⏱️ Scammed or unsure? 60-second plan
1 · Protect money
Call your bank's fraud line now — the number on the back of your card. Freeze the card and ask them to reverse any payments.
2 · Keep evidence
Screenshot texts, emails, caller numbers and payment screens. Change passwords and turn on 2-step verification.
3 · Report it
Report through your country's official channel — see the report page.
📌 More help: Report → · Help & support
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Rental Scam Guide — Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Doha
Rental fraud is where expats and new arrivals lose the most money: cloned listings, fake landlords and “too good to be true” prices. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi there are official systems that let you verify a property and its owner before you pay a single dirham.
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🖼️ Cloned listings & stolen photos
Scammers copy real listings from property sites, sometimes swapping the photos for AI-generated ones, and re-advertise at a lower price. Search the address and photos online before you enquire — if the same flat appears under different names or prices, it is a scam.
🏛️ Dubai: verify with Dubai REST
In Dubai, the Dubai Land Department’s Dubai REST platform and its app let you verify a property, its owner and its rental status through the official “Property Status Enquiry” — it takes minutes and is the official way to confirm a listing is real before paying any deposit.
📜 Abu Dhabi: Tawtheeq registration
In Abu Dhabi, tenancy contracts are registered through the official Tawtheeq system. If a landlord cannot or will not register the contract, treat it as a red flag. A registered contract is your legal protection if anything goes wrong.
🚩 Red flags before you pay
Landlord refuses to meet or show the property; demands full-year payment or a “holding fee” by transfer before you sign; price far below the area average; no registered tenancy contract; photos that appear on other listings; pressure to decide within hours.
🛡️ Doha & other Gulf cities
The same rules apply everywhere: deal only with licensed brokers, verify the owner through official channels where available, never pay a stranger “to hold” a property, and insist on a written registered contract before any transfer. When in doubt, walk away.
🚨 Report it officially
Every Gulf country has an official reporting channel. Reporting through the official route is what triggers action — use the Report page for the right portal and number in your country.
Find my country’s channel →