{"id":71014,"date":"2022-06-15T09:24:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T13:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=71014"},"modified":"2022-06-15T09:24:42","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T13:24:42","slug":"beware-of-summer-rental-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=71014","title":{"rendered":"Beware of Summer Rental Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Criminals don\u2019t just post fake home sales or apartment rentals online. They also advertise fake summer rentals. Take safety precautions before making a deposit.<\/span><\/h3>\n
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NEW YORK \u2013 Scammers don\u2019t take the summer off, says New York Attorney General Letitia James in a release. Vacation fraud happens every year, but there are ways to protect yourself from getting burned.<\/p>\n

Steps to avoid vacation rental fraud<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Verify the host<\/strong>. Make sure the renter or host has a valid address and phone number.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Confirm the listing has reviews and read them.<\/strong>\u00a0Be wary if listings on websites like Airbnb or VRBO don\u2019t have any reviews listed. Also, when reading reviews, look for red flags. Multiple reviews that seem to repeat the same phrases could be a sign the reviews are fake.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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      • Check the photos.<\/strong>\u00a0Make sure they haven\u2019t been stolen from another website. Use a reverse image internet search of the photos to find out if they also appear on another website.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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        • Communicate only through the listing site before booking.<\/strong>\u00a0One way scammers try to trick consumers is posting a listing on a legitimate site like Airbnb or VRBO. Once a renter expresses interest, however, the rental owner than requires them to communicate directly outside the website or app to book the property. James also suggests that potential renters should never share their email address or phone number with a host before a booking has been accepted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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          • Use a credit card or debit card.<\/strong>\u00a0Verified payment sources, such as a major debit or credit card, can be traced in case something goes wrong. One additional advantage of a credit card is that it offers some protections under the Fair Credit Billing Act, which allows users to dispute unauthorized charges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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            • Make payments through the listing site.<\/strong>\u00a0If using a known legitimate site such as Airbnb or VRBO, make all payments through the site. They may be able to refund you if you\u2019re later defrauded.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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              • Never make wire payments or cash payments.<\/strong>\u00a0On the flipside, never make a payment where the money can\u2019t be traced, such as a wire transfer or money transfer service like Western Union, Money Gram, Zelle, CashApp or Venmo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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                • Rent security deposits.<\/strong>\u00a0Generally, you cannot be required to pay more than one month\u2019s security deposit. The owner can apply the security deposit to cover any damages caused by you or for unpaid rent, but otherwise must return the deposit to you at the conclusion of the rental.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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                  • Know your rights.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s illegal for a host to deny a vacation rental based on race, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, disability or marital status.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    By Kerry Smith<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    Criminals don\u2019t just post fake home sales or apartment rentals online. They also advertise fake summer rentals. Take safety precautions before making a deposit. NEW YORK \u2013 Scammers don\u2019t take the summer off, says New York Attorney General Letitia James in a release. Vacation fraud happens every year, but there are ways to protect yourself […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[9,59,61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71015,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71014\/revisions\/71015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}