key: scams title: "How to spot a rental scam in Pavia" description: "The signals that come up every time, the questions to ask, and what you must never pay before seeing the place." category: sicurezza order: 1 updated: 2026-09-20
Every September in Pavia the same thing happens: hundreds of students look for a room at the same moment, and somebody takes advantage of the rush. Rental scams are not sophisticated. They are almost always the same story, told well.
This is not legal advice: it is what we have learned reading thousands of listings and the reports that reach us.
The five signals that come up every time
They ask for money before the viewing. This is signal number one, and on its own it is enough to end the conversation. A deposit, a "room holding fee", "an advance to take the listing down": none of these are paid before you have seen the place and read a contract.
The landlord is abroad. They work in London, they moved to Germany, they are away on business. That is why they cannot show you the flat, but they are happy to post you the keys as soon as the transfer arrives. It does not happen. A real landlord always has somebody who can open the door.
The price is too low. A single room in the centre for €200 with bills included does not exist. If a price looks three times better than everything else in the same area, you are not lucky: you are the target.
The photos look like a catalogue. Perfect rooms, magazine lighting, nothing out of place, not a single crooked socket. Save the image and run a reverse image search on Google: if it turns up on a Swedish furniture site, you have your answer.
There is pressure to hurry. "I have three other people interested", "decide by tonight", "another guy is already making the transfer". The hurry is there to stop you thinking. Anyone renting seriously knows that choosing a tenant takes time.
The questions to ask, always
Ask at least three, and listen to how they answer:
- Can I see the flat this week? If not, why not?
- Who lets me in, if you are not there?
- Can you send me a photo of the entrance and the name on the doorbell, from the street?
- What kind of contract will we sign, a student transitional one or canone concordato?
- How much are the bills per month on average, looking at the last invoices?
Someone acting in good faith answers all of them without getting annoyed. Someone who is not changes the subject, takes offence, or disappears.
If you are out of town and cannot come
This happens a lot, especially if you are arriving from far away or from abroad. The answer is not to trust: it is a live video call.
Ask for a live call, not a recorded video. During the call, ask them to:
- step onto the landing and show the house number and the name on the doorbell;
- go into the bathroom and run the hot water;
- open the bedroom window and show what is outside;
- show the meter or the boiler.
A recorded video could be of anywhere. A live call where the person does things you ask for on the spot could not.
Alternatively, send someone you trust: a friend already in Pavia, or ask in the community. It happens often that somebody goes to view a room on behalf of someone else.
How to pay, when it comes to paying
Once the contract is signed and you have seen the place, the deposit is paid by bank transfer, from your account to an account in the landlord's name, with a reference that says what you are paying for: for example "security deposit, tenancy agreement, property at ..., month ...".
Never pay with: prepaid card top-ups, Western Union, MoneyGram, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or a transfer to a different name from the one on the contract. Those methods are chosen precisely because they cannot be traced or reversed.
Always ask for a receipt, even a handwritten and signed one.
What to look for in the contract
You do not need to be a lawyer. Check that it contains:
- the landlord's details and yours, with tax codes;
- the exact address and the land registry details of the property;
- the rent and what it covers;
- the term and the conditions for giving notice;
- the deposit amount and when it is returned;
- the energy performance certificate (APE), which must be attached.
The contract must be registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate: that is the landlord's obligation. An unregistered tenancy mostly hurts you, because without a registered contract you cannot get residency and you have almost nothing to fall back on.
If something does not add up, send us the contract: in the Private Group we go through them together before signing.
If you think you have been scammed
Stop immediately and do not send any more money, not even to "unlock" what you already sent: that is a second scam that often follows the first.
Then:
- Save everything: chats, listings, emails, transfer receipts, phone numbers, profiles.
- Contact your bank right away, especially if the transfer is recent: sometimes it can be stopped.
- File a report, at the Questura or with the Carabinieri. You can also report it to the Polizia Postale.
- Write to us: if the scam came through a listing we published, we want to know, and we want it down before somebody else falls for it.
Do not be embarrassed to talk about it. Scammers count on exactly that.
In short
- No money before the viewing. Never, under any circumstances.
- A live video call if you cannot come in person.
- A traceable bank transfer, to whoever signs the contract.
- A written, registered contract with the APE attached.
- If something is rushing you, that is the moment to slow down.