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Fraud: spotting fake ads

We check every ad before it goes online and block fake ones. Fraudsters still keep trying. Here is how to spot a fake ad. What their e-mails look like is explained in Fraud: spotting scam e-mails, more advice in the Flatshare tips.

The scam in three steps

  1. An offer that is too good. A lovely room or even a whole flat, right in the centre and far cheaper than anything else.
  2. The landlord is away. He works abroad, inherited the flat and has the keys with him. You can’t view it, at best from outside.
  3. Money first. For the “reservation”, the deposit or for sending the keys. After that you never hear from them again, and there is no flat.

So never transfer money before you have seen the room, met the people and signed the contract.

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How to recognise a fake ad

  • The price doesn’t fit. A whole flat in Zurich for 500 francs or a large room with a lake view for 450 francs doesn’t exist. Compare with similar ads in the area.
  • The photos come from the internet. Hotel rooms, show flats from brochures or just the front of the building. With the image search of Google or Bing you often find such photos on other sites.
  • The description is copied. The text reads like a property portal and describes a whole flat rather than a room in a flatshare.
  • The fields make no sense. Under “About us” and “We are looking for” there are words like “rent”, “tenants”, “owners” or “landlord” instead of a description of the flatshare.
  • Place and address don’t match. The street is in a different municipality than stated, or doesn’t exist at all. Fraudsters don’t know the area.
  • Contact only from abroad. The reply comes with a foreign phone number, a number with too many digits or no number at all. You can never call, only write. Swiss mobile numbers start with 075, 076, 077, 078 or 079.

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Three examples of blocked ads

A whole flat for the price of a room

A whole flat in the city of Zurich for 500 francs a month. The region chosen was “Zurich (country)”, although the address is in the city. Under “About us” it said “tenants”, under “We are looking for” “landlord”.

The copied text

The description came word for word from a property website and described a whole flat. The photo only showed the front of the building, and under “About us” and “We are looking for” it said “tenants” and “landlord” again.

The contact in England

A nice room at a low price, a description obviously pasted together, and a UK phone number as the contact. Under “About us” and “We are looking for” only “tenants” and “owners”.

You can see every ad we block under Blocked ads. If an ad looks similar, keep your hands off it.

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How wgzimmer.ch protects you

  • Every ad is checked before it goes online. If someone later changes the texts or the contact, we check again.
  • Anyone writing through wgzimmer.ch has confirmed their e-mail address with a code we send to that address.
  • We block known fraudster addresses. We compare ads and messages with lists of such addresses.
  • We show blocked ads publicly so you can compare: Blocked ads.

Still, we can’t prevent all fraud. Once a fraudster has your e-mail address, they also write to you directly.

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What you can do

  • Not sure? Don’t pay anything and meet the people in person. Check the e-mail address with Check a scam e-mail.
  • Suspicious ad? Report it to abuse@wgzimmer.ch with the link to the ad. We’ll take a look.
  • Already paid? Call your bank immediately, sometimes a transfer can still be stopped. Report it to the police and keep all messages.
  • Sent a copy of your ID? Tell the police about that too. Fraudsters use such copies for further fraud, for example for new ads or accounts.

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