Tenant Shield

Check the listing before you pay anything.

Paste the link to a rental ad in Madrid. We read it, compare the rent with the area and look for the patterns behind fake listings. Free.

A link from Idealista, Fotocasa or an agency's website. We read the ad where the site allows it.

We read the ad for this check, then discard it. What we keep

5 listings checked in the last 7 days · 0 with warning signs

What we check, and what we don't

Four checks, each with a source we can name. Where we cannot check something, the result says so.

What the ad asks of you

Payment before a viewing, an owner who is abroad, an unusual way to pay, pressure to decide today. The classic script, when it is written in the ad.

Source: the ad's own text, read by our own rules.

The rent

Compared with live listings in the district and with Spain's public rent reference. Too cheap is the oldest trick.

Source: current listings and rents declared to the tax office.

The photos

Matched against known listings. The same photos at a lower rent, under another name, is a cloned ad.

Source: our index of Madrid agency listings.

Who placed it, and for how long

Agency or private, whether the agency is in our index, a Spanish phone, and how long the ad has been online. If the ad gives a street and number, we also look it up in the Catastro.

Source: the portal's advertiser profile, our agency index and the Catastro.

A result you can read in a minute

Three possible answers, never a score: unlikely, likely, or we can't tell. Under each one, the reasons in plain words, including what we could not check.

No result says "safe". Visit the flat and meet the owner or the agency before you pay anything.

Our estimate

Unlikely to be a scam

Our estimate from the ad itself. It is not a guarantee: visit the flat and meet the owner or the agency before you pay anything.

What gave us confidence

  • Placed by a professional agency with its own profile on the portal.
  • The agency is in our index of Madrid agencies.
  • The rent is within the usual range for the area.
  • Online for more than 30 days. Fake ads tend to be taken down within days.

What we could not check

  • The ad gives no street number, so the address could not be checked in the Catastro.
  • We have only seen the ad, not the advertiser's messages, which is where most scams happen.

One place for the whole tenancy

The scam check is live today. The rest of the tenancy follows, in the order a tenant meets it.

Before you sign · Available now

Scam check

Is the listing what it says it is? Check it before any visit, deposit or document.

Before you sign · Coming

Contract review

The clauses to question before you put your name to the lease.

When you leave · Coming

Deposit recovery

Getting the fianza back when the landlord stalls.

While you live there · Coming

Rental insurance

Cover for the months when something goes wrong.

The first hour matters. Do these four things, in this order.

  1. Call your bank now and ask to recall the transfer or dispute the Bizum.
  2. Save everything: the ad, the chats, receipts, the account you paid to.
  3. Report in person at any Policía Nacional or Guardia Civil station. Online filing is not available for fraud in Spain.
  4. Report the ad to the portal, and call INCIBE on 017 for free guidance.