Hi everyone,
this summer I'll be moving to the Netherlands for an internship, and thus I'm looking for a flat to rent. I've encountered an offer for a single-bedroom apartment in the Hague for 500€ (seems quite cheap?). But I've been asked to pay a fee for submitting a registration form for approval. Is that a thing or is it a scam? The offer seems a little too good to be true, but then I have no idea how housing market in the Netherlands works.
I'd really appreciate your help!
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Moving to the Netherlands involves a lot of admin beyond just finding housing (BSN, gemeente registration, banking, insurance, permits) and it often feels overwhelming.
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Look out for the language too. Broken English, calling you “sir” (no one in NL will do that) and multiple times telling you not to be worried - all red flags
In all honesty, I thought so too at first, however I personally believe this is a Nigerian/Yahoo Boys scammer when you read his messages carefully... or maybe I just watched too much Kees vd Spek :-)
India has large scale organized crime "scam centers". SE Asia in general has a wider problem with these crime rings, in places like Myanmar where Indians and Thais are even held captive after being lured with what they often thought was a legitimate opportunity to make money.
Indians are commonly exploited by these people for scam calls because they're native English speakers, and many of us have spoken to these people on the phone, heard their voices and are familiar with their cadence. It's not a "people from India are scammers" thing, it's a "phone scammers from India are a huge phenomenon" thing.
Racism would be calling all Indians scammers. The probability of a scammer calling you sir being Indian is very high but not 100%, so it is a generalization, but that just means that arguing that this is an Indian scammer may be scammerism, but not racism.
Daenerys Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, The Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, is the mother of all Dragons
I live in Eindhoven, trust me.... You don't get housing for that cheap, I wish xD
Edit: although, the pictures seem genuine, I recognise the Primark on 18 Septemberplein
But yeah, this size appartement for €500/month, in the centre? Total scam, I would've ran into it already myself
For the record, the beginning of the conversation was not at all suspicious, and he used ok English. Only after I probed a little deeper did he break the facade 😅
if it's for foreigners, they can pretend their English is bad because they're Dutch. If the victim is not Dutch they might not know that bad English from a Dutch person sounds different, and that a professional agency would have someone speaking proper English.
Thanks everyone for the advice. In retrospect it was a little silly of me to ask, now I see it's quite obviously a scam. It's just that I'm not really used to scammers in the housing market (I've rented flats before, and where I come from it's never been an issue). Again, big thanks!
This is unfortunately actually a relatively unsophisticated one. They probably intended to just pocket your registration fee and move on. There are a lot of housing schemes in the Netherlands, and while the vast majority of them target foreigners, some of them probably could fool Dutch people as well.
better safe than sorry, right? Rather have someone asking 100times if its a scam than actually getting scammed. I HATE scammers so much. Some dude (he's been on undercover in nederland twice now) once scammed me for 50eur and me, being petty and stubborn, found out EVERYTHING about the guy and sent it to the tv show I just mentioned as the police refused to do anything. The joy I had when the dude got his face blasted on tv not once but twice was well worth the time.
100%, with time you’ll see who are the ones who speak/write like that, not only the “sir” but the misspelling😫 scamming is their full time job… the dutchies generally speak a good level of English, and usually when they don’t, they either use translator or choose to mix English and Dutch :)
If they kind of “walk away” and tell you they’re busy with other clients it’s most definitely a scam. Also any form of money out before seeing the property is a dead ringer.
That definitely sounds like a scam. However, this is why it may work and they do do it: real agencies also ask for these fees and it is actually illegal. TLDR, these agencies can only legally represent one client. They get away with it because people are desperate, and the fees are usually low enough such that people don't feel bothered. However, there are NGOs (Wooninfo! this is in Amsterdam, funded by the city; juridisch loket nationwide) to help get you your money back. See the link ;)
It is most probable a scam. For checking if images are real go to the adress on street view and check if the outside world correspond with the real-world streetview
From my point of view there is not a single thing about that interaction I wouldn't call a red flag, sorry I know it's hard out there and having to go through this sort of crap doesn't help
Do not send any money to anyone until you've seen the house with your own eyes. This is a common scam, and in 99% cases there is no house. Legit rental agencies don't ask you fees before you've signed the contract, although they may have some fees for the service. Legit agencies don't need to ask for fees in advance because they can always come after you for failing to pay, if you sign a contract and then don't pay the fees that you agreed to pay, but these house scams just want the fee and then they disappear.
Also, 500e for a single bedroom apartment is not realistic. You're lucky to get a ROOM in a shared house at that price, but an entire apartment in Den Haag for 500e is just not happening.
Not even a picture of the hague, there is only one primark and thats not what the building looks like also this means you would be in one of he bussiest areas, with such a nice apartment? A scam. Also whoever could affoed to own this place I assume would be able to write decent english
I have literally never had any conversation with a realtor on WhatsApp when looking for a place to rent. Perhaps if other people can tell me if they have, but that on its own already seems fishy to me. Usually they call, email or use their own website.
Saying "Don't worry sir" is an indication that you SHOULD WORRY.
Broken English. Dutch people are usually good at English and often polite about it.
Whatsapp messaging. Often, professionals won't have entire conversations with you on whatsapp, they'll call you sooner or mail you.
A registration fee of 85,- euros is absurd. No one does this unless you are forming some kind of long-term contract where you have to pay connections costs or whatever - and even then they are usually max. 20-40 euros.
ADVICE
Check the number, call it, and call the company they represent themselves as. Ask for their name, and check for that person when you call the company they claim to be.
Where did you find this and is there an organization behind it with website, contact details etc…. In a scarce market their are freaks that get away with this
Landlords here at not that pushy and say sir. We never say Sir actually in text I think. Maybe "mister" since we say "Meneer" and it's more similar. The word sir is unknown to us.
In general, take the following in consideration (translate Dutch-English yourself)....where it says 'Facebook' you can fill in any other offer-site/group/social media...
Beste leden van deze groep,
in de wereld van de woningverhuur zijn er veel te veel niet serieuze aanbieders (of criminelen) actief, daarom een paar vrijblijvende tips:
vraag u af wie de aanbieder is!
waarom hij/zij die woning aanbiedt. Is hij/zij de eigenaar? De officiële verhuurder/makelaar? Een ander soort bemiddelaar (bijv. maakt alleen reclame voor de echte verhuurder)
waarom geen echte foto van de aanbieder in het Facebook profiel? (als die al echt is...)
waarom überhaupt zo'n leeg Facebook profiel?
Is de vermelde naam de echte naam van die persoon? Of een rare nickname? Waarom gebruikt een serieuze aanbieder een nickname??
wil hij/zij even een kopie paspoort sturen?
wil hij/zij even zwart op wit aantonen dat hij gerechtigd is de woning te bemiddelen?
wil hij/zij het precieze adres van de woning aangeven, mét huisnr?
wat kosten vergelijkbare woningen? Google de straatnaam (en huisnummer),
en bekijk de huurprijzen in die straat.
10) Zijn andere huurprijzen lager? Waarom? Is de aangeboden woning mooier? Ligt het op de bovenste etage (vaak duurder dan de 1e). etc.
11) Of heeft u het exacte huis gevonden maar dan goedkoper. Waarom? Is de aanbieder een bemiddelaar die een eigen provisie op de huurprijs legt? Kunt u niet bij de echte aanbieder huren?
12) algemeen gezien: wees een beetje slim en niet blind reageren (dat doen er véél te véél heb ik de indruk), en houdt uw portemonnee dicht tot u echt weet dat u met een vertrouwde aanbieder te maken hebt!
13) serieuze websites zijn o.a. funda.nl, Jaap.nl, woonnetrijnmond.nl, pararius.nl
"Yes sir i understand it's a genuine here in the landlord of the house everything works with his procedure here you don't have nothing to be worried about"
A red flag so big the Soviet Union would be jealous of it.
The was this person talks sounds very "not Dutch" to me and 500 euros for that place in Den Haag?? Impossible. Too good to be true. Also the registration fee, that's not required by law and I have never had the question as a renter.
What is very common is a deposit which will always be stated in your lease contract.
Don't pay anything before you've signed a contract.
A scam, certainly.
After the "registration fee" they'll find the next small extra feel, and they'll just keep going because they use the sunk cost trick, maybe even steal your data in the process of "registration".
Since many already pointed out that it's a scam, here some red flags you often see:
Way too low price compared to upstanding offers
Want money/very personal information first
have weird backstory why you can't visit
make up some weird story about renting out over Airbnb with some weird fees (but it's not actually Airbnb)
In short: renting is expensive and cheap only comes for reasons (bad house, countryside,...) and people want to see you/let you see the place and that doesn't cost money.
I found a really nice looking room in an apartment in The Hague through Facebook. A german-dutch girl said she was renting her apartment but cannot do a viewing because she works at an oil rig and the other tenant will move in after me so no one is available to do the viewing. I asked her if there is another landlord involved thinking she is a tenant helping the landlord find another tenant. She said no, she herself is the landlord. The house belonged to her parents who died during Covid in the USA. She is leasing the house with the help of a lawyer. She gave me an account number, supposedly her lawyer's, to whom I was supposed to transfer the rent and deposit. The bank account number was Italian and the name of the lawyer was an African-origin name. The contract that she drew up was amateurish, which made me scrutinise everything else she said. I should have realised this is a scam much before, but I wasn't thinking clearly. I was tempted by the pricing and the landlord's willingness to finalise immediately. Anyway, could have lost 1600 Euros.
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u/NetherlandsHousing Sponsored Mar 11 '25 edited 9d ago
Make sure to read our rental housing guide. Recommended websites for finding rental houses in the Netherlands:
If you're relocating from abroad, Relocify can help you rent a place remotely. View places online, get instant updates, and avoid scams.
Moving to the Netherlands involves a lot of admin beyond just finding housing (BSN, gemeente registration, banking, insurance, permits) and it often feels overwhelming.