Online property and rental scams in Albania: 9 warning signs before you pay a down payment or deposit

Online property scams in Albania usually follow the same pattern: an attractive listing, a reason why you cannot see the property or meet the owner, and a request to pay quickly, in a way that leaves no trace. The rule that protects you: do not pay a down payment or a deposit before you have seen the property, before you have verified the owner with a notary or at ASHK (the State Cadastre Agency, Agjencia Shtetërore e Kadastrës), and without a written contract. Pay only by bank, into the owner's account or into the notary's escrow account.

Main photo: Sadi Hockmuller / Pexels

The amount allegedly taken with promises of “solutions” at ASHK and with false documents (Tirana Police, 4 September 2026)

Over 100,000 €

The notary's fee for the online check of the legal status of ownership, before you pay

600 lek

Prison for fraud, under the Criminal Code (article 143)

Up to 5 years

Prison for computer fraud (article 143/b)

6 months to 6 years

Below you will find the schemes that keep repeating, the nine signs that should stop you, the cases reported by the State Police from 2024 to September 2026 and where to report a scam. Laws and official pages were checked on 10 October 2026.

How online property and rental scams work

In rentals, the scammer often has no flat at all: they copy the photos of a real listing, lower the price and ask for a deposit “to hold” the flat. In sales, the amounts are bigger: forged documents, the same property sold twice, or “intermediaries” who take the money and buy nothing.

9 warning signs before you pay a down payment or deposit

One sign on its own does not prove a scam, but two or three together are reason enough to stop the payment.

1. The price is far below the market

A two-bedroom flat in the centre at the price of a studio in the suburbs is a common bait. Compare it with similar properties in apartment prices in Tirana, in rent in Tirana by neighbourhood or with the free property valuation. hyrja.al also sends listings priced far below similar properties to a person for review, as the page on trust and safety explains.

2. You are asked to pay before the viewing

A “booking fee”, a “viewing fee” or a down payment “so we don't give it to someone else” before you have seen the property is the first warning sign. Pay only after you have seen the property and signed the contract; the deposit rules are in the rental contract in 2026.

3. “The owner is abroad”

The story repeats itself: the owner works abroad, cannot meet you and will send you the keys by courier once you pay. An owner who lives abroad can sell through a representative, but the power of attorney for a contract made by notarial deed must also be notarial, otherwise it is invalid (Civil Code, article 72); how it works is explained in the special power of attorney. No meeting, no identity document and no power of attorney: do not pay.

4. You are being rushed

Phrases like “there are three other people interested” or “the offer is valid until tonight” are meant to leave you no time for checks. An honest sale or rental can wait one day for the check at the notary.

5. The money goes to someone else, not to the owner

Cash without a receipt, a transfer to “a cousin”, to an account abroad, through money transfer services or in cryptocurrency: all of these are warning signs. The account holder must be the owner named on the certificate, or the payment must go through the notary's escrow account. The safe ways to pay are in paying for a home in cash or by bank.

6. The documents arrive only as photos

A photo of the certificate on WhatsApp may be old, altered or someone else's. For digitised properties, ASHK automatically generates documents such as a copy of the property record, with a digital stamp, under “Dokumentat e mia” (My documents) on e-Albania, the government services portal. In November 2022 it warned that it had found attempts at forged ownership documents and manipulated certificates at its offices in Tirana, Kamza, Fier and Durrës. How to read the certificate is explained in the ownership certificate online.

7. The “agent” has no certificate, NUIS or contract

Under law no. 9/2022, only an intermediary certified by the Ministry of Justice and registered may broker a sale or rental, and when working online they must show their identity, certificate number and NUIS, the Albanian tax identification number (articles 3 and 5). They may not ask for any part of the fee before the brokerage contract (article 20). You can look up the NUIS at the National Business Centre; the other checks are in how to check an agent.

8. A payment link, an SMS or a new IBAN

Links that imitate a booking platform, a bank or e-Albania, PDF invoices and messages about the owner's “new account” are after your money or your card details. Do not pay through a link sent in a message: go to the platform yourself or call a number you have found yourself.

9. The seller avoids the notary or wants a lower price in the contract

The sale of a property is made by notarial deed and registered, otherwise it is not valid (Civil Code, article 83). A seller who asks for a “private contract”, insists on their own notary or wants a lower price in the deed leaves you unprotected: choose the notary yourself and write the full amount. How the down payment is protected is explained in the preliminary contract.

Real cases: what the State Police has reported

We have summarised the State Police announcements, from February 2024 to September 2026, about fraud in the sale or purchase of flats, in ownership matters and in accommodation bookings, published on asp.gov.al. The list is not complete and the cases are suspicions under investigation: only a court decides on guilt.

Three things repeat: the double sale, in new buildings as well as in older flats; money handed over on the basis of promises or forged bank payment orders, without a registered notarial deed; and the exploitation of trust in institutions, such as “contacts at ASHK” or an email that seems to come from the hotel. For an off-plan apartment, the contract with the developer is registered at ASHK, and this registration makes the unit “taken” and “impossible to promise to anyone else” (Law no. 111/2018, article 50); the steps are in how to buy an off-plan apartment.

How to check the owner, the property and the agent

The strongest check is the notary's. In every sale, the notary states in the deed that they have verified ownership in the electronic register and attaches the property record (Law no. 110/2018, article 105). You do not have to wait for the signing day: the official fee for the online check of the legal status of ownership is 600 lek, and 700 lek for consulting the property record (Joint Instruction no. 22/2020). Choose the notary yourself; the other fees are in notary fees.

A third party can obtain electronic ownership extracts directly only after receiving the consent of the registered owner (Law no. 111/2018, article 28), so the notary may ask you for the seller's consent; a genuine owner has no problem giving it. Notaries declare deeds in the digital cadastre at the moment they are formalised, and ASHK refuses a later transfer deed that would create overlapping titles (article 24). That is why the same-day property record and fast registration matter, within the legal deadline of 30 days (article 25). For encumbrances on the record, read mortgages on a property.

For a rental, run a reverse image search on the listing's photos: if they show up in other listings, with a different address, name or price, the listing is probably copied. The steps for finding a flat are in how to find an apartment to rent.

How to pay safely

Money that goes through a bank leaves a trace; cash does not. The notary can hold the money in an escrow bank account, with a record of the amount, the date and the beneficiary (Law no. 110/2018, article 133), and may not carry out cash transactions above 150,000 lek themselves (article 68). Pay the rental deposit by transfer into the landlord's account written in the contract, after you have signed it.

Payment links, SMS messages and hacked accounts

The scam does not always come from a fake listing. In the “Man in the middle” case, according to the police, the messages went to real customers of a hotel, from someone who had broken into its account on the booking platform and taken the customers' data. In May 2026, the police announced that an SMS campaign in the name of a bank had led citizens to a fake website, where some had entered their bank details.

Photo: Brett Wharton / Unsplash

Airbnb writes that, with few exceptions, it collects the full cost of the booking itself, and it calls unexpected requests for payment outside the platform, such as bank transfers or PDF invoices, a possible sign of fraud. If the “owner” or the “agent” writes to you from a familiar number about an urgent payment or a new IBAN, call them yourself: messaging accounts can be stolen.

If you have paid: where to report and what penalties the law sets

Act as quickly as possible:

1. The bank. Immediately ask for the transfer to be stopped or reversed. The police ask citizens to report suspicious cases immediately both to the police and to their bank.
2. The evidence. Keep the listing, the conversations, the numbers, the IBAN and the payment orders, including as screenshots.
3. The police. File a report at a police station or on 112; for online scams, the State Police has the form “Denonco Krimin Kibernetik” (Report cybercrime) and the address [email protected]. The report can also be made to the prosecutor, orally or in writing, in person or through a representative (Code of Criminal Procedure, article 283).
4. AKSK. Fake websites and suspicious messages are reported via “Raporto si qytetar” (Report as a citizen) of the National Cyber Security Authority (AKSK).
5. The platform. Report the listing where you found it; on hyrja.al, with the “Report listing” button.
6. The agent. Send a written complaint about an intermediary to the Ministry of Justice, which supervises intermediaries, also on the basis of complaints, and examines all of them except anonymous ones (Law no. 9/2022, articles 21 and 24). Anyone who brokers without a certificate is punished with an administrative fine (article 37).

If you are an owner and someone is trying to sell your property with fake documents, notify the local ASHK office: the law allows actions on the property record to be frozen for 30 days to prevent fraud (Law no. 111/2018, article 27).

The conviction of the perpetrator does not automatically give you your money back: you can claim it back with a civil lawsuit, with the help of a lawyer.

Frequently asked questions