Fake rental ads in Sweden follow a script the police have described for years. The money route is what has changed: QR codes and BankID now do what wire transfers used to. Here is how each variant works, and how to check a flat when you’re still abroad.
When you need this
You’ve found a flat or a room online and the landlord wants a deposit before you can see it. Maybe you’re moving from abroad and can’t view anything in person. Maybe the “landlord” has asked you to scan a QR code or sign in with BankID for a credit check. Or you’ve already paid, and the messages have stopped.
How the basic scam works
Polisen, the Swedish Police, describes the core scheme plainly. A flat is advertised online, often at an attractive address and a reasonable rent. The fraudster then demands several months’ rent in advance or as a deposit (deposition). Sometimes the flat never existed. Often the photos come from a real listing, including cooperative flats for sale, reposted as a sublet.
The setting makes it work. Newcomers rent second-hand because first-hand flats in the big cities go through long queues (see why it’s so hard to rent in Stockholm). They often can’t view a flat before they arrive, and they feel they have to act fast. In August 2025 the police fraud section told national media that rental fraud rises sharply before the autumn term, when thousands of new students hunt for rooms.
Scale is hard to pin down. Brå, the National Council for Crime Prevention, recorded 232,322 reported frauds of all kinds in 2025, 16% of all reported crime, but publishes no separate count for rental fraud.
The five variants
| Variant | How it works | The tell |
|---|---|---|
| The copied ad | Real photos and text lifted from a sale listing or an old rental, posted at a fair or low rent | Landlord “abroad” or unable to meet; deposit first |
| The staged viewing | The fraudster rents a flat short-term, shows it to many people and takes a deposit from each | Fast handover, cash or Swish, no papers from the property owner |
| The QR overcharge | A Swish payment request sent as a QR code, for far more than agreed, or a “refund” of an overpayment | You’re asked to scan a code to receive money |
| The BankID “credit check” | You’re asked to sign in BankID so the landlord can “check your credit” | A private person asking you to approve something in your BankID app |
| The contract for sale | Someone offers to sell you a first-hand lease (förstahandskontrakt) | Any price for a contract at all |
The copied ad is the classic. Police and banks both describe listings copied from earlier ads, so the flat may not exist or may belong to someone who has no idea it’s being “let”.
The staged viewing defeats the usual advice to “see it first”. Police describe fraudsters who rent a flat for a short time to show it. In one Umeå case from 2024, more than 20 people, mostly new students, paid advance rent and a deposit for a flat none of them ever got into. Each paid between 5,000 and 21,000 kr. A viewing proves someone has a key, not that they have the right to let the flat.
The QR overcharge is newer. In a case reported in August 2026, a student was sent a QR code for 6,000 kr instead of the 600 kr agreed. A common version is a “wrong” transfer you’re asked to send back: the QR code is a payment request out of your account.
The BankID “credit check” works the same way. A bank warns that fraudsters ask you to scan a QR code and sign with Mobile BankID for a supposed credit check. Read what the BankID app says you’re approving. A private landlord has no reason to make you sign anything in your BankID.
The contract for sale is a scam and a crime. Asking for, taking or paying money for a rental contract is illegal on both sides. First-hand contracts come through queues and are never sold.
How to check a listing
Work through these before any money moves:
- Read the ad for the pattern. An attractive address, a fair or low rent, a landlord abroad or unable to meet, and pressure to pay now. One alone proves nothing; together they are the police’s described scheme.
- Search the photos. A reverse image search can turn up the original sale ad or older rental.
- Ask what kind of home it is. A rental flat (hyresrätt) needs the landlord’s consent to sublet; a cooperative flat (bostadsrätt) needs the housing association’s. The rules are in long stays in Sweden: renting for a season.
- Check the person against the flat. Ask for ID and the lease or ownership papers. Then find the property owner’s or association’s contact details yourself, and ask whether this person holds the flat and may let it. Don’t use a link the advertiser sends you; police warn about exactly that.
- Check the address registration. Public address-lookup services show who is registered at an address. The person letting the flat should be.
- Look up their phone number yourself and call it, rather than trusting the number in the ad.
- See the flat and meet the person, ideally with a friend along. If you’re abroad, a video tour doesn’t settle it, because of the staged-viewing trick. Book a short landing stay instead and view in person once you arrive.
- Sign a written contract first. Police advice is simple: never pay in advance before you’ve seen the flat and the contract is signed.
Paying safely
A deposit is normal in Sweden. No statute caps it, and Hyresgästföreningen, the tenants’ union, describes a couple of months’ rent as the usual level, written into the contract and returned when you move out if nothing is damaged. The warning sign is the timing, not the deposit.
How you pay decides what you can get back:
- Swish can’t be undone. Swedbank says so in plain words. Swish also needs a Swedish bank account and BankID, so most visitors can’t use it anyway (see Swish for tourists).
- A bank transfer you made yourself isn’t an “unauthorised transaction” under the Swedish Payment Services Act, so the refund rules for card theft and hacked accounts don’t apply.
- Card payments can be claimed back through your card issuer, which is why paying by card through a platform’s own checkout is safer.
- Accounts abroad and anonymous payment services are what police and banks single out as hard to trace.
Pay only to a Swedish account in the name on the contract. A student-housing landlord in Lund lists “no Swedish bank account” as a red flag in its own right.
Be careful with your own documents too. Skatteverket, the Tax Agency, defines identity misuse as someone using your ID, personal number or BankID to order goods or take loans in your name. Don’t send a passport copy until you’ve verified who you’re sending it to.
If you already paid
Act the same day:
- Call your bank on the number you look up yourself, and try to stop the payment.
- Save everything: a screenshot of the ad before it disappears, the messages, the receipt and the receiving account number.
- Report it to the police on 114 14, or +46 77 114 14 00 from a foreign phone. Call 112 only if it’s happening right now.
- Get support if you need it. Brottsofferjouren, the national victim-support organisation, answers free on 116 006.
Be realistic about the outcome. Fraud carries up to two years in prison, and gross fraud one to six years. But police can’t pursue every case: in the Umeå case only six of more than 20 victims were part of the prosecution, and the rest were closed. That’s why every step above comes before the payment, not after. For the reporting process itself, see reporting a crime in Sweden.
Practical information
| Item | Amount or rule |
|---|---|
| Typical loss per victim (Umeå case, 2024) | 5,000–21,000 kr, deposit plus advance rent |
| Legitimate deposit | No legal cap; usually a couple of months’ rent, in the contract |
| Key money for a rental contract | Illegal to ask, take or pay |
| Housing-agency fee | Only a professional agency, max a tenth of the price base amount, only if you get a contract |
| Reversing a Swish payment | Not possible |
| Police, non-urgent | 114 14; +46 77 114 14 00 from a foreign phone |
| Brottsofferjouren victim support | 116 006, free |
| Peak season | Mid-July to August, smaller peak before the spring term |
FAQ
How do I know if a rental ad in Sweden is a scam?
Look for the combination police describe: an attractive flat at a fair or low rent, a landlord who is abroad or cannot meet, and a demand for a deposit or advance rent before a viewing. Add requests to scan a QR code, sign in BankID or pay to a foreign account. Any of these means stop and verify before paying anything.
Can I rent an apartment in Sweden without seeing it first?
You can, but that is exactly the position fraudsters exploit, and police advise never paying before you have seen the flat and signed the contract. A video tour proves little, because fraudsters sometimes rent a flat briefly to show it. The safer route is a short-term stay on arrival, then viewing second-hand flats in person.
Why does the landlord want me to scan a QR code or use BankID?
In a scam, the QR code is usually a Swish payment request, sometimes for far more than agreed, and the BankID “credit check” makes you approve something you did not read. A private landlord has no reason to make you sign in your BankID. Read the text in the BankID app before approving anything, and refuse if unsure.
I paid a deposit and the landlord disappeared. What now?
Call your bank immediately on its own number to try to stop the payment. Then report the fraud to the police on 114 14, or +46 77 114 14 00 from a foreign phone, with the ad, messages and transfer details. A Swish payment cannot be undone, and a transfer you made yourself is harder to recover than an unauthorised one.
Is it normal to pay a deposit for a rental in Sweden?
Yes. No statute caps it, and the tenants’ union describes a couple of months’ rent as the usual level, written into the contract and returned after move-out if nothing is damaged. What is not normal is paying it before you have seen the flat, met the landlord and signed a written contract.
Can I buy a first-hand rental contract in Stockholm?
No. Asking for, taking or paying money for a rental contract is a crime for both seller and buyer, and many offers are scams anyway. First-hand contracts are allocated through housing queues, not sold. Only a professional housing agency may charge a home-seeker a capped fee, and only if a contract actually results.
Related guides
- Long stays in Sweden: renting for a season — the rental law behind the checks: consent, the sublet rent cap and the rent tribunal.
- Why it’s so hard to rent in Stockholm — the queue that pushes newcomers into the second-hand market.
- Phone and BankID scams in Sweden — the BankID tricks in depth, and when a bank must refund you.
- Reporting a crime in Sweden — how a police report works when you’re a visitor.
- Student housing in Sweden — queues and alternatives in the university towns where these scams peak.
Facts verified 2026-10-14. Sources: Polismyndigheten, Sveriges riksdag (Brottsbalken, Jordabalken, Lag 2010:751), Skatteverket, Konsumentverket, Brå, Hyresgästföreningen, issuing banks, SVT and TV4 — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.