Safety tips

The vast majority of advertisers are genuine. Attempted fraud happens all the same – and it almost always follows the same script. Once you know it, you spot it in seconds.

The one rule that prevents nearly everything

Never pay money before you have seen the property from the inside and signed a tenancy agreement. No genuine advertiser in Switzerland asks for payment beforehand – not a deposit, not a “reservation fee”, not a “key fee”, and not an advance “to check your creditworthiness”.

Typical scam patterns

• The advertiser is supposedly abroad and cannot show the property; the keys are to arrive by courier or through a “trustee”.
• The money is to go via a cash-transfer service, in cryptocurrency, in gift cards, or to an account abroad.
• The price is far below anything comparable in the area – the property looks too good to be true.
• You are put under time pressure: “There are twenty interested parties; whoever transfers first gets it.”
• The conversation moves to a messenger app immediately, and the replies read like a template or a poor translation.
• An ID copy, debt-collection register extract and pay slips are demanded before any viewing.
• The listing text appears word for word on another portal – but with a different advertiser and a different number.

What helps here

Because we bundle the same property across portals, “also found on …” shows you at a glance who else is offering it. If the same flat turns up with two different contacts, or with widely differing prices, that is a clear warning sign. When in doubt, check that the managing agent really exists: company name, address and website are on the listing.

Deposits: how it works properly in Switzerland

For residential property the deposit may not exceed three months’ rent. It belongs in a rental deposit account held in your name at a bank – not in the landlord’s private account, and certainly not in an account abroad. Anyone proposing otherwise is either uninformed or dishonest.

Protecting your documents

An ID copy, a debt-collection register extract and pay slips are normal parts of an application in Switzerland – but only once interest is mutual, so at the earliest after the viewing. Redact whatever nobody needs, and do not send documents through messenger apps. An ID copy in the wrong hands is the basis for identity theft.

At the viewing

• Establish who you are dealing with: identity document, business card, management mandate.
• Ask about the service charges and what they include – that explains many a “bargain”.
• Check that condition, floor area and layout match the photos; conspicuously old or flattering images are fair game to raise.
• Ask for the tenancy agreement before signing and read it at your leisure. A genuine advertiser has no problem with that.

Suspicious? How to report it

Use “Report listing” on the listing page itself, or write to us through the contact form. We look into every report, hide affected listings while we do, and inform the source where necessary. The more precise your report, the faster it goes.

If money has already gone

Contact your bank immediately and have the payment stopped or recalled – with a transfer, every hour counts. Then file a report with your cantonal police; online fraud can additionally be reported to the Federal Office for Cybersecurity. Keep everything you have: the listing, the chat history, e-mails, the payment receipt. And tell us, so we can examine the listing and the source.