Avoiding rental scams

What Tegaria already does

• Verified identity: every user passes a document-and-selfie verification before they can interact — you deal with real people.
• The double like: nobody can message you without mutual interest, and your phone and email are never shared automatically.
• Approximate area: a room's exact address is never published.
• Tegaria doesn't collect rents or deposits: the only payment inside the platform is the wallet top-up to publish listings. If someone asks you for a payment "to Tegaria" for a booking, a deposit or a viewing, it's fraud.

Golden rules

1. Never pay in advance without having seen the room (in person, or by video call verifying it's real). The "urgent booking because many people are interested" is the oldest trick.
2. Distrust prices that are too good for the area: the impossible bargain is the classic bait.
3. Stay in the Tegaria chat until you've built trust: if someone insists on leaving the platform immediately, be suspicious.
4. Don't send money through untraceable channels (transfers to strangers, crypto, vouchers) and don't pay "key delivery costs": the landlord who "is abroad" and will courier you the keys is a well-known scam.
5. Don't share your ID document in the chat: your identity is already verified inside Tegaria; nobody needs a photo of your ID.
6. When signing, use a written contract — the blog has legal guides and templates (in Spanish).

If something smells off

Cut the conversation short and report it from the app: a report blocks as well, so there is no need to do both. If you already paid, keep all the evidence (chat, receipts) and report it to the police too — and tell us so we can act on that account.

Related

• Verify your identity
• The double like: like, match and chat