Potential Scam Limerick / Carlow / Galway / Dublin

David Della Rocco

Good Morning all,

I'm not sure how much detail I can post here but I just wanted to create some awareness about what I believe is a scam doing the rounds.

Thursday night I saw an ad on daft for an apartment in Limerick City. This was finished to a high standard and in the city centre. I replied to the ad and took screenshots as I know in certain cases that these ads can be taken down quickly due to high volumes of interest. The next morning the ad was already taken down. I called the number which was out of service and also sent a text message. I was sceptical at this stage. A quick google search of the number showed that it was used to advertise 3 other properties (in Carlow, Galway and Dublin) the night before. Each had already been taken down.

So Saturday I received an email from the 'owner' explaining that the monthly rent includes all bills and that he is able to rent below market rate as he doesn't use agents and can avoid their fees. So as we all know if something is too good to be true, it usually is. He explained that as he does not reside in the country we would use the rent.ie owner verification process. He sent a scan of his passport.

Long story short, he would submit proof of ownership to rent.ie who as a secure third party would verify him as the owner. He would then forward the keys of the property and a rental agreement to a rent.ie agent. The rent.ie agent would then contact me and verify I have the funds to cover the security deposit and first months rent up front. I should then transfer these funds to rent.ie where my money would be secure. The agent would then meet me to view the property and sign the agreement if I was happy to do so. If not, I would be refunded. So transferring funds before viewing! I was to send my details up front including copy of a bill and my passport to initiate this process. Apparently the only way rent.ie would do this is to receive the funds before viewing as it is their safety policy. I actually went by the property Saturday and rang the doorbell to see if it was occupied but got no answer. Who is to say the photos provided on the daft ad actually match the property.

I contacted rent.ie who as I suspected advised me to cease contact with the individual immediately as they do not offer this service. Bit of an essay there but I just hope that anyone who may be desperate in the current rental marked doesn't get sucked into this given that properties were advertised in 4 different cities/towns. Potential not only to lose a large amount of money but also for identity theft I guess. If it's too good to be true it often is and I know most wouldn't part with any funds before viewing a property. Would I be justified in going to the guards with this?

Thanks in advance for any response

April 73

I've seen similiar scams outlined here before. Sometimes air bnb is mentioned as the conduit for money.
Definite scam.

Assetbacked

There are Facebook groups where people advertise rooms in properties and properties themselves which are clearly scams. Sometimes it's extremely obvious that it's a scam as the Facebook profile advertising the property has hardly any friends and is a random foreigner's name. But other times they are less obvious so it's something to be wary of.