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Sourced numbers, honest gaps.

Every figure links to who published it and says how we checked it. Where no reliable number exists, we say so.

25%

of nearly 9,000 students on exchange across Europe said they had experienced a scam.

ESU and ESN, survey of November 2022. Source

How we mark each figure

Read at source. We opened the institution’s own page or document.

Via press. A news outlet reports it and we read the article, not the original report.

Pending. We saw it in a search summary and could not open the original. It is shown, never counted as fact.

Spotted an error or a newer figure? Write to us and we will correct it.

Scams in Italy

3.3%, about 1.7 million
People who suffered an online scam or fraud in the 12 months before the interview, as a share of internet users (interviews November 2022 to July 2023).
ISTAT, victims and events 2022-2023. Read at source.
+74%
Money taken through online banking, change since 2015-16. Online banking users also grew a lot over the period.
ISTAT, victims and events 2022-2023. Read at source.
about −27%
Scams tied to online purchases, change since 2015-16.
ISTAT, victims and events 2022-2023. Read at source.
2.7% against 3.3%
Victims of online scams: non-Italian citizens against Italians.
ISTAT, victims and events 2022-2023. Read at source.
18,967 and 8,602, about €232 million
Online scams and IT frauds handled by the Polizia Postale in 2024.
Polizia Postale 2024 figures, as reported by L’Espresso. Via press. The original report was not read.
about +20%
Reports of rental scams from students, change over two years. This is the estimate of a rental management company, not an independent survey.
SoloAffitti, via Il Sole 24 Ore, 7 October 2025. Read at source. Company data.

Students on exchange

25% of almost 9,000
Said they had experienced scams, all destinations (survey of November 2022).
ESU and ESN, International Student Housing Report. Read at source. On the summary page.
49%
Said they had paid a deposit of more than one month.
ESU and ESN, International Student Housing Report. Read at source. On the summary page.
41%
Said they lacked information about housing conditions.
ESU and ESN, International Student Housing Report. Read at source. On the summary page.
more than 38%
Of the students going to Italy, who were victims of scams, in the same survey. Against about 10% of those going to Finland.
EAIE research snapshot, on the ESN and ESU report. Via press. Read in the EAIE summary, and ESN Italia’s analysis of the report says about 39%. Not in the report itself: its file does not open from here.

Students in Padova

72,500+; 15% outside the region; 2,300+ from abroad
Enrolled at the University in February 2024, with the share living outside the region and the number from abroad.
Corriere del Veneto, 17 February 2024. Via press. Read on the printed page.
74,000+; about 24,000 first-years; about 7,500 from abroad
Enrolled in July 2024, as said by the Rector on the Censis ranking, with students from abroad.
AGI, 24 July 2024. Via press. Read at the news agency.
60 of 207; 80%
Degree programmes taught in English, and the share of foreign students who attend one.
AGI, 24 July 2024. Via press. Read at the news agency.
19.85%; only 27.2% from the province
Students from outside the region in 2019/20, and from the province of Padova itself. Older data, from a University thesis quoting the University.
M. A. Magno, University of Padova thesis. Read at source. Read in the thesis. Old data.
1,679 from 89 countries
Incoming exchange students expected in the first semester of 2025/26.
University of Padova, Welcome Fair file. Pending. The file no longer opens, so it is not used in any claim.

Rents, and one case

€496 a month
Average rent for a single room in Padova, August 2026 (Immobiliare.it data).
ItaliaOggi. Via press. Read at the newspaper.
A Belgian student lost almost €1,000, a Croatian student €590
A case, not a statistic. Erasmus students paid advances for rooms they never got. A mediator is on trial for fraud; the events date to 2017.
L’Adige. Via press. Read at the newspaper.

What nobody counts, and why it matters.

No Padova figure on rental scams. We found no yearly statistic for housing scams in Padova, and none for Italy that counts rental scams on their own. The national police and statistics offices publish scams and online frauds as one group.

Why that matters. What is not counted is easy to underestimate. Students who arrive from abroad and pay a deposit before a viewing are among the least likely to report it.

Two numbers for “from abroad”. One source says more than 2,300, another about 7,500. The two do not define the group in the same way, or do not say how, so we show both and pick neither.

Be wary of precise-sounding numbers. A figure with no institution behind it, however exact, is not a statistic. If you see one on a page that sells you something, ask for the source.

Our own count will come. Once the check is used, we will publish how many listings were read and which signs appeared most, with no personal data and no listing text. Until then this page shows only what others have published.

Method. Each figure was opened and read on 27 October 2026. Press articles are marked as such. Anything we could not open is marked pending and is not used in any claim on this site.

Numbers describe a problem. A listing is a decision.

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