Read about Flatio's practices for avoiding scammer tenants, how you can recognize them yourself, and what can be done when you suspect a fraudster.
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Have there been any scammer tenants on Flatio? How to recognize them and deal with them?
We do our best to protect our landlords, and fortunately, Flatio doesn’t have much experience with scammer tenants.
However, despite our efforts to ensure your safety, some individuals try to misuse our platform for fraudulent activities. To avoid any problematic situations that might arise from deceitful tenant activities, we would like to increase landlords’ awareness of these deceptive practices so nobody falls victim to similar scams. By staying informed and following the guidelines provided on www.flatio.com, you can better protect yourself.
Remember, we're here to help you navigate safely. If you’re ever in doubt, always reach out to Flatio directly to verify the legitimacy of any communication or transaction. We follow clear procedures to deal with potential scammers immediately. Thankfully, these instances are short-lived, and the main reason is our attentive landlords who report any suspicious behavior.
The most common scamming tactics are the following:
- Requested contact outside the Flatio platform: Tenant sends you a message via Flatio, requesting an exchange of direct contact information.
Be cautious if a tenant asks you to communicate outside the Flatio platform. Although it might be a misunderstanding without any scamming intention, signing a lease without a safe third party would leave you highly unprotected in case of troubles such as unpaid rents, a theft, damaged property, issues with neighbors, etc. We therefore recommend that you never agree to such an arrangement and insist that the tenant proceeds with booking via Flatio or not at all. - First rent fraud: Tenant claims to have paid the first rent and demands to be accommodated.
This behavior is typical for last-minute reservations, especially from tenants of local origin (e.g., a Czech person renting a property in Czechia). We always inform you of the lease validity as soon as we receive the payment and you can also review the payment status in your Flatio profile at any time. If the lease isn’t shown as officially valid, never accommodate the tenant - not even if they show you a payment confirmation as it can be easily forged. Instead, explain to the tenant that you are able to accommodate them only when the money actually arrives in Flatio’s account.
What to do if I have a suspicion I’m dealing with a scammer tenant?
If you suspect a fraudster is posing as a tenant on Flatio, please reach out to us as soon as possible and provide us with screenshots of the person’s messages (or grant us access to the Messages section to view them). We can then act swiftly and immediately remove the person from our platform if your suspicion is proven right.
Flatio is committed to creating a secure and trustworthy environment for all our users. We continuously improve our security measures as your safety is our top priority.
Remember, for a secure and worry-free rental experience, always follow the procedures outlined on www.flatio.com. Stay vigilant and stay safe with Flatio.
