Finding rental apartments in Gothenburg is a mission and currently, international students world-wide are anxiously searching the internet in the lead-up to the upcoming uni semester. To make things even harder, scammers are targeting students seeking accommodation from abroad. Lately, several foreign students have been asked to pay thousands of kronor in deposits before they have even arrived in the city.

Gothenburg's largest marketplace for rental apartments, Boplats Göteborg, has reported the attempted scams to the police.

- We received a tip from a student and reported the incident to the police immediately. We have also published a warning for fraudsters in the student section of our website, says Maria Meyer-Martins, CEO of Boplats Göteborg.

- We always try to be observant for suspicious ads, but it is also important that the applicants themselves are cautious and look up potential leasers.

It seems like one person is behind the recent fake ads. Street names and the name of the advertiser changes from time to time, but the content remains similar.

The person has moved to England for work, usually Liverpool. In order for him to return to Gothenburg to show the apartment, he requires a deposit, usually around 7000 kronor. He says he needs the money to reserve the apartment until the student arrives in Gothenburg.

At a forum for international Chalmers students, at least five people write about the Liverpool emails. One person had received as many as six different emails.

Daniela Farias from Brazil was the first person to alert the forum.

- While some people are careful, I'm afraid many students will be fooled by the scammers - after all, we're all desperate to find a place, and I think some people are innocent enough to pay in advance, says Daniela to Göteborg Daily.

Daniela says that the ads have also been found on Blocket.

According to Blocket's press department, there has not been any specific tips about the Liverpool emails. But the company is aware that fake ads for apartments in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö at times do appear on the website.

Blocket tries to minimize the risks by providing links with useful tips for tenants and leasers. The links are published on all apartment ads.

People that are looking to rent are advised to:

- Never pay deposit before you have seen the apartment and signed a contract.

- Check if the rent is reasonable.

- Check that the apartment is organised by the renter and that a permission to sublet exists.

Blocket also uses a service called internetgirot, which is developed to hinder fraudsters. Deposits and payments are paid to the service's bank giro, and the money isn't transferred into the leaser's bank account until the tenant has been able to see the apartment.