Holiday Rental Accommodation Scams
TravelEden gives potential holidaymakers the chance to view your property details and contact you directly, however while the vast majority of e-mail enquiries you receive will come from genuine holidaymakers, wanting to find out more about your rental property, there are a number of ‘scams’ seeking to use the easy access provided by the Internet, to exploit unsuspecting property owners. Things to look out for include:
The Overpayment Scam
This popular trick involves potential clients overpaying the rental amount and then requesting a refund of the difference. Common excuses for this overpayment include, an agent’s commission, a family member paying for the holiday and mistakenly including spending money in their transfer, the renter accidentally adding a zero to his payment, or transferring too much cash accidentally.
Premium Rate Telephone Numbers
This scam can be very hard to spot because of international dialing codes, but as a simple rule, avoid any telephone number beginning not with a country code but with the digits 09. This scam works by asking property owners to respond to enquiries by telephone on a premium rate number.
Generalised Emails
Some fraudsters send out scam email requests in bulk, to many owners simultaneously. Beware of any email you receive which sound impersonal and makes use of terms like ‘rent your house / apartment / villa’ or mentions multiple destinations other than your own.
Overly Detailed Emails
Beware of anybody including details of their life or personal situation in their communications with you. Typical instances of this include mentioning the death of a relative, an illness they have or a recent accident they were involved in, as the reason they want to rent your property. Another popular angle is to use religious language as a way to make any suspicious story sound more credible. If you suspect you have received such a message, pass it on to us and we will be happy to investigate further on your behalf.
Overly Formal Emails
Many fraudsters seek to gain your trust by claiming to be a Doctor, or a member of the aristocracy, such as a Lord. As well as attempting to convince you that they are model citizens or VIPs, this type of scam usually calls for your urgent attention and prompt reply to any queries. As an advertiser you are under no obligation to respond to enquiries you feel uncomfortable about and we encourage you to contact us with any suspicious enquiries.
Poor Spelling and Grammar
This kind of scam can be difficult to spot; especially since property enquires might come from users throughout Europe for whom English is not their first language. But generally speaking, look out for excessively formal messages and a ‘rigid’ tone of voice and if in doubt, don’t feel pressured into responding to that enquiry.
References to Western Union
Despite being a large and well-respected money transfer company, scammers frequently use the good name and international reach of Western Union (and other money transfer services) to their advantage. Fortunately, Western Union is aware of this and actively works at preventing any misuse of its services. They have an excellent website and if you use the search term ‘Western Union Scam’ within your preferred search engine, you will access plenty of relevant web pages on Western Union scams.
Unusually Lengthy Stays
Be cautious of anybody claiming they want to stay in your property for an unusually lengthy period. Often in excess of one month.
Strange Sounding, or Unfamiliar, Email Addresses
As with telephone scams, this can be hard to spot but on the whole look out for nonsensical letters and numbers in front of the ‘@’ sign from free email providers such as Yahoo or Hotmail. And if it any doubt, try to overcome this by asking for a business or work email address or contact telephone number.
Urgent Messages
Never feel hurried into accepting a booking, especially if the potential client wants to ‘speed things along with instant payment’. Take your time and be careful of accepting payment until you are sure of the client’s credibility.
Little or No Mention of your Holiday Property
If you receive a potential booking enquiry that makes no specific mention of your property it could be from a scammer looking for an easy target. Our advice is to ignore any such messages.
Protect yourself from holiday rental scams:
- Vigilance is key. Be alert to the scams described above and be aware that new ones are being dreamt up all the time.
- Always ask for a phone number, explain that it is a requirement of the booking process for your property and needed in case of an emergency.
- Never hand out your bank details until you are completely sure of a prospective guest’s validity.
- Verify any payments with your bank before confirming a booking, even if it takes several days. Cashier’s cheques, money orders and personal cheques can all be forged. If you are in doubt, wait for any funds to clear in your account before confirming a rental or refunding cash. Remember, even banks can be fooled, wait until cash is actually cleared in your account before acting.
- Although we use a secure system to monitor emails and filter out any potentially fraudulent messages or users, we cannot guarantee that we will spot everyone. We ask you to remain vigilant when dealing with any booking enquiry and contact us immediately if you become suspicious. If you would like more advice or feel you have been the victim of an attempted fraud, do not hesitate to get in touch and our dedicated security team will work to address your concerns.
If you feel you have been the victim of a scam, do not hesitate to get in touch and we will do our best to assist you.
Related Articles:
- Combating vacation rental scams
