result seems perfectly legitimate: the price is often 20 to 40% below the local market, which is the first warning signal. Dozens of future tenants send their file, sometimes accompanied by identity documents, before realizing that the property does not exist or is already occupied.
Extra costs, hidden fees and financial scams
Some scammers don't disappear immediately: they charge unjustified fees throughout the rental process, citing “application fees” or “mandatory insurance.” These practices are a typical financial rental scam, even if they are sometimes difficult to distinguish from legitimate expenses. The rule is simple: no serious landlord requires advance payment before signing the rental contract and handing over the keys.
How to identify a fake rental ad
Recognizing a fraudulent rental ad is a skill that can be acquired. Several visual, textual and contextual indicators make it possible to identify a scam before any financial commitment.
The main warning signs of a fake rental ad:
- Unusually low price : rent that is 30% below market is an immediate red flag.
- Suspicious photos : Use Google reverse image search to see if they appear elsewhere.
- Vague description or full of mistakes : Scammers often work from abroad and use machine translations.
- Generic email address : a Gmail or Yahoo address for a professional landlord is unusual.
- Absence of a complete address : an announcement that does not specify the street or neighborhood seeks to remain unclear.
- Communication only by email or SMS : any refusal of a telephone or video call is suspicious.
Suspicious Visual and Text Signs
The photos of a misleading real estate ad are often too careful — from a professional shooting that is unrelated to the property described — or on the contrary very blurry and few in number. The text frequently contains inconsistencies: an address in Berlin with characteristics typical of Greece, or a landlord who claims to reside in France but writes in approximate English. These discrepancies between the various elements of the announcement constitute concrete warning signs that should not be ignored.
Abnormally Low Price and Artificial Emergency
A price that is much lower than the local market is almost always accompanied by emergency pressure. “I'm going abroad in 48 hours, you have to decide now” is a common phrase among scammers. This combination of attractive prices and artificial urgency aims to short-circuit the reasoning of the future tenant. The stronger the pressure, the more you have to slow down and check.
Lack of Detailed Housing Information
A legitimate ad always contains accurate information: area, floor, charges included, terms of the rental contract, conditions of the deposit. The absence of these elements in a rental ad is a characterized misleading real estate ad. Ask specific questions in writing: a serious owner will answer them clearly and without delay.
Precautions Before Paying Money
Before any advance payment, several precautions must be taken. These steps may seem overwhelming, but they are your only real protection against a housing scam:
- Never make advance payments by international bank transfer without signing the rental contract.
- Reject any payment by reservation check, money order or insecure fund transfer platforms.
- Require a proper rental contract, written in the language of the destination country.
- Keep all communications in writing to create a file in the event of a dispute.
- Never send your identification documents until you have verified the identity of the lessor owner.
If you are preparing to leave for an international experience, see also our complete pre-departure checklist, which includes a section dedicated to housing.
Communicate Only in Writing and on Secure Channels
All communication with a landlord must take place through traceable channels. Prefer integrated messaging to official rental platforms: they keep the history and allow customer support to intervene in the event of a dispute. A scammer will always try to get you off the platform to avoid traceability — this in itself is a red flag.
Request an Official Contract Before Any Payment
An official rental agreement is the minimum document before any payment. In Europe, whether you rent in Germany, France or Greece, the law imposes mandatory information in any rental contract. A false owner will refuse or be unable to provide a compliant document. If they send one, check that the lessor's information — name, email address, contact details — matches what they gave you elsewhere.
Mandatory Virtual or Physical Visit
Request a physical visit or, alternatively, a live video visit with a high-resolution camera. A scammer will always avoid this exercise: he will invoke an emergency, a trip abroad or a technical failure. Each refusal is an additional warning signal.
Verify the Identity of the Owner or Landlord
The identity of the landlord is the cornerstone of any secure apartment rental abroad. A fake owner can be extremely convincing: they have answers to everything, a consistent story, sometimes even fake online reviews.
The steps to verify a landlord:
- Request a copy of your official identity document and the title document.
- Cross the information provided with local land registers or the cadastre.
- Search for your name on the internet associated with the address of the property.
- Check if the email address or phone number appears in online scam reports.
Verification of identity documents
Requesting identity documents is necessary, but not sufficient. A false owner may provide forged documents of varying quality. Compare the name on the ID with the name on the rental contract and title document, and check that the email address and phone number are consistent. In case of doubt about the authenticity of the documents, consult the Thésée service (Harmonized Treatment of Investigations and Reporting for E-Scams), the French platform dedicated to reporting these frauds.
Online and Public Register Research
For real estate rentals in Berlin, consult the German land register (Grundbuch). For an apartment in Greece, the Greek land register is available online. For a rental in France, cadastral data can be consulted on cadastre.gouv.fr. These checks take 15 minutes and can prevent you from losing several thousand euros.
References and Reviews from Past Tenants
Ask for references from previous tenants: a serious landlord will be able to provide them. Contact them through a channel that is independent of the potential scammer. Also check the reviews on rental platforms: a profile without any reviews, created recently, is a clear warning signal. Scammers often create new accounts for each fraudulent transaction.
Warning Signs and Red Flags You Should Never Ignore
Some warning signs are universal. Whether it's a vacation rental in Greece or a student apartment in Berlin, these red flags almost always indicate a housing scam:
- Extreme pressure on the emergency: “I'm leaving tomorrow, it's now or never.”
- Request for advance payment by bank transfer, Western Union or cryptocurrency.
- Categorical refusal of a physical or video visit to the home.
- Rental price much lower than the local market.
- Communication only by email or SMS, never by phone.
- Request identity documents before any visit or formal engagement.
- Rental contract sent only in non-editable PDF, without legal information.
- Owner lessor allegedly abroad with an excuse not to meet the tenant.
These warning signs are documented in the reports received by French and European authorities each year. Their cumulative presence in an announcement should trigger a maximum alert.
Cheque scam for more than the requested amount
This financial rental scam often targets owners, but also renters in certain fraudulent arrangements. The scammer sends a reservation check whose amount exceeds the amount requested, then asks that the future tenant reimburse the difference by bank transfer. The check is forged: it will be rejected by the bank several days later, but the refund will have already been made. This financial scam is particularly difficult to recover.
Destination-Specific Scams: Berlin, Athens, and Europe
Some cities have more apartment rental scams abroad than others. Berlin is regularly mentioned in European reports because of its strong rental demand. Athens is experiencing an upsurge in vacation rental fraud since the popularization of reservation platforms. In Europe, scammers exploit legislative differences between countries to complicate victims' remedies. : a French tenant who paid an advance payment for a fictional apartment in Athens will have difficulty filing a complaint from France.
What to do in case of a scam: file a complaint and report
Being the victim of an apartment rental scam is a difficult situation, but remedies exist. Acting quickly increases the chances of recovering all or part of the money paid.
The steps to follow immediately:
- Gather all the evidence: emails, rental agreement, bank transfer statements, screenshots.
- Contact your bank to report the fraudulent transfer and attempt a refund.
- File a complaint with the local authorities (police station, police station).
- Report the scam on the Thésée platform (signalement.gouv.fr) for internet scams.
- Report it to the DGCCRF if professionals are involved.
- Contact the rental platform's customer support to report the fraudulent listing.
Filing a Complaint: Procedure and Deadlines
Filing a complaint can be made online or at any police station. For an apartment rental scam abroad, the complaint can be filed in France even if the facts took place outside the country. Specify in your complaint: the amount paid, the date, the payment method used, and the contact details of the false owner (email address, telephone number, bank account number if available). The more complete the file, the more quickly the report will be processed.
Reporting and Role of the DGCCRF
The DGCCRF (Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Repression des Fraudes) is the French authority competent to deal with reports of real estate scams. It can act against misleading real estate ads and force platforms to remove fraudulent ads. Reporting is done via the SignalConso form. Even if your individual approach does not immediately lead to an arrest, it feeds into databases that help identify repeat scammers.
Secure Rental Platforms and Reliable Payment Methods
Going through recognized platforms does not guarantee absolute protection, but considerably reduces the risks of housing scams. These platforms have dedicated customer support, ad verification systems, and integrated secure payment methods.
The criteria for a secure rental platform:
- Payment integrated into the platform, no external transfer required.
- System of verified reviews on landlord owners.
- French-speaking customer support available and responsive.
- Process for verifying owner identification documents.
- Clear refund policy in case of cancellation or fraud
Payment Methods You Should Definitely Avoid
Some payment methods are almost impossible to trace or cancel, and scammers prefer them precisely for this reason: Western Union and MoneyGram (instant transfers without recourse), cryptocurrencies (anonymous and irreversible), direct bank transfer to a foreign account without guarantee, and reservation check sent before visit. Prefer payments by bank card via a platform that keeps the funds until the keys are handed over. This espionage mechanism is your best protection against financial fraud.
Recommended Platforms and Customer Support
Platforms like Airbnb, Booking or Spotahome have customer support available 24 hours a day. If a fraudulent listing is reported, they can block the suspicious owner and reimburse the tenant. For internationally mobile students, specialized student housing platforms offer an additional layer of protection. Consult our guide to Erasmus roommates to identify the best options for your destination.
Rent a Home Remotely Without Getting Scammed
Renting remotely is the riskiest situation for future renters. The impossibility of visiting in person creates an asymmetry of information that scammers systematically exploit.
Precautions specific to remote rental:
- Require a live video visit, during which the owner shows the equipment and takes a tour of the unit.
- Ask the owner to hold a sheet with your first name and date, visible to the camera.
- Use only the platform's secure payment channels.
- Request written confirmation of the exact address, verifiable on Google Maps.
- Use a trusted third party on site to visit for you.
For students preparing to move to Montreal or other major cities, our guide to the cost of living in Montreal will help you assess whether the prices offered are realistic.
SCAM TARGETING STUDENTS AND EXPATS
Students going to study abroad are prime targets for scammers. They often look for accommodation from afar, in an unknown city, under strong time pressure linked to the start of the university year. Their limited budget naturally attracts them to low prices, precisely where fake rental ads proliferate. Raising awareness among future tenants before they leave is one of the central missions of a platform like SafExpat. Discover our advice to prepare for your Erasmus safely, housing included.
Renting a Vacation Rental Abroad: Specific Precautions
Vacation rentals present particular risks of fraud. Prepayment is often requested well in advance, leaving more time for a scammer to disappear. Check that the platform has a reimbursement mechanism in case of non-compliance with the accommodation, and always keep a copy of the rental contract as well as your exchanges with the landlord. Whether for a vacation or a student stay, the precautions remain the same: check, document, never pay before signing.
Conclusion: Protect Your Foreign Rental Project
Apartment rental scams abroad are numerous, but they are detected methodically. Fake rental ads, fake landlords, fraudulent prepayments, fictitious reservation checks: the forms of housing scams vary, but their warning signs remain consistent. Verifying the identity of the lessor, requiring an official rental contract, refusing any transfer before visiting and using secure platforms with responsive customer support are essential precautions. In the event of a proven financial scam, filing a complaint and reporting it to the competent authorities remain your best options.
Going to study or work abroad is an adventure that must be carefully prepared, and securing your home is one of them. Whether you are looking for an apartment in Berlin, a vacation rental in Greece or a studio in Montreal, SafExpat accompanies you every step of the way. Explore our resources dedicated to your destination and leave with peace of mind, with the right tools to avoid apartment rental scams and successfully set up.
