When you sell privately, your listing, your phone number and often your e-mail address are public. Most people who respond are genuine buyers. A few are not: they are after your money, your documents or your login details. The tricks below appear in every country and on every portal, and once you know them, they are easy to spot.
1. Advance-fee fraud
Someone presents themselves as a buyer, an investor or an agent with a client. They are enthusiastic, often without having seen the home, and agree to your price quickly. Then comes the catch: before the purchase can go ahead, you have to pay something. A registration fee, a translation, a "certificate", a valuation, a lawyer's retainer, or a tax that supposedly has to be paid before the money can be released. Once you pay, a new cost appears, until you stop paying and the buyer disappears.
The rule: a genuine buyer never asks you to pay first in order to receive their money.
2. Fake buyers who pay "too much"
The "buyer" transfers a deposit, or sends proof of a transfer, for more than you agreed — by mistake, they say. They ask you to refund the difference quickly, often to a different account or through a money transfer service. Later the original payment is reversed, turns out to be fraudulent or was never made at all, and the money you sent back is gone.
A screenshot or PDF of a "payment confirmation" proves nothing. Only money that has actually arrived in your own account counts, and even then you never send money on to another account. Deposits belong in a written agreement, along the route that the notary or your lawyer confirms.
3. Fake escrow services and notary websites
The buyer suggests paying through an escrow service, a bank or a "notary office" you do not know, often in another country, with a website that looks professional. That site then asks for your personal details, your bank details or a fee, or sends you a fake confirmation that the money is ready.
In the countries we cover, the transfer is signed before a notary or another officially authorised professional, whom you can check yourself. Look the notary up independently, through the national notaries' organisation or official register of that country, and contact the office using details you found yourself — never through a link, phone number or e-mail address the buyer sent you. For Spain, our guide to the notary and the sale process shows how it normally works.
4. Phishing through the portals
You receive a message or e-mail that seems to come from the portal where your home is listed. Your listing will be removed, a payment has failed, or a buyer is waiting for an answer: click here to log in or to "verify" your account. The link leads to a copy of the portal's login page. With your password, fraudsters can take over your account, change your listing or write to buyers in your name.
Never log in through a link in a message. Type the portal's address yourself or use its app, never share passwords or codes you receive by text message, and turn on two-step verification if the portal offers it. Keep conversations with buyers in the portal's own messaging for as long as possible.
5. Fake agents
Someone calls or writes as an estate agent: they have a buyer ready, or can sell your home quickly to buyers abroad, if you first pay for marketing, a valuation, a "premium" listing or a registration. Sometimes they use the name and logo of an agency that really exists.
Check who you are dealing with. Look the company up yourself, call the office on a number from its own website or an official register, and ask for a written agreement before anything is paid. Be careful with anyone who will only communicate through a messaging app or a free e-mail address.
6. Identity fraud with your documents
Early on, the "buyer" asks for copies of your passport, your title deed, a land registry extract and your bank details, "for the paperwork" or "for the bank". With those documents, fraudsters can open accounts, apply for loans or even pose as the owner of your home.
Share documents only once there is a real, identified buyer and a notary is involved, and preferably send them to the notary directly. If you do have to send a copy of an identity document, write on it who it is for, the purpose and the date.
Warning signs at a glance
- They want to buy without seeing the home or asking anything about it.
- They accept your price straight away, or offer more than you ask.
- You have to pay something before you receive money.
- They propose an escrow service, bank or notary you do not know, or send a link to one.
- There is time pressure: it has to happen today, or the offer is gone.
- They want to leave the portal immediately for a messaging app or a private e-mail address.
- They ask for copies of identity documents, deeds or bank details at an early stage.
- The story keeps changing: a different payer, a different account, a different country.
What to do if you are targeted
- Stop the contact. Do not pay anything more and do not send any further documents or codes.
- Keep everything: messages, e-mails, the advert, phone numbers, account numbers, screenshots of websites and proof of any payment.
- Paid money or shared bank details? Call your bank immediately. The sooner the bank knows, the more it may be able to do.
- Entered your password on a fake page? Change it straight away, also on other sites where you use the same password, and tell the portal.
- Report the advert or profile to the portal, so other sellers are protected.
- Report it to the police, also if you sent copies of identity documents, and ask what else you need to do. The country where you live and the country of the home may differ: the reporting points below tell you where to start.
Where to report, by country
These are official reporting points. In an emergency, call 112 anywhere in the EU.
- Netherlands: the police take reports of internet fraud (politie.nl, or call 0900-8844). The Fraudehelpdesk is the first point of contact for fraud, online or on 088-7867372.
- Spain: you can start a report with the Policía Nacional online at denuncias.policia.es; you then sign it at a police station within 72 hours, otherwise it has no legal validity. INCIBE's free, confidential cybersecurity helpline is 017.
- Portugal: the Queixa Eletrónica portal sends complaints to the PSP and the GNR, and fraud (burla) is one of the crimes you can report there.
- Italy: the Polizia Postale accepts reports (segnalazioni) online at commissariatodips.it. A formal complaint (denuncia) cannot be filed through that form.
- France: report a scam on the internet to Pharos, the national police platform; a report there is an alert, not a formal complaint. Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr helps victims with advice and next steps.
Preparing your listing? Our checklist for selling a home abroad takes you through every step, from the documents to the notary.
General information, not legal advice. Reporting procedures can change; always check the official site of the police or authority in your country.
