Nobody legitimate asks you to pay before you have seen the place

The one rule that catches almost everything

No money before a viewing and a signed contract. Not a deposit, not a reservation fee, not « just to take it off the market ». This single rule stops the overwhelming majority of these frauds.

The Fraudehelpdesk describes the same sequence every time: a home offered online, a payment requested first, and silence afterwards. Often the property never existed, or exists and belongs to someone else entirely.

A real portal is not a guarantee

Fake adverts run on legitimate platforms as well — consumer programme Opgelicht?! documented them on a well-known Dutch rental site. Seeing an advert on a name you recognise tells you nothing about the person behind it.

Photos are stolen from other adverts. Drop one into a reverse image search: if the same rooms appear elsewhere, under another address or another price, you have your answer in thirty seconds.

A rent well below the going rate for that street is not a lucky find. On a market with this much demand, nobody needs to underprice.

The story that explains why you cannot visit

The owner is abroad, works on an oil rig, is a diplomat, has already moved for work — the details change, the function does not: to justify that you will never meet anyone and never enter the property.

The keys will be sent by courier once you have paid. No courier ever delivers keys to a home you have not visited.

If you truly cannot travel, ask for a live video call in the property, with the person moving through the rooms on request. A refusal is an answer.

What they ask for, and what a real landlord asks for

Fake landlords ask for a photo of your ID held next to your face, and for utility bills. A real landlord asks to SEE identification, income proof and an employer's statement — at the file stage, not before a viewing.

Payment by instant transfer, by a payment link, in cryptocurrency or through a friend's account is a decisive signal. Money sent that way is gone.

Check the name on the account against the name on the advert and on the contract. A mismatch is not an administrative detail.

Before you sign, two checks worth the time

Ask for the address and look it up: the Land Registry (Kadaster) will tell you, for a few euros, who actually owns the property. A name that does not match ends the conversation.

Read the contract before any transfer, and check that the deposit does not exceed two months of bare rent — the legal cap under article 7:261b of the Civil Code. A landlord asking for three either does not know the law or is not a landlord.

If you have already paid

Report it to the police (aangifte). It is the step that lets the account be traced and blocked, and other victims to be linked to the same case.

Tell your bank immediately: a very recent transfer can sometimes be recalled.

Report the advert to the platform so it comes down, and file with the Fraudehelpdesk, which centralises these cases in the Netherlands.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Fraudehelpdesk — renting
• Woonbond — spotting online rental fraud
• Kadaster (Land Registry)

General information, checked against the sources listed. It does not replace advice from the competent office.