When arriving in a new country, the search for accommodation often comes with a sense of urgency. Newcomers may need a place before starting a job, enrolling children in school, or simply settling into their new life.
In Belgium, many people quickly discover Immoweb, one of the country’s best-known property platforms. The real estate platform is one of the country’s main places to find apartments and houses, but scammers use the platform to exploit people who are unfamiliar with the Belgian rental market.
'They play on people’s desperation'
According to Yousra Dahraoui, a spokesperson for Immoweb, scammers often exploit people's desperation.
"Scammers mainly target densely populated cities such as Brussels, where there are many expats," Dahraoui told The Brussels Times. "They play on people’s desperation because these are cities where demand is higher than supply."
The typical scenario is simple: an apartment appears online at an unusually attractive price, the photos look perfect, and the landlord seems eager to move quickly. Then comes the request for money, often before a visit has even taken place.
According to Immoweb, fake listings often involve properties advertised below market value. Scammers then invent reasons why the apartment cannot be visited and pressure potential tenants into transferring money quickly.
Recognising the red flags
For newcomers who do not know Belgian rental prices, spotting an unrealistic offer can be difficult. “A beautiful apartment in Brussels for a very low price should immediately raise questions,” says Dahraoui. “If an apartment looks incredible and costs much less than similar properties, that is a red flag.”
Scammers often use attractive photos of modern, renovated apartments. Sometimes these images are stolen from other websites, such as holiday rental platforms, or taken from previous property listings. Immoweb recommends carrying out a reverse image search to check whether photos appear elsewhere online.
Artificial intelligence has also added a new challenge. AI-generated images are not necessarily illegal – legitimate real estate professionals may use AI to help potential buyers or tenants visualise renovations or furniture, but fake images can also be used to make a non-existent property look convincing.
Immoweb says it uses automated tools to flag suspicious images, including those containing unusual texts or quality issues, before human teams review potential problems.
Never pay before visiting
One of the biggest warning signs is a request for payment before seeing the property. “The biggest red flag is when someone asks for money before a visit,” says Dahraoui. “A property should always be visited.”
A common scam involves a landlord claiming they cannot organise a viewing because they are abroad or because current tenants still have the keys. The victim is then encouraged to “reserve” the apartment by sending a deposit or even several months of rent upfront.
In Belgium, rental guarantees are normally handled through a blocked account rather than sent directly to a landlord. A proper rental process should also include a written lease agreement.
Immoweb specifically warns users never to transfer money or share payment details to secure a property without proper verification.
When conversations move to WhatsApp
Another common warning sign is when a potential landlord immediately tries to move communication away from the platform.
Moving quickly to WhatsApp is not automatically a scam, but combined with other suspicious behaviour such as pressure, unusual payment requests or excuses about visiting the property, it should make tenants cautious.
“People should take their time and not skip steps,” says Dahraoui. “Even if they think they have found the perfect apartment.”
Immoweb’s safety measures
Unlike some general online platforms, Immoweb requires advertisers to pay to publish listings, with different visibility packages available depending on the level of exposure chosen.
The platform also has a reporting system which allows users to flag advertisements they believe are fraudulent, discriminatory or illegal. A dedicated team reviews reports and removes problematic listings when necessary.
According to Immoweb, only a small proportion of reported listings turn out to be problematic. Around 2.5% of reports investigated by the company were found to involve an actual issue, while fraudulent advertisements represented around 0.03% of all active listings.
Dahraoui says Immoweb’s position as a specialised property platform also provides an additional layer of control compared with more general platforms. “The majority of advertisements on Immoweb come from real estate agencies,” she explains. “Someone trying to scam people may not necessarily want to go through that process.”
The company also operates under the European Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires online platforms to respond to reports of illegal content and improve their moderation processes.
Immoweb also says prevention is one of its strongest tools against fraud. The company regularly runs awareness campaigns on its social media channels and through its newsletters, reminding users of the basic rules of safe renting. “We try to educate people on how to avoid scams and recognise the warning signs,” says Dahraoui. “That's what we can do on our side.”
What to do if you think you have found a scam
If an advertisement looks suspicious:
- Do not send money before visiting the property
- Do not share personal banking information or passwords
- Check whether the photos appear elsewhere online
- Be suspicious of prices far below the market average
- Report the advertisement directly through Immoweb’s reporting button
If you have already lost money, contact your bank and report the case to the police. Immoweb can block fraudulent users and cooperate with investigations, but criminal investigations remain the responsibility of the authorities.
For expats arriving in Belgium, the rule is simple: the perfect apartment at an impossible price, with a landlord who wants money immediately, is usually not a lucky opportunity – it is a warning sign.
