Why do rental scams spike in Groningen every September?
The timing is not random. Groningen hosts two large institutions, and both draw students who arrive with no local network and a hard start date. According to the University of Groningen's 2025 facts page, RUG has about 32,500 students, of whom roughly 8,500 (26%) are international, from more than 120 nationalities. Hanze University adds around 3,000 more international students from over 115 countries, per its institutional profile.
That is thousands of people searching the same kamermarkt in the same weeks. According to a Kamernet analysis reported by The Northern Times, each Groningen listing attracted an average of 81 potential tenants in Q3 2024, an 84% jump from the previous quarter, while availability fell 5.2%. Scarcity plus deadline pressure plus unfamiliarity with Dutch renting is exactly the environment fraudsters exploit. International arrivals also lack the local knowledge to spot a fake IBAN or an off-market price, and they often need to lock housing before they land. No official source counts a dated "September spike" in fraud filings, so treat the surge as demand-driven, not a measured statistic, but the ingredients recur every autumn.
Fake listing #1: The below-market kamer with an absent landlord
📷 www.kaboompics.com / Pexels
This is the archetype. A room appears on Marktplaats or Facebook Marketplace, well below the going rate, in a desirable central location. The "landlord" explains they moved abroad, often for work, and cannot show you the room in person.
Real Groningen prices anchor why the bait works. According to HanzeMag, private student rooms typically run €500–€800 per month, with internationals reportedly paying €700–€800. A listing at €350 for a large central room is not a lucky find; it is a hook. The University of Groningen's blog lists both a too-good-to-be-true price and an absent landlord citing travel among its documented red flags. If the price undercuts the market by a wide margin and the owner is conveniently unreachable in person, assume nothing is real until you verify ownership.
Fake listing #2: The "no viewing, pay first" advance-fee trap
📷 Valentin Ivantsov / Pexels
Here the scammer refuses any in-person viewing and asks for a deposit or first month before you see the room. Sometimes they stage a "video viewing" using stolen photos or a screen recording of a genuine listing elsewhere.
The money trail is the giveaway. A documented Woonbond case saw a mother and daughter lose €2,400, split as €900 first month plus a €1,500 deposit, for an August 1st rental that did not exist. In another case reported by The Northern Times, a student named Sidney lost €2,250 to someone posing as a Belgian scientist; the final payment went to a Spanish bank account before the "landlord" vanished. Dutch law caps deposits: since 1 July 2023, under the Good Landlordship Act, the borg cannot exceed two months' kale huur. Any demand above that, or any push to pay before a viewing, is a stop signal.
Fake listing #3: The Western Union and wire-transfer request
Legitimate Dutch landlords are paid by bank transfer to a Dutch IBAN, and increasingly through platforms with traceable payments. Scammers prefer methods that are hard to reverse.
The University of Groningen's red-flag guide names payment via Western Union, MoneyGram, or wire transfer as a specific warning sign, alongside contact only by call, text, or email. The pattern repeats in real cases: the Sidney case routed money to a Spanish bank account, disconnected from any Groningen property. If a supposed local landlord asks you to send money abroad, to a foreign account, or through a cash-transfer service, walk away. There is no legitimate reason for a Groningen room to be paid for via Western Union.
Fake listing #4: The fake contract and the fake lawyer
Sophisticated scams do not skip paperwork; they weaponize it. You receive an official-looking rental contract, sometimes with an "agent" or "lawyer" copied in to handle the deposit "safely." The document creates false reassurance, then the same wire-transfer request arrives.
The University of Groningen's blog explicitly flags an elaborate but fake contract with a fake lawyer as one of its eight red flags. A convincing PDF proves nothing about who owns the room. The single most useful counter-move is public and cheap: the Kadaster, the Dutch Land Registry, lets anyone check who legally owns a property. According to Kadaster's official tariff page, digital eigendomsinformatie costs €3.70. If the name on the contract does not match the Kadaster owner, the contract is worthless.
Fake listing #5: The "no BRP registration" room
Some listings are for real rooms but come with an illegal catch: the landlord forbids you from registering your address with the municipality. BRP registration, your entry in the Basisregistratie Personen, is mandatory for residents and is your legal proof of address.
The University of Groningen's guide lists refusal to allow BRP registration among its red flags, and for good reason. A landlord who blocks registration is usually hiding the room from tax or housing authorities, which puts your tenancy on unstable, deniable ground. Without a registered address you can also struggle to open a bank account, get insurance, or claim any housing allowance. It also strips you of protections. Since 1 January 2024, every Dutch municipality must run a meldpunt where tenants report bad landlords, per Government.nl. If a room cannot be your registered address, it cannot really be your legal home.
How can you verify a Groningen listing is real before paying?
Run three checks before any money moves. First, insist on an in-person viewing, or send a trusted friend already in Groningen. Refusal to allow one is, per the University of Groningen's guide, a top red flag. Second, verify ownership through the Kadaster for €3.70 and confirm the owner's name matches the person you are dealing with.
Third, never pay by Western Union, MoneyGram, or to a foreign bank account, and never exceed two months' base rent as a deposit, the legal cap under the Good Landlordship Act. Use platforms with traceable payments and real profiles rather than anonymous classifieds. Coinquilino is a free room and roommate app from Italy, now available in the Netherlands, built around visible profiles and in-app chat (full disclosure: Coinquilino is our app). Whatever platform you use, the rule holds: verify, view, then pay, in that order.
Is it normal for a Groningen landlord to refuse an in-person viewing?
No. In a market where the University of Groningen's blog treats "no in-person viewing" as a core red flag, refusal is a warning, not a convenience. Legitimate landlords expect you to see the room. If travel is cited as the reason, that is the classic absent-landlord script, so send a trusted person in your place before paying anything.
How much can a Groningen landlord legally charge as a deposit?
Since 1 July 2023, under the Good Landlordship Act, the deposit (borg) is capped at two months' base rent, the kale huur excluding service charges, according to Government.nl. The deposit must be returned within 14 days of the tenancy ending, or within 30 days if there are deductions. Any demand for more than two months up front is both a legal violation and a scam signal.
How do I check who really owns a room in Groningen?
Use the Kadaster, the Dutch Land Registry. According to its official tariff page, digital eigendomsinformatie costs €3.70. Enter the property address and you receive the registered owner's details. If that name does not match your "landlord," or if they refuse to give you a verifiable address to check, do not pay. A €3.70 lookup is cheaper than losing a €1,500 deposit.
Where do I report a Groningen rental scam?
Since 1 January 2024, every Dutch municipality must operate a meldpunt for reporting bad landlords, per Government.nl. Groningen also runs a Steunpunt Huren (Rental Support Center), which the municipality committed in June 2026 to expanding, according to OOG TV Groningen, following rising fraud reports against internationals. Report the listing and any payment details you have, then file with the police for the financial fraud.
Why are prices so high that scams even work?
Genuine scarcity makes bait believable. According to Rent.nl's Q3 2024 Huurindex, average Groningen rent hit €27.10/m², 11.51% above the Dutch national average, while supply dropped 21% versus the prior quarter. Nationally, DutchNews.nl reported a roughly 26,500-room student shortage and a 30% drop in student lodgings in July 2025. When real rooms are this scarce and expensive, a cheap fake looks like a miracle, which is exactly the point. For comparison on the wider Dutch market, see our guides to affordable Amsterdam rooms and Utrecht student room prices.
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This article was produced with the help of AI tools and reviewed by the Coinquilino editorial team.
