How can you avoid rental scams in Sweden in 2026?

Treat these as hard stops until verified:

• Payment or deposition required before a viewing and signed contract
• Landlord claims to be abroad and can only send keys after a transfer
• Rent far below comparable Blocket or queue-adjacent asks for the same district
• Pressure to decide within hours because "many people want it"
• Links to fake landlord portals, anonymous payment apps, or QR codes for a supposed credit check
• Refusal to show ID or to let you confirm sublet permission with the real property owner or bostadsrättsförening (housing association)

Polisen warns that prepaid deposits before meeting the advertiser are a classic lägenhetsbedrägeri (apartment fraud) pattern. A polished PDF contract alone proves little.

View the exact address in person, or send a trusted person who lives in Sweden. Match the street door, stairwell, and flat number to the ad. Ask for ID and compare the name with the contract.

If the home is a first-hand hyresrätt being sublet, contact the property owner or housing company through a number you find yourself, not a link in the email, and confirm that the person has written permission for an andrahandskontrakt. If it is a bostadsrätt sublet, confirm board approval independently. Copied sale photos turned into rental ads are a known Polisen example.

Search the phone number, email, listing text, and images. Prefer established platforms, but do not treat Blocket visibility as a guarantee. Municipal queue ads through Bostadsförmedlingen (Stockholm Housing Agency) or Boplats-style portals still need ordinary landlord document checks, yet they are a different risk profile from anonymous chat ads.

Pay only after you have seen the home, checked identity and permission, signed a written contract that names the address, rent, term, and deposition return rules, and received keys that open that door. Use a traceable bank transfer to a named account that matches the contract, not cash drop-offs or anonymous apps.

Keep screenshots of the ad, chat, ID, permission letter, contract, and payment receipt. If money already left, contact your bank immediately and file a report with Polisen. Konsumentverket pages help you understand second-hand rights, but they do not recover stolen transfers.