Software Engineer Defrauded of €1,800 in Dublin Housing Scam Using Holiday Apartment

Ali Nazzal, a 30-year-old software engineer from Palestine, was defrauded of €1,800 in January after responding to a fraudulent apartment listing on Daft.ie. Desperate for housing in Dublin, Nazzal viewed an apartment in Crumlin, advertised for €900 a month, believing he was meeting a potential roommate named «Jeremy». The alleged landlord, «Timothy O’Callaghan», later offered Nazzal the room via text.

Nazzal transferred €1,800 from his AIB account to O’Callaghan’s for the deposit and first month’s rent. However, on the day he was supposed to collect keys, «Jeremy» became unresponsive. Nazzal realized he had been scammed when both «Jeremy» and «O’Callaghan» ceased communication. The apartment Nazzal viewed was actually a holiday rental listed on Booking.com, rented by the scammers during the viewing period.

Eddie McEleney, executor of the building’s estate, was horrified to learn of the fraud and is now supervising the apartment more closely. Nazzal reported the incident to Gardaí in Crumlin, Daft.ie, and AIB, but has not recovered his money. Daft.ie later emailed Nazzal about a potentially compromised listing, while AIB stated it could not retrieve the funds. Threshold, a tenants’ advocacy charity, noted an increase in sophisticated scams where fraudsters use short-term lets to pose as landlords.