Fraudsters targeting students seeking accommodation in Cork and other urban centres

Third-level students seeking accommodation in Cork, and those from Cork looking for lodgings in Dublin and other major urban centres, are being targeted by unscrupulous gangs and individuals via internet-based fraud schemes, a senior Garda has warned.

Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau was speaking to The Echo as the service issued a warning to inform students and their parents that the August to October period was the busiest period for reports of accommodation-related scams.

Students are returning to college or seeking accommodation for the first time in anticipation of the release of Leaving Cert results, due to be published on August 23.

“For the first six months of the year, reports were down 11%,” said Det Supt Cryan.

“But this is the high-risk period of the year because of students coming back to college and new students looking for accommodation.”

“There’s always a bulk in reports at this time of year,” he added.

Challenges

While much of this type of crime occurs online and via social media, and there are challenges in terms of locating the fraudsters, Det Supt Cryan confirmed that students in Cork are impacted as well as those seeking accommodation near the UCC and MTU campuses.

“There are certainly victims from Cork, from everywhere in Ireland, because there are students from everywhere in Ireland going to college in the bigger urban areas, so you would have Cork students going to college in Dublin and Limerick, Galway, and students from all over Munster going to college in Cork,” he said.

“We don’t really pin it down in geographical area because obviously where you have the higher population, you have the colleges, you will have reports.”

A number of case studies were cited in a statement from the Garda Press Office. According to these, 12 victims reported a total loss of €20,746, an average of €1,729 each. The largest single amount was €3,685 and the smallest loss was €380.

Ten of these 12 victims were Irish based and lost a total of €15,231, or an average of €1,523 each. Two were based abroad but were moving to Ireland, and they lost €5,515 between them. At least eight of the 12 victims were deceived through social media/online adverts or contacts.

Red Flags

The Garda statement points to ‘red flags’ which can warn prospective renters to seek alternative accommodation, as well as giving advice in terms of how to safeguard payments to landlords and where to seek legitimate accommodation.

One red flag to look out for is rent that appears too good to be true. The statement warned that cheap accommodation does not exist, particularly in urban areas. Other warning signs are if a property is advertised only through social media or if the landlord will only get in touch via Messenger or WhatsApp.

A demand for immediate payment, by cash, cryptocurrency, money via a wire transfer or vouchers should also place a prospective renter on alert. Also if it is described a ‘one-time offer’ or includes grammar and spelling mistakes.

Advised

Prospective students are advised to seek accommodation through the third level institutions, accommodation offices or a students’ union. It’s also advised to see if the property is registered on the Residential Tenancy Board website. People are also advised to get a proper receipt and tenancy agreement.

Other garda advice is to search Google Maps for properties advertised online and to reverse-image-search pictures of properties that are advertised to see if they pop up elsewhere on the internet.