Guide · 6 min read
How to spot a rental scam before you transfer anything
Almost every rental scam reduces to the same request. Knowing the shape of it is worth more than any individual warning sign.
One rule catches most of it
No money moves before a viewing and a signed contract. Not a holding deposit, not a viewing fee, not a reservation payment, not a transfer to prove you are serious, not a key-delivery charge, not a payment to an agent you have not met at an address you cannot check.
The Fraudehelpdesk's guidance on this is the same, and it is worth stating as flatly as possible because the pressure in the moment is real: a payment requested before a physical viewing and a signed contract is the core fraud signal. There is no legitimate version of it that is worth the risk of the illegitimate one.
If you internalise nothing else from this page, internalise that. Every scam below is an elaborate construction designed to get you past it.
The pattern they reuse
Most fake listings are the same story with different photographs, and once you have seen the structure you will recognise it in about four seconds.
The price is noticeably below everything comparable
This is the hook and it is deliberate. If a flat is €600 under the market for its size and street, that is not luck. Search the price against similar listings in the same neighbourhood before you get excited.
The photographs are from somewhere else
Typically copied from a genuine listing on Funda, Pararius or an agency site and reposted cheaper. Reverse image search two or three of the photos. It takes a minute and it ends most of these immediately.
The landlord is abroad
Working in another country, recently relocated, a diplomat, a doctor on a posting. The purpose of this detail is to explain why there can be no viewing, which is the thing they need you to accept.
Contact moves off-platform immediately
Straight to WhatsApp or personal email, away from anywhere with a record or a reporting button.
There is time pressure
Other people are interested, the offer expires tonight, they need a decision by morning. Urgency is the tool that stops you doing the checks on this page.
The payment method is hard to reverse
Bank transfer, cash, a payment app, gift cards, or crypto. Anything designed so that once it is gone it is gone.
Checks that take five minutes
Ask for the exact address, then look it up. Street view it, check whether the building matches the photographs, and check whether the same address is advertised elsewhere at a different price by a different person.
Ask for a live video walkthrough rather than a recording, and ask them to show the street, the building entrance, and something specific like the view from the kitchen window. Genuine landlords do this happily. The refusal is the answer.
If an agency is involved, check it exists independently: a registered address, a landline, a Chamber of Commerce or company registration number you can look up. Do not use the contact details in the advert to verify the advert.
And ask, in writing, whether you can register at the address with the municipality. A fake listing usually cannot survive a specific procedural question.
If you have already sent money
Move immediately, because the first 24 to 48 hours are when a transfer can sometimes still be recalled. Contact your bank straight away, say the word fraud, and ask them to attempt a recall.
Then report it to the platform the listing was on, so it can be removed before it catches somebody else. File a police report. In the Netherlands that is an aangifte via politie.nl, and a report number is usually required for anything else you try afterwards. Report to the national fraud desk as well; in the Netherlands the Fraudehelpdesk collects these and can tell you whether the account has been reported before.
Keep everything: the advert, the messages, the payment reference, the phone number, the email headers. And do not send further money to recover the first money, which is a distinct follow-up scam that targets people who have already lost some.
Why speed makes you more of a target
Worth saying on a site that sells a tool for being fast. Fraud in this market works on people who are rushed, and anything that increases your urgency increases your exposure. Being alerted first is an advantage in the competition for real listings and it is not a reason to skip a single check on this page.
The right way to use speed is to get to the front of the queue for a property you have then verified normally. A monitor that gets you there first has done its job before any money is discussed, and the checks above cost five minutes that you will have gained several times over by being early.
Common questions
Is a holding deposit ever legitimate?
In some markets a holding deposit exists as a real concept, but always after a viewing, to a verified agency or landlord, with a written agreement stating the terms and what happens if the let does not proceed. Before a viewing, to someone you cannot independently identify, it is the single most common form of this fraud.
Are listings on Facebook Marketplace safe?
They carry genuinely valuable supply from private landlords and a higher proportion of fraud than a portal, because anyone can post without verification. Use them, and apply every check on this page rather than fewer.
What if the landlord will not do a video viewing?
Treat that as the end of the conversation. There is no honest reason to refuse a live video call and several dishonest ones, and it costs them nothing.
Who do I report a rental scam to in the Netherlands?
File an aangifte with the police via politie.nl, report it to the Fraudehelpdesk, and report the advert to the platform it appeared on. Contact your bank first if money has already moved, because that is the only step with a clock on it.
Sources
Setting up alerts for the sites in this guide
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