Jardi warns ‘new generation’ of students against residency fraud

GARDAÍ is warning students to beware of rental scams before returning to campus, especially those who may be transferring to college for the first time.

503 rental fraud cases were reported to Gardaí between February 2019 and May 2021, amounting to €900,000 theft.

42% of the people affected were under the age of 25 and nearly half of the scams were in the Dublin area.

In the past 18 months, Gardaí has ​​noticed a decrease in accidents, which it attributes to Covid-19 restrictions.

Garday says that while “accommodation scams have decreased in recent months due to Covid 19 restrictions,” “a new generation of third-level students looking for accommodation may be a target for scammers.”

Michael Cryan, Director of Detectives at the Gardaí National Economic Crime Bureau, advises students to use only reconfigured permissive agencies or deal with trusted people.

« Websites can be cloned, check the URL to make sure it’s a real website and note the privacy and refund policy sections, » Cryan said.

“Be very wary of social media ads or when a person who leaves the site only communicates via messenger or WhatsApp. You have to pay for direct answers and if the responses are ambiguous disengage immediately.”

Cryan said potential tenants should watch out for any unsolicited contact or where contact appears to exist outside Ireland, particularly if the contact comes with a sense of urgency, such as the mention of a « one-time offer ».

“If you decide to accept the offer, use only trusted money transfer systems,” Crean said.

“I recommend using a credit card. Never transfer money directly, pay with cash, and pay in cryptocurrency wallets.”

“Be careful if a website asks you to send money to a random PayPal address, send via Western Union, pay with iTunes gift cards or trade with cryptocurrency only. Most of the time, these methods are implemented to avoid scrutiny and ensure that the transaction cannot be undone. « .

Higher education institutions intend to Back to campus Next month with « maximum on-site presence ».

Associations representing colleges and universities announced plans last week to facilitate student learning on campus through sanitation, ventilation and occupancy limits.

For many students, this will be the first time they have attended classes on campus since 2020 – or the first time entirely in their first and second years.

The President of the Association of Irish Universities and President of NUI Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh said Tier III institutions are « determined to put in place all measures advised by public health to make the return to campus safe and sustainable for our students, staff and for the community ».

“A key element in this determination is personal and institutional responsibility and we urge all of our students to accept the vaccination offer in time for September.”

Next month’s CAO Round One performances are set to be released on September 7, four days after certification results are left on the third.