Rental scams in Spain in 2026: how they work, how to spot them and what to do if it happens to you

A problem that keeps growing

Looking for a flat in Spain has become a race against the clock, and scammers know it. When supply is scarce and prices are rising, any cheap listing available straight away creates a sense of urgency. That urgency is exactly what people who advertise homes that don't exist, or that don't belong to them, are counting on.

Official statistics do not separate rental scams from other online fraud, but they do show the size of the wider phenomenon they belong to. According to the Ministry of the Interior's Crime Report for the fourth quarter of 2025 (Balance de Criminalidad), 489,248 cybercrime offences were recorded in 2025, 19.8% of all known criminal offences. Of these, 430,493 were online frauds, 4.3% more than the previous year.

The Interior Ministry's annual cybercrime report, published in November 2025 with data for 2024, already put online fraud at 89% of all cybercrime: 412,850 incidents out of a total of 464,801. The same report counted 350,795 victims and noted that the most affected age group was 26 to 40, precisely the age range that is most active in the rental market.

The Instituto Nacional de Ciberseguridad (INCIBE, Spain's National Cybersecurity Institute) points in the same direction. In its 2025 review it handled 122,223 incidents, 26% more than in 2024, of which 45,445 were online frauds, 19% more than the previous year. Its 017 helpline dealt with 142,767 enquiries, 45% more, and 14% of users who got in touch about fraud did so because of identity theft.

Source: Ministerio del Interior (Crime Report Q4 2025 and Cybercrime Report 2024) and INCIBE (2025 review). The official figures do not break down rental-specific scams.

Recent cases: how they operate

The cases that have come to light in 2026 follow a very recognisable pattern. In April, the Policía Nacional (National Police) arrested a man in Palma who advertised other people's flats at below-market prices. After a first contact, he moved the conversation to WhatsApp, showed photos and videos, handed over forged contracts and asked first for a holding fee of between €300 and €375 and then €1,125 for the deposit and first month's rent, via Bizum (Spain's instant mobile payment system) or in cash. According to the published reports, he had already been arrested in March for similar offences.

At the end of September 2026, the Guardia Civil (Civil Guard) investigated 11 people in Tenerife and Salamanca, aged between 19 and 45, for setting up fake rental adverts and a website posing as an accommodation management company. They collected holding fees, deposits and other charges by bank transfer or Bizum, and used phone lines and email accounts taken out with third parties' identities.

This is not a new phenomenon. In December 2023, the Interior Ministry reported that the National Police's Central Cybercrime Unit had broken up a group, with 8 arrests in Madrid and Málaga, that advertised rentals on social media and took the adverts down as soon as it received the holding-fee transfers.

The five most common patterns

• The ghost listing: photos copied from other websites, a price clearly below the local going rate and a supposed landlord who says they are away and cannot show the flat.
• Payment up front: they ask for a holding fee, the deposit or the first month's rent by Bizum, bank transfer or money transfer before you have seen the property or signed anything, often with the excuse that lots of people are interested.
• A fake intermediary or platform: a website, an email or a supposed payment escrow service that imitates a real company to look secure.
• The paper contract: the scammer hands over a contract drawn up with your details and theirs, or promises to sign before a notary, so the deal looks formal.
• Identity theft: they ask for your DNI (Spanish ID card) or passport, payslips, employment contract or bank details too early and then use them to open accounts, take out phone lines or publish new adverts in your name.

The last point deserves special attention. The phone lines and email accounts taken out with other people's identities in the Tenerife case show that the documents you hand over while looking for a flat can end up fuelling the next fraud.

Warning signs before you pay

The golden rule is simple: don't pay anything for a home you haven't seen, or for a contract where you haven't been able to identify the other party. Beyond that, be wary when several of these signs come together.

• The price is well below similar flats in the same neighbourhood.
• The advertiser avoids calls or viewings and sorts everything out by messaging app.
• You are rushed with very short deadlines or told about other supposed interested parties.
• You are asked to pay into a foreign account, an account in a third party's name or by methods that are hard to trace.
• The photos appear in other adverts with a different address or on another website.
• The person claiming to be the owner cannot prove it.

To check ownership there is an official, inexpensive tool: the nota simple (land registry extract) from the Registro de la Propiedad (Land Registry), which shows who owns the property and whether it has any charges on it. You can request it online and, according to information published by Bankinter in December 2024, it costs €9.02 per property, plus taxes. If the name on the registry does not match the person signing, or that person cannot prove they are acting on the owner's behalf, stop.

How to share your documents with less risk

It is reasonable for a landlord to want to know you can afford the rent, but they don't need your documents before you have seen the property. Hand them over only when the deal is real and the other party has been identified. A good practice is to add a visible watermark to your copy of your ID or payslip with the date and the recipient, for example stating that it is only for renting a specific address, and to black out any details that are not essential.

Also be wary of anyone who asks for photos of you holding your ID, codes sent to you by text message or access to your online banking. No legitimate rental process needs that information.

What to do if you have already paid

If you suspect you have fallen for a scam, act fast. The first few hours count, especially if you want to try to stop a transfer or block the use of your data.

• Contact your bank immediately, explain that it is a fraud and ask them to try to hold back or recover the money.
• Keep all the evidence: screenshots of the advert, conversations, phone numbers, payment receipts, the destination IBAN and any contract you were given.
• Report it to the Policía Nacional, the Guardia Civil or the relevant regional police force, providing that evidence.
• Tell the website or social network where the advert appeared so that they take it down and nobody else falls for it.
• If you handed over personal documents, call INCIBE's 017 helpline to find out how to protect yourself against possible identity theft.

With the bank, it helps to be clear about the rules. The Banco de España (Bank of Spain) explains that a transaction you have not authorised must be reported without delay, within a maximum of 13 months from the date of the charge. However, when you are the one who orders the payment because the scammer deceived you, the bank usually treats it as an authorised transaction, which makes a refund harder. That is why prevention matters so much with rental scams, where it is almost always the victim who sends the money.

If you disagree with the bank's response, you must first complain to its customer service department. For payment services, such as transfers or cards, the bank has 15 working days to reply. If the answer does not satisfy you or never arrives, you can go to the Banco de España's Market Conduct and Complaints Department (Departamento de Conducta de Mercado y Reclamaciones) within one year of your complaint to the bank.

INCIBE's 017 helpline is free and confidential, runs from 8:00 to 23:00 every day of the year and can also be reached via WhatsApp and Telegram. It can advise you on what to do with your accounts and with any data you have handed over.

Checklist before you rent

• I have visited the property in person or on a live video call with someone inside the flat.
• I have checked who the owner is with a nota simple, or the intermediary has shown me proof that they act on the owner's behalf.
• I have searched for the advert's photos on other websites and they don't appear with a different address.
• The price is in line with similar flats in the area.
• I have not paid any holding fee before seeing the property and meeting the other party.
• The payment goes to an account in the name of the owner or of the company I am signing with.
• I have read the whole contract and the deposit does not exceed what the law allows.
• I have handed over watermarked copies of my documents, and only once the deal was real.
• I am keeping screenshots of all conversations and receipts.

Renting with more safeguards

Many of these scams work because the conversation moves away from the platform where the advert was posted and the money travels through unmonitored channels. At Llavely, landlords and tenants are verified and the chat and the contract stay on the website, precisely so that every step can be traced; the chat warns you if someone mentions payments or contact details outside Llavely. The deposit and rent are paid directly to the landlord by bank transfer, and never before you have seen the property and signed the contract.

This article is for information only. If you have been the victim of a scam or have questions about a specific case, consult a lawyer, your bank or the police.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Balance de Criminalidad (Crime Report), fourth quarter 2025 (Ministerio del Interior, 2026)
2. Cybercrime fell by 1.6% in 2024 (Ministerio del Interior, 21/11/2025, in Spanish)
3. INCIBE detected more than 122,000 cybersecurity incidents in 2025 (INCIBE, 2026, in Spanish)
4. Línea de Ayuda en Ciberseguridad 017 (017 Cybersecurity Helpline) (INCIBE)
5. Criminal organisation running holiday rental scams broken up (Ministerio del Interior, 22/12/2023, in Spanish)
6. Man arrested for rental scams in Palma (Mallorcadiario, 21/04/2026, in Spanish)
7. Fake rental scam in Tenerife (Diario de Avisos, 29/09/2026, in Spanish)
8. Card payments you have not authorised (Banco de España, Portal del Cliente Bancario, in Spanish)
9. I want to complain about my bank: what deadlines apply? (Banco de España, 25/06/2019, in Spanish)
10. Nota simple from the Registro de la Propiedad (land registry extract) (Bankinter, 10/12/2024, in Spanish)