How to avoid scammers on Roomlala?

Although Roomlala makes every effort to avoid fraudulent advertisements being put on our site, we still advise you to always remain vigilant.

Here are some recommendations to avoid a scam:

• Beware of a landlord who claims to be living or travelling abroad and asks you for a deposit to "reserve" the rental;
• Check the landlords email address when communicating outside Roomlala. Scammers often use fake email addresses and pretend to send emails by Roomlala with intent to defraud. To make sure you should always check the domain of the email address. Emails from us always end on "[e-mail]". If you receive an email with a different domain you can be sure that this email was not sent by Roomlala.
• Refuse any requests for money transfer and "money order", usually offered on platforms such as Moneygram, Western Union etc.
• Do not agree to pay in advance unless via online booking on Roomlala. You will be covered in any case of fraud or if the accommodation isn't how it appeared online.

Learn more about Roomlala insurance

Other tips:

• Always compare the rental price with other listings around
• Ask for more information from the home owner using the contact form available on the ad, then on the Roomlala inbox;
• Check the existence of the home through the major search engines available online;
  for example, with Google Images, it's possible to check if the ad's photos are real or have been taken from other sites (just drag the image to Google or copy and paste);             With Google Maps, you can also get a satellite view to check the location of the accommodation;
• Be wary of ads that's description includes many misspellings and photos that are unrealistically nice or that look like they're from a magazine.

Feel free to report an ad that you think is fraudulent, using the reporting link on all ads. The ad will be reviewed by the Roomlala team and action will be taken if necessary to remove the ad and ban the user from Roomlala.

If you need assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.

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