Rental Scams > The Warning Signs
The Warning Signs
 When advertising any product or
service on the internet, there is always the chance that you could attract the attention of scammers who try to obtain money fraudulently
from unsuspecting advertisers, whether they are selling a car or offering holiday homes for rent.
Fortunately, the vast majority of booking enquiries you will receive through Rentaccomspain.com are from genuine holidaymakers, but it
is worth studying the points below to familiarize yourself with the warning signs to save being caught out.
Although most of the scams originate from Nigeria and are fairly easy to spot, not all of them do, so owners need to be wary.
Some early warning signs to look out for:
-
Be wary if you receive enquiries which are written using very poor English and / or grammar (some
genuine enquiries will be from non-English speakers
- so tread carefully).
-
Someone wants to rent your holiday home and offers to pay (or actually does pay) more than your stated
rental fees.
-
Some enquiries may be received from individuals who are overly formal on the first contact and will
introduce themselves as Doctor, Pastor or Reverend to create a false sense of security.
-
If you receive a booking enquiry for a suspicious number of people, e.g., they need accommodation for
2 but your property can accommodate 10. Possible scammers.
-
Any enquirer who asks to book accommodation for their company, but uses a non-company email address as
a contact.
-
Be wary if an enquirer, at any point in the transaction, asks to pay you by bank transfer. Giving out
your bank details to anyone is not secure so check with your bank about accepting payment by some other, more secure method.
-
Enquiries which give extremely short notice (i.e. 1 - 2 days before departure) where they ask to pay
you by cheque or bank transfer. These methods can take between 3 - 10 days before you will have cleared funds (or even up to 8
weeks if the payment is by a foreign cheque).
-
If an enquirer mentions the payment will be coming from someone other than them - beware. Some genuine
enquiries may be received like this but not many people will be paying for someone else's holiday.
-
Requests for unusually long bookings out of season.
-
Generalised emails such as "I am looking to rent your villa/apartment/house ...". These indicate mass
emails and should be disregarded.
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We do monitor booking enquiries you receive which are sent though Rentaccomspain.com but unfortunately we may not catch all the
fraudulent ones and some could reach our advertisers, therefore we ask that all our advertisers be vigilant
when they deal with enquiries.
If you would like advice on specific enquiries you receive, contact customer
services here
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