Listen Back: Calls for extra vigilance surrounding accommodation scams
There has been over 230 reports of rental and reservations scams in the first 7 months of the year amounting to losses of €400,000.
Between the months of August to October accounts for a significant annual spike as students secure college housing.
Sgt Joe Glackin, crime prevention officer for Cavan and Monaghan has also issued a warning regarding students being targeted and manipulated to act as "Money Mules."
He says rental scams generally fall into three distinct categories during the high-pressure college search season:
• The Absent Landlord: The scammer claims to be out of the country and demands an upfront deposit before keys or physical access can be provided.
• The Fake Host/Mass Showing: The fraudster poses as an occupant or fake agent, showing the property to multiple prospective tenants, collecting deposits from all of them, and disappearing.
• The Key Failure: The transaction appears entirely legitimate until the tenant arrives with their belongings only to discover the keys do not work, the property is already occupied, or the landlord has vanished.
Sgt Glackin says there are a number of ways you can be scammed out of money when seeking accommodation. Ronan Gargan has been finding out more about these type of scams.
This report was funded by the News Reporting Scheme.