Rental scams in Zagreb: how to spot them

What a scam looks like: cases from police reports

Croatia's police administrations publish rental fraud cases, and the patterns repeat:

• Money without a viewing. In Zagreb in 2023, a man advertised flats in Savica, Črnomerec and the centre on social media. He met those interested and claimed the flat was his or a relative's. They paid him a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or rent without ever seeing the flat, and to some he even handed over keys.
• Someone else's flat shown as theirs. In November 2025, a man booked a flat in Trešnjevka through a short-stay app, photographed it and advertised it for long-term rent at €450 a month. He showed it to applicants, signed leases with them and took €300 to €900 each. The real owner wasn't letting it long-term.
• The scammer comes to you. In October 2025, a man contacted people on social media who had posted that they were looking for a flat. He offered them one in Trešnjevka, took money in advance and gave them a door code that didn't work.
• The owner is abroad. In September 2025, a woman in Bjelovar paid about €350 into a foreign account to a man who said he was abroad. When she came for the keys, he stopped answering, and the flat wasn't for rent at all.
• “The payment didn't arrive.” In March 2026, a fake landlord asked for a deposit by international postal payment, then claimed it hadn't arrived and had to be sent again.
• A fake payment link. The scammer sends a link where you enter your card details, supposedly to make or receive a payment. Croatia's National CERT described a case where a fake holiday-flat owner sent a different address and a link to a fake page for paying the deposit. Police point out that an IBAN is all anyone needs to pay you, not your card details.

The November 2025 case shows that neither a viewing nor a signed lease is enough on its own: check who owns the flat too.

7 warning signs

Our summary of the police advice. One sign doesn't prove a scam, but it's a reason to stop and check:

• You're asked for a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, earnest moneyEarnest money (kapara)simplifiedMoney paid when a contract is made, as a sign that it has been concluded. It isn't a deposit, which secures rent and damage during the lease.Source: Zakon o obveznim odnosima, čl. 303. i 304., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or rent before you've seen the flat and met the person letting it.
• The advertiser avoids meeting and viewings: they say they're abroad or have another excuse, and everything happens by message.
• The rent is far below similar flats. Compare it with rents by neighbourhood and the price bar on our listings.
• The photos are taken from another listing, or the address keeps changing. Check them with a reverse image search and the address on a map.
• You're asked to pay into someone else's name or to another country, for example into a foreign account or by international postal payment.
• You get a payment link, or you're asked for card details, a PIN or a one-time code.
• You're rushed: others are interested, pay today. Scammers deliberately create a sense of urgency, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) warns, and police advise against acting in a hurry under pressure.

Try it on examples: 8 situations from renting a flat, each with this guide's advice.

How to check who owns the flat

Check whether the person you're dealing with owns the flat in the land register (zemljišna knjiga), which is public (Land Registry Act, Art. 7): on the state portal Organised Land (Uređena zemlja) you open an unofficial extract (neslužbeni izvadak) yourself, free and without logging in. The public can't search by the owner's name (Art. 28), so ask the advertiser for the cadastral municipality (katastarska općina) and the land registry file number (broj zemljišnoknjižnog uloška) or cadastral plot number (broj katastarske čestice), or the sub-folio number (broj poduloška) for a flat in the knjiga položenih ugovora (KPU).

On our reading, the unofficial extract isn't a public document (Art. 26). Our guide to checking the owner covers how to read it, where to get an official one and what to do if the details don't match.

If an agency advertises the flat, the ad must show its company name and head-office address, and it may advertise only under a contract with the owner (Real Estate Brokerage Act, Art. 22). The register of agencies is kept by the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) and is public online (Arts. 9 and 12).

Before you pay

• See the flat in person. If you can't, police advise having someone you trust check at the address whether the flat is really for rent, and asking for a video tour or a meeting in person before any payment.
• Check the owner and sign a written lease before you hand over a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary. What the lease should say is in our lease checklist.
• Pay into the landlord's account named in the lease and keep the payment confirmation. Enter the owner's name as the payee: since 9 October 2025, banks warn you on a euro transfer within the EU and EEA if the payee's name doesn't match the IBAN. If the bank ran the check and you approve the payment anyway, it isn't liable for the money reaching someone you didn't intend to pay.
• Never give anyone your card details, PIN or one-time code.
• Don't pay earnest money (kapara)Earnest money (kapara)simplifiedMoney paid when a contract is made, as a sign that it has been concluded. It isn't a deposit, which secures rent and damage during the lease.Source: Zakon o obveznim odnosima, čl. 303. i 304., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary before a viewing and an agreement: under the Obligations Act, unless agreed otherwise, a contract counts as concluded once kapara is paid (Art. 303).
• An agency can't ask for its fee in advance, and as a rule it earns the fee only once the lease is signed (Real Estate Brokerage Act, Art. 29).

If you've already paid or shared your details

1. 1Contact your bank at once through its official channels and ask whether the transaction can be stopped or reversed. If you entered card details, ask them to block the card.
2. 2Stop all contact with the scammer. Keep the ad, the messages, phone numbers and the payment confirmation.
3. 3Report the fraud to the police: call 192 or the nearest police station, or go to a station in person. You can also send a written report to the police or the state attorney's office.
4. 4Report a fake payment page to Croatia's National CERT at incident@cert.hr.
5. 5Report the listing to the platform where you found it. On NajamStanova.com, use “Report listing” with the reason “I suspect a scam”. A listing posted by an owner is then hidden until we've checked it.
6. 6Watch out for a second scam: someone may contact you posing as the police or another authority and offer to recover your money for a fee. The HNB warns that this is often another fraud.

Frequently asked questions