A software engineer, “desperate to find housing”, was defrauded of almost €2,000 by two individuals who used a short-term holiday apartment pretending it was theirs. The genuine owner was “horrified” when told by The Irish Times a scam was perpetrated using his apartment in Crumlin, Dublin.The victim, “Ali” Nazzal (30), originally from Palestine and in Ireland since early 2023, responded to an advertisement on lettings website Daft.ie in January. “Ali” is a nickname he uses as he would prefer not to give his real first name for privacy reasons.“Apartment to share on Sundrive Road, Dublin 12 ... for €900 a month,” the ad said, along with a photograph of a double bedroom. Nazzal contacted the alleged “landlord”, who called himself Timothy O’Callaghan, and was invited to a viewing via WhatsApp. He was asked to attend at 5.30pm on a Thursday earlier this year, and was sent an eircode at Old County Road, off Sundrive Road, in Crumlin. O’Callaghan was out of the country, he said, but Nazzal’s potential roommate “Jeremy” would show him the room.“The room was really good,” says Nazzal. “It was near work. I showed my interest. I thought Jeremy and I aligned well. He said he would recommend me to Timothy.”O’Callaghan texted Nazzal later, asking him to email on references and payslips.The following morning O’Callaghan texted saying: “I’ve reviewed all of your documents and everything is up to scratch – very impressive I must say ... I have decided to offer you the room.”He told Nazzal he would email him a tenancy agreement with his AIB bank details. Nazzal transferred €1,800 from his AIB account to O’Callaghan’s and asked for Jeremy’s number to arrange collecting keys. A series of WhatsApp exchanges show Nazzal and Jeremy arranging to meet at the apartment the following Sunday, four days after the initial viewing. “Can we do about 7/30? Im watching the football match at my friends ,” asks Jeremy. In texts the following day Jeremy says he is “delayed”. Nazzal responds that he will “walk around the neighbourhood” while he waits. “I know bro sorry,” says Jeremy. It is the last time Jeremy responds. Screenshots show Nazzal texting with increasing anxiety over the next four hours. “Jeremy where u at! I’m literally in the cold man for more than 90 mins,” he texts at 9.43pm. “Bro!” he texts at 9.55pm. “WHAT HAPPPPPPPENED BRO!” (10.01pm). “Thank you for disrespecting me! Leave the key under the door mat!” (10.49pm) “Bro what happened to you?” (11.22pm). He is also texting O’Callaghan. “I would like to inform you of an extremely disturbing situation that happened today.” He sends O’Callaghan 10 messages and a screenshot showing his unanswered messages and calls to Jeremy. O’Callaghan responds to none. Nazzal returned to Old County Road the following morning, texting and asking O’Callaghan to call him. “I still had some hope,” he told The Irish Times. “But no one was answering me. I realised my €1,800 was gone.”The phone numbers provided by O’Callaghan and Jeremy no longer accept calls. The Irish Times has established the apartment Nazzal viewed is advertised on Booking.com as a holiday home. It was rented during the period he viewed it to a third individual with an address in Bangkok, Thailand. [ Student accommodation scams: ‘People try to get you to pay deposits for a viewing’Opens in new window ]The photo used in the Daft listing is identical to a photo of one of the bedrooms on the Booking.com listing. It appears minor alterations were made to it, including changing the colour of bed linen.The apartment is in a building that is part of the estate of late John McEleney. His brother Eddie, the estate executor, was “horrified” to learn the apartment had been used for apparently criminal purposes. Eddie McEleney runs the non-profit Christian Secular Foundation from the building. It has no connection to the fraud.He has since met Nazzal, offering to help and providing details of the apartment booking for the period in question. “We are supervising the apartment more closely now, letting people who stay know there is a management presence. I am so disappointed this happened to [Nazzal],” said McEleney. “I appreciate the efforts in exposing this scam.”Nazzal is “angry and upset” at losing the money but finds it “outrageous” that organisations he believes should protect people from rental fraud “can’t or won’t help”. He reported the incident to the Garda in Crumlin, to Daft.ie and AIB. He contacted gardaí several times over the fortnight after the scam but had no follow-up, he says. On February 5th he received an email from Daft.ie saying: “It’s come to our attention that the property listing Sundrive Road ... may have been compromised. “Should you be contacted by email or by telephone in relation to the property ad stated above, we recommend that you proceed with absolute caution.”Daft did not respond to queries about when it became aware of the fraud or how many home-hunters responded to the ad on its platform. AIB was “sympathetic”, says Nazzal, but could not retrieve his money despite it having been transferred between AIB accounts.“I was very lucky I had small savings and could find another house,” he says. “But what am I supposed to do when I go view a property? Ask the landlord for proof they own it? These people feed on desperation and despair.”A spokeswoman for the tenants’ advocacy charity Threshold said: “As the housing crisis worsens and renters get more desperate these scams seem to also be getting more sophisticated.“We have heard of several ... where the scammer has rented a short-term let and shown it as if they were the landlord, letting agent or another tenant looking to let a room. It is increasingly difficult to spot accommodation scams.”It advises prospective renters to inspect any property in person and if possible take a photo of the landlord’s or letting agent’s ID; avoid paying cash or transferring money directly without verifying the person’s identity, and, “trust your instinct” and seek advice from Threshold if needed. A spokeswoman for Booking.com said: “We are reviewing the details of this case and, depending on the outcome of the investigation, we can block the customer from making future reservations.”A spokesman for AIB said the bank was “committed to protecting customers against the threats associated with fraud”. “When a customer initiates and authorises a payment they later realise was fraudulent, we advise them to report it to the gardaí and us as soon as possible to give them the best chance of retrieving the payment.”A spokeswoman for Daft.ie said: “We won’t be responding on this.”Gardaí have been contacted for comment. Attempts have been made to contact “Jeremy” and “O’Callaghan”.