GARDAI are investigating cases where people have been scammed out of an entire year’s rent, and incidents where unwitting victims coughed up thousands of euro in iTunes vouchers for accommodation they’d never get.
While “chancers and local criminals” are always looking to exploit Irish rental chaos, it’s organised crime gangs mainly from Europe responsible for the bulk of the half a million euro worth of accommodation fraud last year.
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Using Irish-based agents to direct operations or by sending members in to scam as many people as possible before fleeing, their crimes made up most of the 279 incidents.
While most frauds cost victims between €2,500 and €5,000, gardai are probing thefts possibly in excess of €15,000.
Today, Detective Inspector STEVEN MEIGHAN of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau explains how the phenomenon has taken hold in Ireland, and how gardai are fighting back.
WHILE accommodation fraud has been around a few years, traditionally it was someone chancing their arm and trying to take advantage of a situation.
But it’s come to prominence recently for two reasons.
Firstly, there’s the perfect storm of accommodation shortages and people anxious to get accommodation, prices are going up, and then there’s the organised crime gang element.
We’re seeing a small number…
