Villa Rental Detective Story

OMG...a real eye opener. And the scammer is still listing other properties on the same site.

Wow - thanks for posting this.

Anyone thinking of renting an apartment needs to read that link - so they know what to look for to avoid scams, and how to approach the problem if they are scammed.

Staggering! Thanks for sharing.

Incredible! Really appreciate this post. The more I read of the Fodor thread, the more I wondered how widespread this type of swindle is. And question how thoroughly any of the apartment /home booking websites investigate the property owners and properties they offer?

Barbara, they don't investigate very much at all. You approve a Terms of Service that says they don't rent places, they just facilitate communication between independent providers and individual customers. That way, they're not actually responsible for anything. They just take their "vig" off the top and head for the Silicon Valley bro club. People on the Trip Advisor board keep naively asking, "It's on the TA list of hotels. It must be Okay! ?"

The recent murder involving an Uber call is a reminder to use what minimal tools these companies DO provide to verify what is happening. They DO provide a license plate, a photo of the car, and a photo of the driver, before you can even see the vehicle in the distance. I don't understand how anyone could book a hotel room without an address. Just because something appears on your computer screen does not mean that it exists.

https://nyti.ms/2YOd6E7

This is a must read that highlights the need to check listing reviews on multiple sites.
Never book without reviews just because it's "a great deal or cute". Two phrases I've heard too many times.

British TV had a show about villa scams a few years ago and it's incredible slow and hard to get these ads removed from websites because they have to go through the seller which is usually the scam artist. It's even more of a headache for the owners who have to deal with scammed and angry vacationers coming to their homes. I've heard horror stories from every vacation rental site. VRBO/HA and yes even AirBnB, which aren't as proactive as the one poster mentioned.

But there are tools you can use to protect yourself. Never rent from a place with no reviews. Never wire people money or pay outside of the website as scammers know that the site will not be liable. Never rent a place where the description isn't in plain English and there are misspellings. Finally, if someone is renting out a flat in Mayfair from 90GBP a night, run far away. If it sounds too good to be true.,,

Beware some WITH reviews as they can be faked or colleagues can rent the places and write fake reviews. Look for reviewers with long histories of reviewing who can be verified somehow.

We’ve never had money stolen but I booked us into a place in Italy where the reviews and reality didn’t coincide. Going over with a fine-toothed comb, I realized all but two were fake.

Another tool is to do an online search of the property photos with Tineye or google images and see where else they turn up. If they appear on multiple websites with conflicting info - such as different locations - then at least one of them is a fake.

If it looks too good to be true, seems fishy, no reviews, etc Just Walk Away!

Your vacation is too important to be dealing with this kind of nonsense.

Thanks for the link. I stopped after "The place is new, so no reviews." I would NEVER rent some place that was a new listing. And this is why. There is no larger red flag for me.

A year ago I was contacting realtors with listings on a long term rental web site in Italy. One of the replies I got back was very strange. The response to my email stated the posted property wasn't available, but the emailed pictures of an alternate and wanted to know more about us, were we working, etc. I took that bait and responded with a little information (but no address, phone, etc). I'd also asked for the apartment address, pictures of the property from the outside and views (windows had closed curtains). And yes, it was too good to be true for the price.

In the next email, the scammer related a story that he and his family were moving back to England and wanted to find a renter that would take good care of their Italian home. Here's where the scam lies. He said they use AirBnB for the deposit and someone from AirBnB would send a representative to meet us at the property to let us in when we arrived. If we didn't like it our deposit was refundable. And also said using AirBnB was protection for both parties. I'm suspecting if I had replied to this obvious scam, they would have sent me a "fake" AirBNB link to make a payment by wire, or instructions to wire AIRbnb.

Clearly AirBnB doesn't send representatives to meet renters at properties and had nothing to due with this potential scam.

This is an argument for the safety of booking a hotel.