Planning a getaway? Watch out for vacation rental scams that could cost you hundreds of dollars or leave you scrambling for new housing. In the past five years, people have reported around 65,000 rental scams to the Federal Trade Commission, with losses totaling around $65 million.
Protecting Yourself from Rental Scams
Scammers are known to create fake property listings that either don’t match the actual property, are owned by someone else, aren’t available, or don’t actually exist. To protect yourself, do a background search on the host and the property. Search the address and the name of the property owner or rental company with the words “complaint,” “review” or “scam.” If the search results show a ton of negative comments, it’s probably a sign to look at other rental listings.
Avoid accepting last-minute alternatives. A classic rental scam is known as the bait-and-switch, where swindlers will “bait” you with a desirable property listing at a competitive price and “switch” at the last minute. The best advice is to say no to last-minute alternatives. To avoid being charged additional fees, have the host cancel or contact the platform directly for a refund.
Keep communication and payments through the platform. Always communicate and pay through the platform, like Airbnb or Vrbo. If the host tries to get you to communicate or pay off of the platform, take that as a red flag. To protect guests from fraud, Airbnb typically holds the payment from hosts until 24 hours after check-in. If you pay off the platform, you will lose the protections under the platform if it turns out to be a scam.
Be skeptical of cheap deals and pressure tactics. Before booking a rental property, take time to review the details and be wary if the host is trying to rush you into paying. If the price of a listing seems too good to be true, it may be worth further investigation.
Report a rental listing scam. If you spot a rental listing scam, report it to the platform and to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.
