You’ve probably heard of vacation rental scams on the internet. Some ill-intentioned people publish false advertisements on person-to-person classifieds platforms to defraud Internet users looking for a single-family house, a rural lodging, or an apartment to rent for the holidays.
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Request for payment of 50% or all of the rent in advance, transfer to bank accounts abroad, non-existent accommodation, false promotion, unreachable owner … many cases exist.
In the event that you visit several websites in search of the ideal rental for your next vacation, always be vigilant! Find out about the site in question and the origin of the published offers.
In order to avoid unpleasant surprises, Sun Location offers you seven good reflexes to take to avoid holiday rental scams:
1. Beware of too tempting offers
Some vacation rental offers have unbeatable prices. In an attempt to scam dishonest people sometimes try to “bait” them with very tempting offers.
In the occasion that you come across a holiday rental ad at a very (or even too) attractive price, we invite you to compare with similar accommodation offers (properties, places, periods, etc.).
For example, a week’s rental in a villa with a swimming pool in Nice at 200 dollars: that’s suspect. It is important to know that an accommodation owner aims to make it profitable and not to cut prices.
It happens, of course, that some of them make promotions, but in the event that these seem excessive to you, we advise you to take certain precautions.
2. Contact the owner
In the case of an advertisement from individuals to individuals or the owner’s contact details are published on the page, telephone contact must be systematic: A simple email is not sufficient to make a reservation. When validating the reservation and BEFORE making any payment, it is necessary to contact the owner by phone to speak with him and especially to verify that the number given is valid.
Otherwise, be careful: some unscrupulous people give the wrong number or never answer.
Does the owner’s accent correspond to his said nationality?
You manage to reach the owner of accommodation in a foreign country, but the latter has an accent that does not correspond to his nationality? However, remain cautious and, above all, try to obtain as much information as possible about the proposed seasonal rental.
3. Beware of payments abroad
Scams almost always have one thing in common: a request for payment to a foreign bank account via money order, Western Union, or Moneygram. These payment methods have in common that it is impossible to locate the recipient afterward.
This payment method consists of sending money to a post office that the receiver will collect using a name (sometimes a false identity) and a transaction code communicated by the payer. You should know in some countries do not systematically verify the identity of customers. They also sometimes leave a “tip” to the post office employees to “facilitate” the transaction.
These malicious people (scammers) can also ask you to pay by transfer. It happens that some bank accounts are opened with false identities. Keep in mind that the laws relating to opening bank accounts may vary from country to country.
In case of doubt, we invite you to consult the discussion forums in order to verify the scams already reported or to go to the official portal for reporting fraud on the internet: http://www.internet-signalement.gouv.fr
4. Do not pay more than a 30% deposit in advance
Do not pay the full payment before going to the rental location (limit 30%): If the “owner” asks you to pay more than a 30% deposit, or even the entire rent before going to the place to stay, it is better to beware and refuse.
For your information, many agencies will ask you to make a payment between 20% and 30% maximum of the price of the stay as a deposit in the event that the expected start of arrival takes place in more than ‘a month.
5. Read the entire rental agreement
Rental agreement legislation: the rental agreement must be written in duplicate and signed by both parties. We invite you to read it entirety before sending it back.
6. Check the existence of accommodation
Do the photos match the ad? In some fraudulent advertisements, the holiday accommodation photos do not correspond to the accommodation described or belong to different accommodations.
Writing of the advertisement: inconsistency, spelling mistakes … If the offer contains too many errors, it may be a false advertisement.
Location of the accommodation on Google Maps / Google Earth to verify that the accommodation is located at the address indicated (to be requested in advance).
Ask a friend to book the same rental for the same period in case of doubt once the booking has been done in order to verify that the advertiser is not offering their property for rental indefinitely.
7. Insure and/or verify the rental with an organization
Insurance before departure: There is insurance for vacation rental. Check with your insurer.
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