Over the past fortnight, Hot Press has been investigating the issue of housing scams in Dublin. Having recently arrived in the capital city, on a temporary visa, I have been looking for accommodation - and so I have some idea what is on offer out there, and, in particular, how hard it is to get an apartment in the city centre.
Rents have been spiraling. Crowds turn up at every viewing. The effect is that people who are looking for accommodation are increasingly desperate. It is a sellers' market. Which, increasingly it seems, has created an opportunity for scammers.
Staff at Hot Press had noticed a trend. Fine-looking apartments would go up on sites like DAFT.ie and MyHome.ie in the evening, at relatively attractive prices. Notifications would ping into the mailboxes of Hot Press’ staffers, who were hunting for accommodation. They’d note them as must-sees. But by the morning, more often than not, they’d be gone.
What was going on? One thought was that these apartments were a form of click-bait - a way of ensuring that flat-hunters would keep checking out different sites. If you felt that you had missed out on a potential bargain, well, you might start getting desperate enough to pay a few hundred quid more per month. After all, there were loads of other properties available just a quick scroll away…
We decided to watch the ads closely and to follow up quickly on a series of them, hoping that we could get in smartly enough to engage with at least one of the many individuals who were advertising.
Our first few efforts led up one cul-de-sac after another. Finally, however, we got a bite. I explained in an email to one advertiser that I was new to Ireland and working with a leading US tech company based in Dublin. And I asked a few pertinent questions about the property: are utilities such as electricity and Internet included in the rent? And is the apartment in close proximity to the city centre?
“Hello,” an email greeted me in response. “My name is Mark Broughton from London / United Kingdom. The entire apartment is for 1100 euro per month including all utilities/bills (water, electricity, internet, cable). My intention is to rent the apartment to nice, clean people and in order to do that I would like to know a little something about you. Below is the apartment address: 55 Windmill Lane, Sir John Rogerson's Quay."
A pic was attached. It looked just a little bit too good to be true – which of course made it a far more attractive proposition.
I responded eagerly and I hoped with just enough naivety to draw him in.
“Hi Mark, I am definitely still interested in renting the place,” I wrote, “especially because it looks absolutely perfect for what we are looking for! I just moved to Dublin last week and as I’m sure you know, the housing here is extremely expensive, so it’s been difficult to find something that suits my budget. My friend and I are both tidy and quiet.”
Broughton seemed amenable. He repeatedly relayed information about the flat, and made sure to address any questions and concerns that we had. He even sent us photographs of the inside of the apartment help the sale along.
Finally, we got down to brass tacks. Broughton explained that, if we wanted to go ahead, he would express mail the keys over to us in Dublin. All that was required of us, was to pay a deposit and the first month's rent - which totalled €2,200. I innocently provided him with my home address and waited for his response…
The following day, I received an email alert. To my surprise, Broughton seemed to be getting cold feet.
“Hello, I have given a great deal of thought about this,” he said, “and I think that sending the keys is not such a good idea. I told my lawyer that I want to rent my apartment and he said to use a real estate agency.”
Excellent advice, I’d have thought.
“I want to use a third party to handle this for us,” he continued, “and I hope it’s ok for you, too. I want to use the HomeStead Company. They are a well known company all over the world.”
My, oh my. Maybe, after all, he was a landlord who was legitimately trying to rent his place? I decided to do some more digging. I clicked on the link for HomeStead’s website that Broughton had included in the email.
The terms and conditions of this massive corporation seemed rather bizarre.
“The Tenant will complete the payment following the specific instructions sent by us,” the estate agents instructed. “After the payment has been verified, the funds will be locked, and a HomeStead agent will fly to the Tenant’s address within the next 24 hours (Monday to Sunday) to assist the Tenant’s inspection of the property. If the Tenant is completely satisfied with the property, he will sign the contract and receive the keys to the house.”
What kind of legitimate company asks you to send a deposit before even having the opportunity to view the place? And even stranger than that – who would schedule a last minute flight within 24 hours, just to show a prospective renter a property?
So what could I find out online about HomeStead? Well, there’s a plethora of warnings that they are a dishonest and swindling corporation for a start.
Moreover, after doing a reverse image search of the photographs of the apartment that had been supplied by Mr. Broughton, I was able to find the same picture of the kitchen, showcased in a rental advertisement in Israel.
I replied to Broughton, informing him that I was still interested in the property. But I needed more – I had to be sure that this character really is a fraud. I decided to take a trip down to 55 Windmill Lane. I buzzed number 55 hoping to get some answers. I waited anxiously for approximately 10 minutes, buzzing intermittently, till somebody finally picked up the line. I was told that I had rung flat 56B, even though I was clearly ringing 55.
Back to the drawing board: after extensive research, I discovered that 55 Windmill Lane had been sold in September 2015 for €265,000. I decided to call Quillsen Fairview, the real estate broker that sold the property.
“We sold the property to an individual of a different name,” the agent who sold the apartment told me, “so it would be absolutely inconceivable that Mark Broughton is the current owner.”
Bingo. We had our story.
I continued corresponding with Broughton to see what more I could discover. He explained that he had purchased the apartment a couple of years back for his daughter who was studying in Dublin. However, she has now permanently moved back to the UK. I asked Broughton for his phone number so that we could speak, but that, it seemed, was a no go area.
I haven’t heard from him since...

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Students are among those who are most frequently targeted by the scam merchants who try to extract payments illegally from prospective tenants. So says Kevin Donoghue, president of the Union of Students in Ireland, who has seen it happen on numerous occasions.
So far this year, he has received more than 10 complaints about fraudulent listings – which doubtless is just the tip of the iceberg.
“There are different scenarios,” he says. “In one, you might meet someone in town, but you won’t meet him at the property. When the keys and money are exchanged, you discover that the property has actually been rented by someone else and was never available for rent.
“There is an added vulnerability where students might be renting for their first time,” he adds, “especially if it’s a first child in the family to go to college. They are often so excited that they make mistakes when it comes to renting property.”
According to Donoghue, fraudsters will try to rob anyone who is innocent enough to transfer a couple of thousand quid. Many of those who fall for the scam – students and non-students alike – are relocating to Dublin from abroad and feel that they need to secure a place in advance. A bit like booking a room in a hotel, it can make sense for them to send a deposit prior to seeing the place in person.
The position of the online platforms in all of this is a difficult one. Mr. Broughton’s apartment – alleged – had been advertised on Daft.ie. Ads are uploaded onto Daft by the advertisers: if an individual is letting a shared space, there is no charge for creating a listing. However, if one is selling or renting an entire property a fee is paid.
I spoke to Martin Clancy, who is public relations and communications officer with the website. He was aware of what he called “phishing scams”.
“It’s a very common story across all kinds of property portals worldwide,” he explained. “We are working with other property portals and other classified websites around the world to share information about the latest MOs of phishers and scammers. We are constantly trying to evolve the practices and procedures that we have in here, to try and stop this.”
Naturally, the company are anxious to ensure that scammers don’t have the run of the site. Clancy explained that after somebody publishes an advertisement on Daft, it is reviewed by the site’s customer service team, in order to ensure that the user is legitimate and abiding by all of Daft’s policies and regulations. Suspicious ads are removed on an ongoing basis.
Clancy explained that if anyone responded to an advertisement ultimately deemed false by Daft, prior to it being removed, that person is contacted by the site, to make him or her aware of the dubious status of the ad. In the case of me and Mr. Broughton, however, this didn’t happen. In fairness, the vetting system may have been circumvented, if the advertiser himself took the ad down quickly after my initial contact – explaining why I got no mail.
And what happens if money is transferred to a scammer and there is no property to take possession of? As with similar websites worldwide, Daft do not see it as part of their remit to reimburse people who have been scammed. The transaction is not something they are party to. It is entirely between the individuals involved.
Martin Clancy’s advice if you are the victim of a scam is simple.
“Make sure you let us know immediately,” he said. “Also, contact the Garda, and try to see if there is a way to retrieve that money. We feel it is a matter for the Garda to investigate.”
As the sargent in Hill Street Blues used to say: “Be careful out there...”