Even long term renters have to be aware that the landlord who rents you a place may not actually be the landlord. With the amount of vacant and foreclosed homes in todays market, at least one scumbag tried taking advantage of it by posting as a landlord and renting out units to unsuspected renters.
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) […]

There is a “reverse spammer” using craigslist, they are called creditreport365.net. Here is what they do… When you post an ad on craigslist either offering or seeking housing… they will answer your ad with a simple 1 line sentence posed in the form of a question. Here are sample replies you will get from this spammer….
>>> Hi do you still […]

Here are 5 general tips for avoiding internet scams in general, not just vacation rental scams.
1. Beware of  the danger signs. Don’t get pressured into a deal you’re not comfortable with. If a merchant tries too hard to convince you about the value of the company’s product or service, what it’s presenting is probably not […]

Here is a scam inquiry we just got in today. I don’t know exactly how/why it’s a scam, I just know it’s a scam. Here are the things that indicate so….
a) The dates of checking in are next week. So, this lack of time puts me (the rental owner) in a time pressured situation.
b) Lot’s […]

If you are seeking a vacation rental, you need to be aware of a scam that targets you. People will post FAKE listings on vacation rental websites, claiming they are owners of a certain vacation rental unit. Or it may be a real listing, but someone else owns it. The scammer simply copies it from […]

If you are a vacation home owner, you need to be aware of a scam that targets your business. The jist is this… a rental seeker will contact you and express interest in your rental unit. You contact the person back either by phone or usually by email, and then negotiate a price that you […]

There are two parties involved in the rental of a holiday home. And unfortunately, there are scams that target both the vacation home owner as well as scams that target vacation rental seekers.
 
Before getting into detail on these scams, you should familiarize yourself with the various types of internet fraud, what to look for and […]

There are essentially 2 main vacation rental scams.  Be aware of them and do whatever you need to do to protect yourself from them.
 
1) A fake “renter” contacts a real owner and requests to rent the property. The fake renter then sends a check to the owner as a security deposit to rent the property. […]

On July 19th 2007, I was tipped off by a member on the free-rentals.com of a scam, here is the message I got:
“Message: I checked the web site to see about possibly listing my NYC vacation rentals on your site. I believe that 2 of your listings are scams. The listing at 153 W 57th St lifted some […]