How common cottage rental scams are and their main principles

Scams involving the rental of holiday homes and cottages have become significantly more common in recent years. Scammers become especially active during the summer and winter holiday seasons. In rental scams, a typical approach is to lure the renter into paying an advance fee for a property that does not actually exist or that the scammer does not own.

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Finns lose up to hundreds of thousands of euros each year in cottage rental scams. Scamming is especially active as holiday periods approach, such as before Midsummer, the ski holiday and Christmas.

The most common scam methods in cottage rentals:

Non-existent properties – Scammers create attractive listings for properties that do not exist at all.
Copied listings – Photos and texts are copied from genuine rental properties, but the contact details are replaced with the scammer’s.
Advance-payment scams – The renter is asked to pay a booking fee or the full rent in advance.
Key delivery scams – The scammer promises to send the keys "by courier" once the payment has been made.
Fabricated rental sites – Entire scam websites that look like genuine cottage rental services.
Identity theft – Scammers pose as the owners of real cottages and use stolen personal details to increase trustworthiness.
Hijacked user accounts – Hijacked accounts of trustworthy rental services are used for scams.

How to recognise a suspicious cottage rental listing

When trying to recognise a cottage rental scam, it is worth paying attention to the following warning signs:

Tunnista nämä varoitusmerkit

Unrealistically low price – If the cottage’s rent is clearly below the market price, it is probably a scam.
Rushing the decision – Scammers create a sense of urgency by claiming there are many enquiries about the property, so that you do not have time to check the background.
Vague location – The listing does not give the cottage’s exact address or the location details are vague.
Poor-quality or stolen photos – The photos look professional but are blurry or clearly from a different season than the listing claims.
A demand for advance payment – Especially if the renter demands the full amount in advance or payment by bank transfer abroad.
Incomplete contact details – The listing has only an email address and no phone number or other contact details.
Language mistakes and poor Finnish – The listing text has many language mistakes or seems to be a machine translation.
Reluctance to have a video call – The renter refuses a video call or even a normal phone call.

Always check the landlord’s details thoroughly before paying the booking fee. If possible, call the landlord and ask for more information about the property. A trustworthy landlord is happy to answer questions.

Principles of a safe cottage rental

Näin varmistat turvallisen vuokrauksen

Use well-known rental services – Prefer trustworthy and well-known cottage rental sites, such as Lomarengas, Nettimökki, Airbnb or Booking.com.
Check the landlord’s profile and reviews – See what other users have said about the landlord and whether the profile has existed for a long time.
Confirm that the property exists – Check the cottage’s address on the map and use Google Street View to see the area.
Use a secure payment method – Pay by credit card or via the platform’s own payment system; do not make the payment by bank transfer to an unknown person.
Ask for a rental agreement – Always ask for a written rental agreement in which the rental terms are clearly defined.
Confirm the key handover – Agree in advance on how the key handover happens and who will be there to receive you.
Never pay the full amount in advance – If possible, pay only the booking fee in advance and the rest on arrival.
Ask for more photos – Ask the landlord to send more photos of the property, preferably from different angles.
Use healthy scepticism – If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Remember that trustworthy cottage rental services usually offer some kind of user protection or insurance. If you rent directly from a private person without an intermediary, the risks are greater.

Current scam methods and phenomena

Cottage rental scams are constantly evolving. Here are a few recent phenomena worth being aware of:

Uudet huijausmenetelmät

Fake booking sites – Scammers have created entire fake sites that look like genuine cottage booking services but only collect payment and personal details.
Social media campaigns – Scammers advertise "dream cottages" in Facebook groups and on Instagram, especially during peak seasons.
"Confirmation code" scams – The scammer asks for a confirmation code that they can use to hijack your social media or phone account.
Season-focused scams – The scams focus on the most in-demand times, such as the ski holiday, Christmas and Midsummer, when there is a shortage of cottages and decisions are made in a hurry.
Premium services – Scammers offering "booking confirmations" or "first-class service" for an extra fee.
Airbnb communication scams – The landlord suggests moving away from Airbnb’s platform "to save on service fees" and continuing communication directly by email.

Be especially careful if the landlord asks you to download an app, click a link or continue communication outside the official rental service. These are often signs of a scam attempt.

Unauthorised use of someone else’s cottage

An increasingly common scam is that a criminal copies the photos and details of a genuine, existing cottage from, for example, a rental listing or a travel website and makes their own fake listing out of them. The victim thinks they are renting a real property, because the photos and address are real. Protect yourself by doing a reverse image search on the photos: if the same photos are found in another listing or on a travel website with different contact details, it is almost certainly a scam. You can also contact the property’s official owner or the area’s tourist office and confirm that the listing is genuine.

Urgency, refusal to give more information and checking the address

The police remind us that a landlord’s urgency and reluctance to give more information are typical warning signs of a scam. If the landlord cites urgency ("can’t send more photos now") or refuses to give their full name and contact details, be especially careful. Always ask for the landlord’s full name and contact details, and check on an internet map service that there is a building suitable for accommodation at the given address at all. If possible, go and see the property in advance or arrange a meeting in person before paying.

How to act if you suspect a scam or have been scammed

If you suspect you have been targeted by a cottage rental scam, act quickly:

End contact with the landlord immediately.
If you paid by credit card, contact your credit card company immediately and request a refund (chargeback).
Report the scam to the service provider, if you used a rental service.
Save all messages and payment details; they can help the authorities.
File a police report. You can do it online at poliisi.fi.
If you gave out personal or bank details, contact your bank and consider taking up identity theft protection services.

Muista tämä

The faster you act, the better your chances of getting your money back. Do not be ashamed of being scammed – always report it to the authorities, so that the scammer can be caught and others can be warned.

Summary

Cottage rental scams are unfortunately common, but with the right caution you can avoid them. The most important things to remember:

Always prefer trustworthy rental services and check the renter’s background.
Confirm that the property exists by checking the address and getting to know the area online.
Never pay the full rent in advance by bank transfer or money transfer services.
If an offer feels too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
Always ask for a written rental agreement and find out the key handover method in advance.
Trust your instinct – if something feels suspicious, rather choose a different property.

OstoSafe.fi constantly updates information about new scam methods. Visit our website regularly and use our scam checker to get advice for safe online trading and renting.

Recognising cottage rental scams