Students seeking accommodation in Galway city before the start of the new academic year have been advised to be on their guard following a fraud in which three young people handed over a €1,000 deposit to a landlord who has since disappeared.
Three female NUI Galway students responded to an advertisement in a local newspaper and, after a prearranged meeting with a man in the city centre, they agreed to take a two-bedroom apartment on the basis of his description.
The man told them that he was in a hurry and said he would meet them later to show them the property. He demanded two weeks' rent and a two-week deposit in advance, and they handed over €1,000.
He left without giving the girls a receipt, and his mobile phone has been switched off since the meeting. "People are so panicked. They think there is this big crisis in accommodation, and there are people out there willing to take them for a ride," said the NUIG Student Welfare Officer, Ms Aine Kelly.
"If a landlord thinks he can get €90 a week for a room without a window, he will try it."
Staff at both of the city's third-level colleges, NUI Galway and GMIT, are to hold information meetings today and again next Wednesday to advise students that there is no longer a shortage of rental accommodation in the city.