How do I avoid rental scams in Lisbon?

Lisbon rental scams are aimed mostly at people who have not landed yet. The pattern rarely changes: an attractive flat at a good price, a landlord who cannot show it in person, pressure from another interested tenant, and a deposit to "hold" it sent by a method that is hard to trace.

The five checks

1. See it in person. If you cannot, send someone you trust, or insist on a live video call where the person walks the flat, shows the building number from the street and answers a question you ask on the spot. Photos and recorded tours prove nothing.
2. Verify ownership. Ask for the certidão permanente from the land registry or the caderneta predial from Finanças. The name on it should match the name on the contract and on the bank account.
3. Never pay before signing. Money moves once a written contrato de arrendamento exists with the rent, the deposit, its return conditions and the IBAN in it. No holding fees and no viewing fees.
4. Pay traceably. A bank transfer to an account in the landlord's name. Not a money transfer service, not crypto, not cash without a signed receipt.
5. Check the price. Investropa puts the typical Lisbon T1 at 1,250 to 1,450 euros a month (21 September 2026). A central T1 at 600 is not a bargain.

Two traps that are not scams but still hurt

An alojamento local unit offered as a long stay is a real flat with a real owner, and still leaves you exposed: it is licensed short stay accommodation, not a residential lease, so it will not give you the registered lease that AIMA and your tax return need. Search the address in Turismo de Portugal's Registo Nacional de Alojamento Local before you sign.

The unregistered lease is the other. The landlord must declare the lease to Finanças, and since 1 August 2025 a tenant can file the declaration on the Portal das Finanças when the landlord has not done it in time. Do it.

If it goes wrong

Report it to the PSP and call your bank the same day, keeping every message, receipt and listing screenshot. For a deposit dispute with a real landlord, the Lisbon arbitration centre CACCL is faster and cheaper than court.

The full set of traps, with the listing sites we would start on, is in our renting guide for Lisbon and Porto.