Nightline - June 11th

Linda, thanks for sharing this. It is a good reminder to be ever vigilant.

Thanks for posting, as this is a good reminder.

This scam seems to surface every so often and people continue to be victimized. There was a similar story on our local TV channel here, as some people from this area were also victimized by this. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that the perpetrators will ever be brought to justice, as they're difficult to locate and in some cases are in foreign countries.

So in the first situation in this story, where people thought they'd rented a house that wasn't really up for rent, how did the people get inside the guy's house, for the owner to discover after he got home? Unlocked Lake Tahoe House? Seems odd in more ways than one.

Wiring money appears to be commonplace within Europe, but it's not only pricey to do from the US, but not recommended in the story.

Wiring money in Europe isn't common. People make bank-to-bank transfers from one account to another.

What I found most common for Americans renting in Europe is to put down a security deposit via credit card, and then pay in cash upon arrival. I rent mostly exclusively through airbnb and their website has multiple warnings throughout the process about exchanging money outside of their website or responding to solicitations via emails about rentals.
I guess what's toughest to avoid is the fake house or fake address scam. I suppose even reviews can be made up! And, the length of time that something is being rented could be helpful as I doubt a scam would survive multiple years. The Google map idea is good as well.

Three years ago, we rented a house in Ireland from British homeowners. They had decided not to use the PayPal option that many of the other properties on the HomeAway Website used for making deposits, and said that their other customers (who were primarily European) paid them via "wire transfer," and this is something these owners also did on a regular basis when making various payments. Our US Bank had just raised their wire service fees to an exhorbitant amount, and we wound up arranging a different payment method that worked for all parties. It seems to me that other questions on this very forum have discussed wiring money and the consensus was that it was not an unusual procedure within Europe. @Bets, even if "common" and "wire" aren't acceptable terms to describe this method of payment by Europeans, then it's still certainly more common in Europe than it is in the USA. Regardless, credit cards have worked best for us.

Hi,

I rented once in Europe to stay 4 nights. That was in Warsaw in 2001, and I was apprehensive but everythng turned out all right, no complaints or problems, a nice apt in the old town. When my stay at a place is four or more nights, I still prefer staying in Pensionen, hostels, hotels, or B&B, or a combination thereof.

I think like any peer-to-peer site (Craigslist, EBay, etc.) VRBO and other lodging sites carry risk, there will always be some scammers out there, but I do think that the vast majority of transactions go off without a hitch.

I do get concerned though with sending a large sum of essentially cash via bank transfer with little or no recourse if something goes wrong such as if you are just left out, or the lodging is substandard.

I also have some concern that what is pitched to be peoples private homes are usually rental agencies operating outside of any local regulations (Both lodging and safety) and probably taxes.

As such, my preference is still to deal with the smaller private run hotels where I still have some guarantees, a fixed address to deal with, and only pay a small deposit at most ahead of time.

I do get concerned though with sending a large sum of essentially cash
via bank transfer with little or no recourse if something goes wrong
such as if you are just left out, or the lodging is substandard.

I also have some concern that what is pitched to be peoples private
homes are usually rental agencies operating outside of any local
regulations (Both lodging and safety) and probably taxes.

What you have said is exactly why you will see me arguing in favor of renting from professional management companies as opposed to individuals. The management companies have a larger reputation to defend and a higher presence which dictates a need to comply with the law. Still, having said by reading another post on the forum I have a better appreciation for Airbnb.