Is Your Vacation Rental Legit?

Before you book that beachfront bungalow, make sure it is what it seems.

The scam: Con artists pretend to own an appealing vacation rental and get you to pay them a deposit or the full amount in advance, but the property doesn’t exist, isn’t available to rent, or isn’t as nice as it’s portrayed.

How it works: There are a few variations of this scheme. The scammer may create a fake listing online or even take over a legitimate account on rental sites like Airbnb or VRBO. When a guest books, the scammer collects a deposit or full payment and stops communicating; the guest is left without a reservation.

Other tricks: A scammer really does have a property, but they double book it so two or more guests pay for a reservation. The guest who arrives first takes possession; the other is left to fend for themself. Or an owner uses photos and descriptions that don’t match reality — so the dream vacation rental turns out to be a substandard disappointment.

Warning signs

Here are some rental red flags:

• Pressure to pay quickly
• A request for unusual or difficult-to-recover payment methods (wire transfer, cryptocurrency, cash)
• A host who is evasive or lacks basic language skills
• A too-good-to-be-true low price
• Vague details about the listing
• A lack of reviews (or reviews that don’t ring true)
• No physical address or incorrect address after booking

Protect yourself

Take these steps to minimize your risk:

• Keep in mind: Fake listings are more common on third-party marketplace sites, such as Craigslist. You have no protection here.
• If possible, use established, reputable vacation rental platforms to book, and confine all communication with the host to that platform. (You lose the site’s protection if you circumvent the system, and many scammers try to lure you to text or email so that you have no recourse against the fraud.)
• Interact with your host. Using established channels, inquire about the rental and/or local attractions. If you can’t reach the host or they are evasive, proceed with caution.
• Use a secure method to pay and pay through the rental platform’s system, if applicable.
• When in doubt, opt out. If something seems off, trust your gut and look for a different place to rent.

If you do discover your rental isn’t real, report the scam immediately to the rental platform, if you used one. Contact your credit union to try to stop the transaction. File a report with local authorities and the Federal Trade Commission.

Happy travels!