Gardaí in Longford are investigating a report of accommodation fraud.
A woman in her early thirties is said to have paid €1,200 twice to a bank account last month believing she was paying a deposit on an apartment in Athlone.
She found the Westmeath apartment on booking.com and Gardaí believe the apartment has a false address.
Garda enquiries are ongoing after the ad was removed.
Sergeant Bartley says these scams fall into three broad categories, the first being where the scammer claims to be out of the country and can't show the property, but asks for a deposit.
The second category is where the scammer is living at the property and shows a number of people round it before disappearing with any deposits.
The third most used deception is where everything appears normal until the renter finds the keys of the new property don't work and the so-called landlord has disappeared.
