There were 12 cases of accommodation fraud reported to gardaí last month, with the victims scammed out of more than €20,000.
Gardaí have issued a warning to people to be wary of rental scams, particularly at this time of year when students are returning to college.
Rental fraud occurs when a victim pays money to rent accommodation, typically in the form of a deposit, and subsequently discovers the transaction was fraudulent.
Gardaí said 12 victims reported losses of €20,746 during July. The largest amount was €3,685 and the smallest was €380. At least eight of them were deceived through social media or online adverts or contacts.
TikTok worker’s work from home complaint thrown out at employment hearing
‘Coward’ who kicked defenceless man in head receives fully suspended sentence
A general election is coming - prepare to be bribed for your vote
‘I’m still pinching myself’: Limerick man goes to Olympics, takes two gold medallists home
Ten of the victims were Irish-based and lost €15,231. Two foreign-based victims were moving to Ireland and they lost €5,515 between them.
Gardaí said there was a fall of 11 per cent in reports of accommodation fraud in the year to the end of June.
It said just 30 per cent of victims tend to be Irish. Approximately one-third of all accommodation fraud reports occur during August and September. A third of victims of accommodation fraud are under 25 years old, while 66 per cent of victims are under 33 years old.
Among the danger signs highlighted by gardaí is when the fraudster claims to be out of the country and cannot show the renter the property unless they pay a deposit. The victim pays the deposit and is at the loss of the deposit.
Gardaí advised people not to hand over cash or to make transfers via Revolut or in cryptocurrency. “Pay in a way that is traceable and refundable,” said a spokeswoman.
“Be wary if a website is asking you to send money to a random PayPal address or asking you to wire it by Western Union or pay in iTunes gift cards or ask you to pay for long-term rental accommodation via a short-term letting website or only deals in cryptocurrency.
“Most of the time, those methods are done to avoid scrutiny and ensure that a transaction cannot be reversed.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
