The memory of Andrew Price’s inaugural day in Ireland remains vivid in his mind. Travelling from his American residence in Utah, Price arrived to embark on a theatre course at Trinity College. As a 19-year-old, he proceeded directly to Dún Laoghaire, after securing a room using a seemingly trustworthy accommodation website.
Price’s arrival, however, triggered shock and confusion in the homeowner who denied having any room available. The sight of a foreign stranger, expecting to move in, perturbed the homeowner. As Price recalls, the homeowner was quite surprised to see an unfamiliar American at their door and apologised for the unexpected confusion.
Having paid €750 to the website as advance rent for the first month and not knowing anyone in Ireland, Price was equally confused and distressed. As he narrated, he was left stranded without a roof over his head in an unknown country with absolutely no connections. He couldn’t even secure a spot in a hostel due to a significant event occurring in the city.
This incident occurred to Price two years prior. As fate would have it, among the 25 individuals beginning the stage management and technical theatre course at TCD, another student also fell victim to a similar scam and consequently had to crash on a fellow student’s sofa for a month.
Price, who had never travelled outside of the US before this, thought of contacting his new classmates via a WhatsApp group formed to introduce themselves. He shared his predicament with these unknown friends. He received a generous offer from a kind-hearted classmate who offered him accommodation with his family for about a week. Interestingly, the only drawback for Price was that the offered place was in Cavan.
Nevertheless, Price was more fortunate than hundreds of others who fall prey to such scams every year while searching for housing. He believes the reason he hadn’t lost his money was because the phony landlord increased the rent from €700 to €750 at the last minute, and thus the payment hadn’t processed, allowing him to recover his money.
This past week saw the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) teaming up with Threshold, a housing charity, and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), in order to raise awareness about such elaborate accommodation scams through the annual Scamwatch campaign.
The authorities have cautioned students to conduct comprehensive vetting before making advance rent or deposit payments, oftentimes, seeking guidance from Threshold if they suspect foul play in property listings. This comes on the heels of a warning from the gardaí, who recently disclosed that roughly a third of all accommodation fraud takes place in August/September, correlating with the commencement of the academic year.
As per the gardaí data, a mere 30% of the victims are Irish, drawing attention to the vulnerability of international students and workers. Over a dozen individuals fell prey to these scams in July alone, with one losing as much as €3,685. At least eight people were fooled via social media or online ads and contacts.
ICOS’s executive director, Laura Harmon, shared that the majority of victims do not report the fraud to the gardaí. Among the reasons are feelings of futility and embarrassment, language barriers, lack of knowledge about reporting procedures or the belief that it won’t help get their money back.
Harmon also mentioned that the scams are often elaborately crafted. They might include fake websites mimicking legitimate ones like Daft.ie or fraudulent ads on social media platforms. The surge in accommodation fraud she reckons, is linked to the housing crisis, with scammers exploiting the desperation and fear of potential tenants.
This grim reality was personally witnessed by six young Irish women in Ranelagh, Dublin. Over the span of six weeks, their rental home was approached by various individuals on five different occasions, who thought they were moving in. These encounters were triggered by fraudulent listings, and resulted in discomfort and confusion for both parties involved. As these incidents became more frequent, the women began to understand the scope and intensity of the crisis.
She remembered noticing two young men, likely in their early twenties, lingering curiously outside her house, a sight she found unusual. Strapped with backpacks, they frequently flipped their gazes between their phone and the house facade. Upon her opening the door, they inquired if the place was up for rent. Displayed to her on their Facebook account was an advertisement featuring her home’s exterior and what turned out to be falsified images of its interior. She expressed her gratitude for their not having transferred any funds at this point. They were under the impression they could move in the following day and had stopped by for a preliminary inspection. Had she not been present, they might have indeed indulged in the transaction. She mentioned that the men, with a basic command of English, were exceedingly respectful but clearly disappointed.
The following victim however, had already parted with €1,000 as advance payment for the alleged rental property, duped through the same deceptive Facebook advertisement. “He seemed profoundly distressed,” she recollected while talking about the hapless individual who she believed to be of Brazilian origin. He stood at their doorway for an extended chat that lasted 25 minutes, all the while knowing he’d fallen prey to the scam, but seeking confirmation.
Two more individuals fell for the same deceptive Facebook post—an young man and woman who’d recently arrived in Ireland. They were independently under the misconception that the Ranelagh house was partitioned into flats. “The season had turned winter, the dark period making the predicament of the now homeless individuals even grim,” said one of the six housemates.
They admitted to having contacted the police only once over the issue. The rather nonchalant police response—money gets transferred to foreign banks all the time—discouraged them from involving the law enforcers again.
The police recently warned students about accommodation frauds, emphasizing a couple of cautionary signals—the alleged owner being unable to showcase the property due to being abroad, demanding upfront deposits and the rent appearing unbelievably low. Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan deems such scenarios as danger signs, commenting how cheap accommodation has virtually become non-existent.
There’s a recent case that Threshold handled, concerning a young woman attracted by a one-bed flat advertised on a property website, located in the heart of Limerick city.
As issues with housing escalate, international students are dealing with scams and indecent proposals such as ‘rent-for-sex’ schemes, according to a recent report. A landlord demanded €1,320 as an upfront payment for two months’ rent to be deposited into an Escrow holding account. Upon contact, Threshold, a housing organisation, suspected foul-play. The real landlord had in fact listed the property on Daft.ie, and it was unearthed that the scammer had unlawfully acquired the images. Fortunately, the female tenant was vigilant enough to avoid any monetary losses.
Harmon, a watchdog, warns that with the evolution of technology and AI, it will become increasingly difficult to identify perpetrators who might be using a simple laptop anywhere from London to US. She advises rented property seekers to arrange for a physical viewing, if possible. Alternatively, a virtual tour would also suffice to validate the property’s existence. Written confirmations, including contracts, should be delivered to you.
Harmon narrated incidents where ICOS encountered students who have been tricked out of their life savings, causing them to abort their plans and return home, which is a sad representation of their Irish experience.
Price, a Trinity student who is preparing for his third year in January, stated that despite his unfortunate introduction, he doesn’t harbour any negative feelings towards Ireland. Following his initial unpleasant episode, he found that the locals were only eager to extend their help. “Thanks to the generosity of the Irish folks, I managed to get a secure shelter over my head. What might have been a long, arduous months end up being a highly stressful four days,” he recalled.