Scammers Are Flooding TikTok With Fake Student Room Adverts
Hundreds of fake adverts for student rooms are circulating on TikTok, using photos stolen from real rental sites; victims pay a deposit or "reservation fee" for a room that does not exist.
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Anyone hunting for a student room in the Netherlands should be on their guard. Hundreds of fake advertisements for student rooms and rental homes are circulating on TikTok, aimed at cheating people out of their money, according to an investigation by NOS Stories.
How the scam works
The fraudsters copy photographs of real rooms from legitimate rental platforms, in particular Pararius, one of the largest in the country, and repost them as their own listings. The trap is sprung before anyone ever sees the property. Victims are asked to pay upfront, a deposit, a viewing fee, or a so-called reservation guarantee, and once the money is transferred, it disappears. In many cases the room does not exist at all.
The national student union, the LSVb, said it regularly hears from young people who have been caught out. “Sometimes a deposit is also demanded in advance and the room turns out not to exist at all,” said its vice-chair, Juliana Könning. “Students then lose their deposit of, say, three months’ rent.” For someone on a tight budget, losing several months’ rent in one go is a serious blow.
A sharp rise in reports
The problem appears to be growing quickly. The Fraudehelpdesk, the national fraud reporting centre, received 175 reports in the first half of 2026 from people scammed through an advertisement, according to NOS Stories, up sharply from 21 in the previous six months.
The timing makes it worse. The scams flourish now, in the run-up to the new academic year, when large numbers of students are competing for a limited supply of rooms. The underlying housing shortage is part of what makes the fraud so effective: when rooms are scarce and demand is desperate, people are more likely to act fast and pay quickly for fear of missing out.
International students are among those most exposed. They often cannot fall back on a parental home nearby, may be searching from abroad before they arrive, and are frequently unfamiliar with how the Dutch rental market works or what their rights are, all of which makes them easier targets.
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Platforms under pressure
The rental sites whose listings are being stolen say they are frustrated. Some people who lose money even turn up at Pararius believing they rented through the site, because they transferred a payment, when in fact it went to a scammer. “We are completely fed up and want action from TikTok now,” Pararius spokesperson Jasper de Groot said. The company says it has sent TikTok dossiers containing victims’ police reports and a registered letter, without success, and now intends to take legal action against the platform. “It has to stop,” De Groot said.
TikTok said content used to defraud people is not allowed and that it removes such posts, though it did not explain why it had not acted on the reports Pararius filed. After NOS Stories shared a number of fake adverts with the platform, the accounts behind them were taken down, but dozens of other scam accounts were still online. Other housing sites are also affected: Funda said it warns consumers but can do little because the fraud happens elsewhere, while the room-rental site Kamernet said it advises users to report suspicious posts and may take legal steps if they are not removed.
How to protect yourself
The single most important rule is simple: never pay anything for a room you have not seen and a landlord you cannot verify. No legitimate landlord or agency should require a deposit, a viewing fee or a “reservation” payment before you have viewed the property and signed a proper contract.
A few further checks help. Be suspicious of a deal that seems too good, a spacious, cheap room in a city where such rooms barely exist is a classic warning sign. Treat rooms advertised on social media platforms like TikTok with extra caution, and try to verify a listing against an established rental site rather than the other way round. You can run one of the listing photos through a reverse image search to see whether it has been lifted from somewhere else. Insist on a viewing, in person or, if you are still abroad, by live video, rather than pre-recorded clips or photos. Be wary of any landlord who refuses to meet, pushes you to pay quickly, or wants the money by an untraceable method. And be careful about handing over copies of your passport or other documents before anything is confirmed.
Anyone who thinks they have been targeted, or has already lost money, can report it to the police and to the Fraudehelpdesk. Universities and student housing offices can also help international students find safe, verified accommodation and check whether an offer is genuine.