Request for copy of credit card and passport * legit ?

There are thousands of stories on the internet about "saving" money by paying direct for these types of rentals. None of them turn out well. A lot of times it is someone pretending to be the renting agent who has intercepted their emails. You end up never having a place to stay and being out all of the money you sent.

Is this the case here? I have no way of knowing. The request does sound strange.

That is a very common request. After all, the rental company wants to know who they are dealing with as much as you do. I think the first response is a little over the top and not very accurate. The only thing we do for all of these types of request is to use a credit card that is only used for that purpose. In our household we have three primary credit card that we used for day to day activity. We have a fourth credit card with a low credit limit that we use very infrequently (enough to keep active) but use it for all on-line deposit requests like this one. That way, if something does go wrong (never has), then it can quickly be cancelled without effecting our other cards. There is more risk sending a copy of your drivers license than sending your passport so send a copy of the passport.

There's a reason that Airbnb handles the money. Inconvenient it may be, and of course it costs money.

It is your choice if you risk your money or play it safe.

If you do an end run you are on your own.

Entirely your choice.

Then again if everybody skips around Airbnb they will eventually collapse and you will have no reviews to read.

The apartment is required by law to obtain information from your passport. Most apartments or villas will request this information before you arrive in order to speed up the check in process. It's normal. As for the credit card, I'm sure they want that information for billing purposes. It's a credit card so you have some fraud coverage there. Your drivers license is not a recognized legal document in Italy and they have no need for it.

Donna

Thanks for the responses, The passport I can understand but the copy of the CC is was my concern.
I used AirBnB for my other reservations but this one was a big saving to go straight thru the management company and with over 70 listings and 1000+ reviews I felt comfortable to deal with them directly. Like mentioned with the CC I can always claim a fraud if it is not true just wanted some other thought on this.

Thanks again everyone.

I suppose it is the back side which contains the CCV number that is concerning you. But every time you eat at a restaurant and hand the server that credit card, you are doing essentially the same thing. It's happened to me, but I seem to have a very vigilant card co (Capital One), so I wasn't out anything and they even Fedexed me a new card. I would call your credit card company and let them know the expected charges including security deposit. Other than that, I think you already have pretty good protection.

On some cards the number is on the front. And my new united card, has no numbers on the front. All numbers including the CCV are on the back. So you only need to copy one side.