Why are Erasmus students in Italy such easy targets?
Scammers go after the one weakness every incoming student has: you're in another country while the room you want is in Italy. You can't drop by for a viewing, you're working to a hard arrival date, and you usually don't know how Italian rentals are supposed to work. In the same ESU/ESN survey from 2022, which collected around 9,000 responses, 1 in 4 exchange students across Europe reported a housing scam. Italy came out worse than that average.
Pressure to pay up front is normal in this market, which makes the scam harder to spot. The same 2022 ESU/ESN report found that 49% of respondents had been asked for a deposit bigger than one month's rent to secure housing before they arrived. When a large advance payment is what honest landlords ask for too, a fraudulent one doesn't look out of place.
Supply makes it worse. Immobiliare.it Insights data reported by Sky TG24 in August 2026 shows single-room listings in Italy fell 15% year on year. With fewer rooms available, "pay now or lose it" is a believable thing to hear.
How does the "landlord abroad" deposit scam actually work?
📷 Mikhail Nilov / Pexels
The script almost never changes. Confconsumatori, an Italian consumer-protection association, described it in a July 2026 explainer: the "owner" says they can't meet because they're away, tells you basta versare una caparra per bloccarla ("just pay a deposit to hold it"), takes a bank transfer, and then stops replying. The listing disappears soon after.
Uniplaces' 2026 anti-scam guide quotes a version of the same line, "sono fuori per lavoro, mando le chiavi con corriere dopo il pagamento" ("I'm away for work, I'll send the keys by courier after you pay"), and says that message is almost always a scam.
The details change but the order of events is the same:
- A room slightly below market, with good photos, near a university.
- An owner who is abroad, travelling, or "too busy" for a viewing.
- Pressure: other students are supposedly interested, so you need to decide today.
- A request for a caparra (deposit) or first month's rent before any viewing or signed contract.
- After you pay, the owner stops responding.
HousingAnywhere flags "inventing other interested tenants" as a pressure tactic.
Can you still get scammed after seeing the flat?
📷 SplitShire / Pexels
Yes, and this matters for anyone who plans to send a friend to the viewing or trusts a video call. In a Bologna case reported by Il Resto del Carlino in August 2025, a fake agency intermediary showed victims a real apartment and then asked for a €1,800 deposit by bank transfer, backed by a forged rental contract, before anyone had moved in. A real flat and a real person on the doorstep didn't make it a real rental.
Another version targets several people at once. In a case notice from December 2022, the Polizia Postale (Italy's postal and cyber police) described a scammer who advertised the same apartment on several portals and collected deposits from dozens of victims, students among them. The total came to tens of thousands of euros, all paid by bank transfer against a false contract.
So seeing the room isn't enough. You also need to confirm that the person you're paying has the right to rent it to you, and that the contract is going to be legally registered.
How much deposit is legal in Italy, and how should you pay it?
Italian law puts a ceiling on the security deposit (deposito cauzionale). Under Article 11 of Law 392/1978, the equo canone law, a landlord can't require more than three months' rent as a deposit, and the deposit earns legal interest that's paid to the tenant every year. If someone asks for more than that, the listing has a problem even if everything else about it is real.
Italy's national police are stricter about money sent in advance. The Polizia di Stato's safe-renting guidance, produced with Subito.it and current as of 2026, says not to pay more than a fifth of the total up front. It also says to pay only through traceable channels such as an Italian IBAN or PayPal, and never by prepaid card or through money-transfer agencies.
HousingAnywhere makes a related point in its current guidance: wire transfers, cash and crypto are effectively untraceable once they've gone, so a host who pushes for one of them before a viewing is a reason to walk away. If you do pay something, do it after verification and with a payment you can trace back to a named person.
What does a real Italian rental contract look like?
A contract you receive as an email attachment doesn't prove much. The Agenzia delle Entrate (Italy's Revenue Agency) says in its current guidance that every residential lease has to be registered within 30 days of signing or of the start date, whatever the rent. An unregistered document from a scammer has no legal standing. Landlords on the cedolare secca (a flat-tax option on rental income) still register.
For students there's a specific contract type. Law 431/1998, Article 5, as summarised by LeggeInChiaro, sets the contratto transitorio per studenti universitari (transitional lease for out-of-town university students) at 6 to 36 months. An "Erasmus contract" matching no recognised lease type deserves scrutiny.
Things a real landlord can do without any trouble:
- Give you their full name and codice fiscale (Italian tax code). Registration needs both parties' codes, so you'll need one too. See our guide to getting a codice fiscale as a foreigner.
- Show a document connecting them to the property, or to a real agency mandate.
- Commit to registering the lease and send you proof of registration afterwards, which non-EU students may also need for paperwork such as the permesso di soggiorno (residence permit).
Is the price too good to be true?
Fake listings tend to be priced just under the market so they get attention without looking absurd. Knowing the going rate helps. According to Immobiliare.it Insights, cited by Sky TG24 in August 2026, the average single room costs about €704 a month in Milan, €627 in Florence, €615 in Rome and €585 in Bologna. The cheapest cities in that ranking were Chieti at €240, Catanzaro at €251 and Foggia at €259.
The same 2026 data shows national single-room prices down 6.2% year on year, so rents falling slightly doesn't prove anything. The warning sign is a central room in an expensive city listed well below that city's average, together with a landlord who can't meet you. For Bologna specifically, our breakdown of what a room near Unibo costs shows what normal looks like by neighbourhood.
Low demand is part of the picture too. The August 2026 Immobiliare.it figures show the average number of contacts per listing down 19.8%. A listing that claims to be flooded with applicants is sometimes just trying to rush you.
How to rent in Italy before arriving safely
Keep the commitment small until someone has checked the room in person.
- Book short-term first. Stay in a hostel, a university residence or a short let for your first days, and do real viewings once you're in the city.
- Send someone you trust. A classmate already in the city, your university's housing office or the local ESN section can visit for you. Ask them to check the doorbell name and documents too.
- Verify the person as well as the place. Search the listing photos, phone number and name. If the same flat shows up in several cities or under several names, stop.
- Refuse money-transfer agencies and prepaid cards. Follow the Polizia di Stato's guidance and use only traceable payments to an Italian IBAN.
- Report attempts. Online rental fraud is dealt with by the Polizia Postale.
Some platforms show how much of a profile has been checked. Full disclosure: Coinquilino (coinquilino.app), a free app for finding rooms and roommates in Italy, is our app. On Coinquilino, verified profiles have passed a phone and face check. That lowers the risk but isn't a guarantee. Our honest comparison of room apps in Italy covers the other options.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to rent an apartment in Italy without seeing it?
It's risky. The 2022 ESU/ESN survey found more than 38% of exchange students heading to Italy reported a housing scam. If you have to commit from abroad, get someone you trust to do an in-person viewing and verify the owner first.
Should I wire a deposit to hold a room in Italy?
Not before a viewing and a verified contract. The Polizia di Stato's current guidance says to pay no more than a fifth up front, only to an Italian IBAN or via PayPal, and never through money-transfer agencies or prepaid cards.
What is the maximum deposit a landlord can ask for in Italy?
Under Article 11 of Law 392/1978, the security deposit can't be more than three months' rent, and it earns legal interest that's paid to you every year.
How can I tell if an Italian rental contract is real?
A real lease is registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate. According to its current guidance, that has to happen within 30 days of signing or of the start date. Ask for the landlord's full name and codice fiscale and for proof of registration.
The landlord says they are abroad and will send the keys by courier. Is that normal?
No. Uniplaces' 2026 guide flags "I'm away for work, I'll send the keys by courier after payment" as almost always a scam, and Confconsumatori describes the same "owner abroad" pattern.
Where do I report a rental scam in Italy?
Report online rental fraud to the Polizia Postale, Italy's postal and cyber police. Keep screenshots of the listing, the chats and the payment receipt.
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This article was produced with the help of AI tools and reviewed by the Coinquilino editorial team.
