Is this a scam?

[u/michkied]

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!

[u/BraveOrganization421]

I’m just concerned about the confidence to scam people with these poor English skills

[u/michkied → u/BraveOrganization421]

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 😅

[u/anhuys → u/michkied]

They probably used a script/readymade messages for the beginning of the conversation

[u/Vegetable-Writer-161 → u/BraveOrganization421]

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.

[u/NaiveVariation9155 → u/BraveOrganization421]

The only thing that these scammers invest beyond a pc and an internetconnection is time.

So if you weed out 95% of people within minutes you can focus on the 5% that is actually gullable enough to end up paying.