# Avoiding rental scams

> What Tegaria already does for you and the golden rules to avoid fraud when searching for or renting out a room.

## 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](https://tegaria.com/blog) (in Spanish).

## If something smells off

Cut the conversation short and [report it](https://tegaria.com/en/help/report-or-block) 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](https://tegaria.com/en/help/verify-your-identity)
- [The double like: like, match and chat](https://tegaria.com/en/help/double-like-match-and-chat)

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Official page: https://tegaria.com/en/help/avoid-scams · Guide index: https://tegaria.com/llms.txt