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Identify and Stop Holiday Rental Scammers...

 

Here at Euro Direct Rentals we are aware of the increase of email scam fraud, we actively seek out and deter any form of fraud in several ways.

  
Last 10 Scam Reports

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 Date Added: 7th December 2011
 Name: David
 Email: Michealonvacation@gmail.com
 Reported:  Action Fraud: Yes | Scamwarners: Yes
 Message: Good Day , Am David from Washington I will like to know if i can rent your property from date below Checking Date : 4 Feb 2012 Checkout Date 11 Feb 2012 Adults : 2 Looking forward to read your good news. Thanks David Sent via DROID on Verizon.

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 Date Added: 21st September 2011
 Name: Chaytor Smith
 Email: smithchaytor767@@yahoo.com
 Reported:  Action Fraud: Yes | Scamwarners: Yes
 Message: Hello, I need to make a reservation at your place for 3 persons coming to stay in your region for 7 Days; from 4th February – 11st February 2012. I will need to know your rates per / night for the 3 guests and I will need you to tabulate and let me know the total run-down cost for 7 nights period with tax and discounts in Euro currency, so we can arrange for payment. If you do not have availability at the time we request, please let me know when you preferably have availability to accommodate 3 Adults. Do get back to me quickly. 47 Chapel Drive Don-caster DN1 2RF UNITED KINGDOM Phone: 0740471787 Email: smithchaytor767@@yahoo.com Chaytor Smith. Thank you to one of our members who has sent us this link: http://blog.rentalseal.com/rental-scam-inquries/2011/08/chaytor-smith-is-another-odd-name-for-the-vacation-rental-scammer/

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 Date Added: 28th June 2011
 Name: Micheal David
 Email: michealonvacation@gmail.com
 Reported:  Action Fraud: Yes | Scamwarners: Yes
 Message: Good Morning , I`m Micheal I will like to know if your property is available Checking Date : 17 Sep 2011 Checkout Date 24 Sep 2011 2 people . Looking forward to read your good news. Thanks Mrs & Mr Micheal Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

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 Date Added: 19th June 2011
 Name: Mr Shamak Mushedeen
 Email: mushedeen70@gmail.com
 Reported:  Action Fraud: Yes | Scamwarners: Yes
 Message: Hello, Can we book your 2 rooms apartment for 14 days,we will be coming from malaysia on holiday(4 adult). Do you have these dates available from 9th sept to 23th sept 2011.Do you accept advance payment by european check or creditcard if you have the facility for charging it,please calculate the total cost for the 14 nights,i will be waiting your response. Best Regards Mr.Shamak Mushedeen

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 Date Added: 3rd June 2011
 Name: David James
 Email: jamesonvacation2011@gmail.com
 Reported:  Action Fraud: Yes | Scamwarners: Yes
 Message: Good Morning , I`m Mr James I`ll like to know if your property is available from Checking Date : 13 August 2011 Checkout Date 20 August 2011 Two people only. Looking forward to read your good news. Thanks Mrs & Mr James 1206-338-5714 Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

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 Date Added: 3rd June 2011
 Name: tope alen
 Email: tope33allen@gmail.com
 Reported:  Action Fraud: Yes | Scamwarners: Yes
 Message: i am tope allen and i just got married last week with my husband and we came from republic of benin anyway we are really interested in your place for our honeymoon and we would love to stay in your place for just 1 week in either june or july and we would like to know your final price for your mode of payment so that we could make a full payment for the place,thanks alot and we await your fast response today,

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We do receive a number (not too many thankfully) of scam attempts whereby owners are targeted by supposed holiday renters. Although we do make every effort to prevent this it is impossible to prevent scammers from manually contacting owners directly via the listing contact form.  
   
This problem exists with all holiday rental listing sites. Unfortunately the internet does seem to attract many scammers and unsavoury types to say the least. The more prominent we become on the internet with good search engine rankings, the more visible we will be to scammers.  
   
Fortunately most scam attempts are very obvious and can be spotted straight away. They normally contain some and even all of the following:-
  • Poor use of English (Although its true that not all renters will use English as their primary language) This can be due to the fraudster having to resort to using online translation programs to help write their emails.
  • Email is written in ALL CAPS
  • Mention the rental of an apartment when your property is clearly a villa.
  • Talk about the urgency of getting back to me as quickly as possible so that I can make payment which I am just dying to give you.
  • Often say they are not contactable via telephone (would you want to be traced if a scammer?)
  • Use a free email account that can't be traced by whois registration which would be the case if they had their own domain name. Normally hotmail, gmail or yahoo email accounts.
  • Scammers often try to play to your sentimental side by saying that its a gift for close friends who have just got married or that they are bringing their family with 2.5 sweet children etc etc. This is to help make you drop your guard.
  • Quite often they will not show any interest or ask questions about the property such as proximity to the airport, facilities, and local sites etc.
  
The main scam attempt is the overpayment method. This is how it works:-

1. You receive an email enquiry via a holiday rental listing site stating that they would like to rent your holiday home
2. The scammer will then ask you how much for a certain period.
3. Once you have given them the account to make the payment too they will make the payment BUT will pay too much. So for example if the payment should be for 1200 Euros they might transfer say 2000 Euros into your account. Great right?
4. What they will then do is to contact you and request that you transfer the difference back to them immediately. They will normally request this within 2 weeks of you receiving the money.
5. Once you have paid them the difference they will then request their initial payment back via their bank (as the money will not have cleared)
6. You will be left out of pocket by the tune of 800 Euros 		 
   
PLEASE REMEMBER:-

Read the email - Does it sound like a scam attempt?

Has the enquirer included a contact phone number? If so CALL THEM!

Are they using a free internet email account? Hotmail, gmail or yahoo. (not necessarily an indication that they are a scammer)

Using poor English in their enquiry?

Overly stress that they are a doctor or religious person (As they can obviously be trusted more than anyone else)

DO NOT MAKE ANY PAYMENT BACK TO THE RENTER UNTIL THEIR INITIAL PAYMENT HAS CLEARED IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!!!!

If you are in ANY doubt about the validity of any enquiry, please refer to this page, as we will be adding common scam attempts to the right of this page to make you aware of any ongoing scams. 		 
   
We report ALL potential email scammers to: