DON’T BE FOOLED BY
VACATION SCAMMERS by Brittany Monbarren
Too often, when booking a vacation, we tend to gravitate to whatever is easiest for us, booking online. The Internet has made it quick, easy and cheaper to find a vacation rental home. However, is quick, easy and cheaper always the better way to go? As you may know, scam artists can fool people in a variety of ways, but have you ever thought about vacation rental properties? According to the Better Business Bureau, scam artists place fake ads online and list vacation rental homes for great deals. They will steal property descriptions and photos that are listed on a real estate website, or they will use an address that
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is not even up for rent to create a fake vacation rental ad. To ensure that you are safely booking the vacation rental of your dreams and not being scammed, consider these tips: Beware of super cheap rates. The statement, “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” goes hand in hand with vacation rentals. Most too often, scammers list vacation rentals for super low rates so they can entice a large number of travelers in a short period of time. The first thing you need to do when looking for vacation rentals is
to notice the super-cheap rates. If a listing is marked as half the price as all of the other comparable ones in the surrounding area, beware. Cyberstalk the owner. If you find a vacation rental home that you love and have talked to the owner of the home via email, it’s important that you always do some personal investigation. The Internet is the perfect tool for the investigation process. Always make sure that the information they give you is the same information that you find online. A good place to start is by searching the owner’s name, phone number and