Five common rental scams in Denmark and how to avoid them
With the rental market in Denmark's biggest cities competitive, particularly when students arrive at the start of semester, scams are common. Here are the top cons you might come across - and how to avoid them.
1. Fake adverts
The most common trick used in various scams is to put up adverts for apartments that don’t actually exist. These kinds of adverts have been found lurking on all of the major renting portals, including boligportalen.dk, Boligzonen.dk, lejebolig.dk, and gobolig.dk.
A man was jailed this January for collecting over a million Danish kroner in deposits for non-existent apartments in Aarhus and Copenhagen, using fake identities harvested from profiles he found on Facebook.
To entice potential victims, fraudsters put these fictional apartments in particularly desirable areas for surprisingly low rents.
They will then usually use pressure tactics, asking for an up-front payment to be sent to a foreign bank account or money transfer service, with the prospective tenant told that there is a lot of competition and that if they don't pay on that day the apartment will go to someone else.
How to avoid this trick
Firstly, ask yourself “is it too good to be true?". If the answer’s yes, it probably is. If the rental price is much lower than comparable apartments in the same area, then be on your guard.
Always check www.krak.dk for the address where the apartment is supposed to be. If you can't find the address, it probably doesn't exist.
Be very wary of signing a contract or handing over any money without first viewing the apartment.
Beware of landlords who avoid meeting in person, or who cannot provide a Danish telephone number on which they can be contacted.
Be suspicious of landlords who say they are currently living outside of Denmark or those who don't speak Danish, however convincing their story.
If a contract is in English this should ring alarm bells. Leasing contracts in Denmark are almost always in Danish and most landlords use the standing leasing contract which you can find here. If you are being asked to sign a non-standard contract, you should be suspicious.
2. Fraud with advance payment
This con is a common way for those offering fake apartments to try and extract money from the prospective renters they have lured into their trap.
One version of this is for the “owner” to contact the person looking for an apartment and tell them that they are currently abroad and therefore can’t show them around the property. Instead, they offer to post the key for a fee that has to be transferred in advance.
A similar trick involves asking for an advanced transfer of the deposit or the first month’s rent.
This year there have been cases involving fake AirBnb adverts, reportedly placed on reputable sites like Den Blå Avisen, purporting to be from AirBnB. If the renter clicks on the advert they are then asked to give their email, after which fraudsters contact them by email and try to lure them into transfering money and making card payments.
How to avoid this trick
As mentioned above, never pay anything before signing the lease and be very sceptical of owners who claim to be out of the country for whatever reason.
If you have seen the apartment and feel pressure to make a payment before signing anything, do some background research on the owners.
Only pay deposits via a bank/financial institution or by MobilePay.
Never pay any money into a foreign bank account or money transfer service, and never pay any money "under the table" without a signed contract and ideally without seeing the apartment.
Finally, never pay anything in cash.
3. Landlord keeping deposit without good reason
According to Louise Song, co-owner of tenancy law start-up Digura, international residents are particularly vulnerable to landlords who routinely keep tenants' deposits without good reason.
Many of these landlords rent out substandard apartments that they know will have a quick turnover of dissatisfied tenants, then extract as much as they can get away with in deposits and advance rents.
While this may not count as an actual fraud, it is certainly shady.
What can you do to avoid this problem?
When you move into your aparment, take pictures of and describe everything and anything about the apartment. Under the Danish Rent Act, if you send in a list of existing defects and deficiencies within two weeks of moving in, you are not reliable for any of the defects listed when you move out.
Do not sign the 'moving out report' if the landlord includes defects that are either invented or which you did not cause.
If your landlord stubbornly keeps the deposit without good reason, you may need to contact a lawyer to get back your money.
4. Phishing scams
Another common method used by fraudsters is to send so-called phishing emails. Posing as the official rental portals, such emails will usually contain a request to log in to the real estate portal via a link with your access data, or to open an attachment.
If you press the link, however, you will be taken to a fake log-in page, which fraudsters can use to intercept your access data. Files attached to emails may also contain malware which can spy on your personal data.
Boligportal this month warned users to beware of fake emailed purporting to be from the rental site, using its logo and name, but sent from email addresses subtly different from the official [email protected] address.
Beware of any emails sent in English or bad Danish.
How to avoid this trick:
Don’t open attachments ending in .exe in e-mails and don’t click on links without verifying the sender. Pay attention to the sender's e-mail address - real estate scammers often use email addresses with conspicuous domains. Also, be sceptical if the email is written in bad English.
5. Identify theft
Rather than demanding an immediate handover of cash, this kind of scam is more of a long-term venture.
In this case, fraudsters will ask victims to send a copy of their passport or other personal documents such as pay slips and utility bills, by email. The biggest warning sign for this kind of scam is when you are asked to take a picture of yourself holding your ID card or passport.
Fraudsters can then use this personal information to open bank accounts in your name, take out loans or conclude telephone contracts, and some have even managed to apply for credit cards with high credit limits and make high-value purchases in instalments.
According to Boligportal, this is often what the fraudsters purporting to come from their site are seeking to do.
How to avoid this scam
Never hand over sensitive personal information, such as your CPR number, passport photos, your full credit card number, or your password to a rental portal unless you have met your landlord and signed a proper contract.
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See Also
1. Fake adverts
The most common trick used in various scams is to put up adverts for apartments that don’t actually exist. These kinds of adverts have been found lurking on all of the major renting portals, including boligportalen.dk, Boligzonen.dk, lejebolig.dk, and gobolig.dk.
A man was jailed this January for collecting over a million Danish kroner in deposits for non-existent apartments in Aarhus and Copenhagen, using fake identities harvested from profiles he found on Facebook.
To entice potential victims, fraudsters put these fictional apartments in particularly desirable areas for surprisingly low rents.
They will then usually use pressure tactics, asking for an up-front payment to be sent to a foreign bank account or money transfer service, with the prospective tenant told that there is a lot of competition and that if they don't pay on that day the apartment will go to someone else.
How to avoid this trick
Firstly, ask yourself “is it too good to be true?". If the answer’s yes, it probably is. If the rental price is much lower than comparable apartments in the same area, then be on your guard.
Always check www.krak.dk for the address where the apartment is supposed to be. If you can't find the address, it probably doesn't exist.
Be very wary of signing a contract or handing over any money without first viewing the apartment.
Beware of landlords who avoid meeting in person, or who cannot provide a Danish telephone number on which they can be contacted.
Be suspicious of landlords who say they are currently living outside of Denmark or those who don't speak Danish, however convincing their story.
If a contract is in English this should ring alarm bells. Leasing contracts in Denmark are almost always in Danish and most landlords use the standing leasing contract which you can find here. If you are being asked to sign a non-standard contract, you should be suspicious.
2. Fraud with advance payment
This con is a common way for those offering fake apartments to try and extract money from the prospective renters they have lured into their trap.
One version of this is for the “owner” to contact the person looking for an apartment and tell them that they are currently abroad and therefore can’t show them around the property. Instead, they offer to post the key for a fee that has to be transferred in advance.
A similar trick involves asking for an advanced transfer of the deposit or the first month’s rent.
This year there have been cases involving fake AirBnb adverts, reportedly placed on reputable sites like Den Blå Avisen, purporting to be from AirBnB. If the renter clicks on the advert they are then asked to give their email, after which fraudsters contact them by email and try to lure them into transfering money and making card payments.
How to avoid this trick
As mentioned above, never pay anything before signing the lease and be very sceptical of owners who claim to be out of the country for whatever reason.
If you have seen the apartment and feel pressure to make a payment before signing anything, do some background research on the owners.
Only pay deposits via a bank/financial institution or by MobilePay.
Never pay any money into a foreign bank account or money transfer service, and never pay any money "under the table" without a signed contract and ideally without seeing the apartment.
Finally, never pay anything in cash.
3. Landlord keeping deposit without good reason
According to Louise Song, co-owner of tenancy law start-up Digura, international residents are particularly vulnerable to landlords who routinely keep tenants' deposits without good reason.
Many of these landlords rent out substandard apartments that they know will have a quick turnover of dissatisfied tenants, then extract as much as they can get away with in deposits and advance rents.
While this may not count as an actual fraud, it is certainly shady.
What can you do to avoid this problem?
When you move into your aparment, take pictures of and describe everything and anything about the apartment. Under the Danish Rent Act, if you send in a list of existing defects and deficiencies within two weeks of moving in, you are not reliable for any of the defects listed when you move out.
Do not sign the 'moving out report' if the landlord includes defects that are either invented or which you did not cause.
If your landlord stubbornly keeps the deposit without good reason, you may need to contact a lawyer to get back your money.
4. Phishing scams
Another common method used by fraudsters is to send so-called phishing emails. Posing as the official rental portals, such emails will usually contain a request to log in to the real estate portal via a link with your access data, or to open an attachment.
If you press the link, however, you will be taken to a fake log-in page, which fraudsters can use to intercept your access data. Files attached to emails may also contain malware which can spy on your personal data.
Boligportal this month warned users to beware of fake emailed purporting to be from the rental site, using its logo and name, but sent from email addresses subtly different from the official [email protected] address.
Beware of any emails sent in English or bad Danish.
How to avoid this trick:
Don’t open attachments ending in .exe in e-mails and don’t click on links without verifying the sender. Pay attention to the sender's e-mail address - real estate scammers often use email addresses with conspicuous domains. Also, be sceptical if the email is written in bad English.
5. Identify theft
Rather than demanding an immediate handover of cash, this kind of scam is more of a long-term venture.
In this case, fraudsters will ask victims to send a copy of their passport or other personal documents such as pay slips and utility bills, by email. The biggest warning sign for this kind of scam is when you are asked to take a picture of yourself holding your ID card or passport.
Fraudsters can then use this personal information to open bank accounts in your name, take out loans or conclude telephone contracts, and some have even managed to apply for credit cards with high credit limits and make high-value purchases in instalments.
According to Boligportal, this is often what the fraudsters purporting to come from their site are seeking to do.
How to avoid this scam
Never hand over sensitive personal information, such as your CPR number, passport photos, your full credit card number, or your password to a rental portal unless you have met your landlord and signed a proper contract.
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