Rental scams (huurfraude): how to spot them and where to report

What it looks like

The Fraudehelpdesk describes rental fraud like this: a home is offered, but before a viewing a deposit and sometimes several months’ rent must be paid. The home turns out not to exist, or the addresses and photos of real homes have been taken from other ads. Sometimes whole websites are built to make an intermediary look credible.

Warning signs

The Fraudehelpdesk names these: the rent is low for the size and location of the home; you can only communicate with the landlord online; you are asked to transfer the rent, deposit or brokerage fee to a foreign bank account. An offer that seems too good to be true is a reason for suspicion too.

The Rijksoverheid notes that a broker who works for the landlord may not charge you brokerage costs, even for social rental homes, and that you can reclaim such costs from the intermediary. For contracts signed from 1 July 2023 the deposit may be at most two months of base rent.

What to check before you pay

The Fraudehelpdesk advises you to search for the landlord’s name, the address or the website together with words such as review, klacht or oplichting; to look at the address on Google Street View; to run the photos through a reverse image search; to check how long the landlord’s website has existed; and to check with the police whether anything is known about the landlord.

The Fraudehelpdesk also advises: if you cannot view the home in person, do not go ahead; if you can, visit at different times of day and try to speak to a current resident; start looking early, so that you do not have to decide under pressure.

If it already happened

Report it to the Fraudehelpdesk through the form on its website (link under sources). The Fraudehelpdesk also gives a phone number, 088 - 7867372; its opening hours are on the website. You can also report to the police: in most cases call 0900-8844 or go to a police station. If you are not sure whether it counts as a crime, call the same number and the police will tell you whether and how you can file a report.

Listings from housing portals

Rent Agent’s messages link to the original listing on the housing portal, and applying is done on that portal, not through Rent Agent.