Levi Amarilo knows all too well about accommodation scams.
Last year he was conned out of €6,000.
The Brazilian, a student at the time, met with a 'landlord' through a Facebook ad who told Mr Amarilo that he could offer accommodation for him and his brother.
"He was trying to be our friend," he said.
The brothers moved into the Dublin city apartment and were there for three days until one morning Levi got a rude awakening.
"I woke up and a woman was knocking on the door asking 'Who are you?' I said ‘Who are you? I rented this place’, and she said ‘No, I've rented this place.’"
It was then that Mr Amarilo realised he had been scammed.
"We went into the living room and found 12 people in the same place with keys. All of them were scammed," he said.
It turned out that the 'landlord' did in fact not own the apartment at all.
Mr Amarilo had paid over €3,000 in a deposit and another €3,000 for the first month's rent.
"We felt we were dumb and fools," he said.
He believes the 'landlord', who was also Brazilian, fled back Brazil after the scam.
Mr Amarilo said his advice for those searching for places is go through an estate agent if possible and "don't give any money if you haven't seen the place".
He said to "search for the name of the person to check if it is a real landlord".
Read more: Rental scams: Warning for students ahead of new term
