Beware of scammers when you rent vacation property.
Most everyone has received a phone call or email advertising a deal that sounds too good to be true – i.e. “You’ve won a trip to the Bahamas for free!” or my personal favorite, “An oversight has occurred, and you are due an IRS refund check.” As the old cliché goes, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. This same philosophy can be said about vacation rentals.
Don’t Get Enticed By A Crooked Deal
Conning is not a new trade. However, the degree and amount of conning taking place these days is much more significant. For example, scammers are now targeting individuals looking for rental vacation accommodations. 20/20 and ABC News recently reported on the influx of vacation rental scams on websites such as Craigslist.com and Backpage.com. They even set the stage to be involved in a vacation rental property scam so they could report their findings. Per ABC News, after making contact, arranging a weekly rental, and signing a contract for an apartment in New York, the following events took place…
We followed through and sent $360 for a bright and beautiful one bedroom apartment in the fashionable West Village neighborhood in Manhattan. It would have been an incredible deal, but when we showed up at the appointed time, there was no one to greet us. The “owner” had stopped responding to our emails, asking to be let in. If this had been our real vacation, we’d be out of luck and cash, with nowhere to stay.
Protect Yourself
The most frustrating part of similar situations is that con artists typically have all their bases covered. Therefore, if you are a victim, there is not much you can do except bite your tongue, and learn from the experience. The safest advice I can give is to be wary of any situation or person that requires you send money to secure your reservation. Also, find your vacation rentals through reputable companies with safeguards in place that ensure no scamming is occurring. And yes, Rent It Today takes the appropriate measures to confirm our partnering companies are legitimate. When you rent vacation property through Rent It Today, you can be sure you are actually going to stay in the accommodation you located on our site.
Great eye opener. Thanks for sharing.