Deputy Mairéad Farrell, spokesperson for Further and Higher Education, has urged students and parents to be on the lookout for accommodation scams in Galway as they look for somewhere to rent for the coming academic year.
Responding to the warning from an Garda Siochana that 33% of accommodation fraud reports happen between August and September, Deputy Farrell said to ensure that people exercise extreme caution.
Teachta Farrell stated that some of the Garda stats are quite frightening and that she hopes nobody falls victim to these fraudsters.
“For example, last month on a national basis, 12 victims reported a loss of €20,746, an average of €1,729 each. The largest amount lost was €3,685 while the smallest was €380. This is heart breaking for them.”
In Galway, Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan says people need to be very wary.
“Be on the lookout for things like websites which don’t appear to be genuine, people contacting you through social media with offers, the landlord being unable to show you the property in person and putting you under serious pressure to pay upfront in advance of signing any lease.”
“Other things to look out for is a request for payment through sources like PayPal, Western Union, Amazon gift cards, that kind of thing.”
“Finding accommodation in Galway is difficult enough without the additional stress of falling prey to some scam artist,” said Dep Farrell.
“Don’t start the coming academic year on the wrong foot. Take care, demonstrate caution and only use legitimate sources for helping you find accommodation.”
