How to Avoid Vacation Rental Scams
Over the years, having a vacation rental with a kitchen while away from home has given us the flexibility to prepare safe, allergy-friendly meals. It’s vacation rentals through platforms like Airbnb and VRBO that have made it easy to find accommodations where we have traveled both domestically and internationally. These platforms offer a wide variety of unique places to call home away from home, but the popularity of these rental sites has also attracted scammers looking to take advantage of unsuspecting travelers.
vacation rental
We were recently the victims of a vacation rental scam. This is what we learned after the fact, and the mistakes we made – even after years of renting without issue on these platforms for over a decade.
The good news? With a little knowledge and some simple precautions, you can avoid falling victim to a rental scam. Here's how to protect yourself when booking a VRBO or Airbnb stay:
Mistake #1: The vacation rental owner started to communicate with us outside the platform.
One of the biggest red flags is a host asking you to take the conversation, or payment, off the official platform. While we had paid through the platform and all initial communication was through the platform – less than 48 hours before we were scheduled to arrive, the owner started to communicate outside the platform. Let’s face it…days before you travel you’re busy and stressed, we didn’t catch that this started to happen.
Lesson Learned: book and insist on communication ONLY through the platform.
Mistake #2: Not reading the vacation rental reviews thoroughly.
Reviews are one of your best tools for spotting potential issues. If a listing has no reviews, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s a scam, but it should prompt you to be more cautious. We’ve rented many vacation rentals without issues, so maybe we were less careful this time. This recent rental had reviews, but when we looked back at them, there was very little detail, and the dates of entries were spread far apart. Maybe they were all fake?
Lesson learned: Read reviews very carefully. Look for reviews that mention communication with the host, cleanliness, accuracy of the listing, and reviews that seem genuine.
Mistake #3: Look closely at the listing photos and description.
Do the photos make sense and match the description? The photos may look too good. This can grab your attention so much so that you overlook aspects that don’t add up. After closer review, we discovered the pictures for our listing were from different rentals. You can also reverse image search the listing photos to make sure they haven’t been lifted from another website or real estate listing. We did this after the fact, and found that indeed images were not solely for our rental listing.
Lesson Learned: do a reverse image search to confirm if the listing photos appear for other rentals beyond the location you’re evaluating – the owner may have copied other photos from other listings.
Mistake #3: Trust your instincts, if something feels off, it probably is.
Lockbox key pickup location
Don’t ignore your gut instinct. Maybe the host’s profile picture looks fake, the listing seems too cheap for the area, or communication just feels strange. With our recent rental scam, this is what made us listen to our gut: the day we were checking in the owner sent us a video with directions how to enter the rental. To obtain the key, we were directed to a fence on the side of a road a half mile away from the rental, to a lock box attached to the fence. It was very shady. It was apparent this rental was in a building that did not allowed vacation rentals, hence the lockbox not on-site.
Lesson Learned: Don’t get tricked into a rental if something does not seem right. Communicate with the platform help number to discuss and resolve details in question.
Other Tips:
Always use a credit card, not a debit card to book – Credit card companies have more fraud protection services and are not directly linked to your bank account like a debit card.
Use verified listings when possible - Some platforms offer additional verification for listings. On Airbnb, for example, "Airbnb Plus" or "Superhost" badges can indicate a history of positive reviews and verified listings. VRBO also marks properties with badges like "Premier Host." While this isn’t foolproof, it does add an extra layer of confidence.
Final Thoughts
We were fortunate this time to avoid losing money with this rental scam. We immediately contacted VRBO and were given a full refund. While most rentals on VRBO and Airbnb are legitimate and offer incredible travel experiences, like anything involving money and the internet, there’s always a chance of encountering a scam. By taking your time, using the platform’s protections, and staying alert, you can confidently book your next trip, and actually enjoy it when you get there.
I hope these tips and our lessons learned help just a bit with your future travels. With the need to access a kitchen while away from home for allergy needs, we’ll still look to use vacation rentals in the future – I hope you will too. Good luck and happy traveling.