Scamwatch - avoid being a victim of fraud

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Housing charity Threshold, in conjunction with the Union of Students in Ireland and Daft.ie, have launched a new awareness campaign, Scamwatch, to help students looking for rental accommodation in Ireland to avoid becoming victims of scams.

They advise that rental scams fall into three broad categories:

  1. The scammer claims to be out of the country and can’t show you the property and requests a deposit,
  2. The scammer is living at the property and shows a number of people around, gets a deposit from several people and disappears with the money; and
  3. The transaction appears normal until the renter finds that the keys don’t work and the landlord has disappeared. Therefore people need to establish that the house exists and that it is available for rent and that the identity of landlord/agent & is he/she authorised to rent the property.

Threshold's main advice is that if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. They also advise students to trust their instincts.

Find out more at https://www.threshold.ie/advice/seeking-private-rented-accommodation/be…

 

If you have been scammed out of money you should inform the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation on (01) 6663777; https://www.garda.ie/en/Crime/Fraud/ or contact your local Garda station immediately.

 

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