Apartment rental scams

Apartment rental scams are becoming more and more common in Croatia. Most of them are, of course, in Zagreb, where the market is the largest, so fraudsters also saw this opportunity. They rent non-existent apartments and, of course, take deposits for them.

Top-quality furnished apartment with new furniture in an attractive part of the city - price only 450 euros per month. It sounds too good to be true. And most often it is not, but those who are tricked discover it too late.

Fraudster liar presents himself as a real estate agent. It has an excellently elaborated. One would think - it can't get any better. But when he takes the deposit, it turns out that the apartment is not his at all - these are just some of the experiences of the citizens.

The scheme is established, the fraudsters tell interested parties that the demand for that particular apartment is high and if they want to keep it - they need to pay a deposit as soon as possible - otherwise the apartment will go to someone else.

- People out of desperation, I would say, choose any property they see, especially when the price is attractive, they react quickly. People who are looking for such apartments know that this is their only chance, and that's why they probably jump quickly and pay money without doing anything, says real estate agent, Sanjin Rastovac.

Cheated people often do not want to report the case due to shame

Once the money is in the account, the fake landlords stop contacting you. Cheated people often do not want to report the case due to shame. The police say that this is wrong because the chain of fraud continues like this - they add that fraudsters can be detected quickly - you should look for, for example, a title deed or an apartment rental agreement.

- Since a potential fraudster, when the lease agreement is mentioned to him, will probably give up the lease exclusively personally and through an authorized agency, but never engage in any form of attempt to hire via the Internet, says Mislav Švigir from the prevention service of the Zagreb Police Department.

Scams on the Internet are not new, but the cunning and ingenuity of people often goes so far that in recent months many have lost their deposits, and people from neighboring countries who operate in our area are often mentioned, reports HRT.

Magazin, 17. Nov. 2023.