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Vacation
rental scams are now common across the country. Rental scams
can take several forms, but perhaps most commonly, fraudsters simply
copy photos and description of a property, post it online (usually on
the dark web) with their own contact information and try to get a deposit
and then rent from the victim. The fraudster may communicate only by
email or text message and may claim to be out of the country or unavailable
to show the property. Once the victim sends money, the fraudster disappears.
To
avoid falling victim to a vacation rental scam, the Better Business
Bureau warns of the following red flags:
The deal sounds too good to be true!
The landlord is located elsewhere and prefers
to communicate via email
They ask for a wire transfer or cash.
This is the surest sign of a scam.
The only websites where you can rent one our Dauphin Island
Real Estate
vacation rental properties are with our Resort Planet®
encrypted servers on one
of our two company websites:
dauphinislandrealestate.com
dauphinislandrentals.com
or
with:
vrbo.com
homeaway.com
These are nation-wide scams and have affected rental companies
on Dauphin Island as well hundreds of other legitimate vacation rental
companies and thousands of vacationers. Be safe,
and be suspicious - Anywhere other than the sites listed above absolutely
are not us. Please be cautious and don't be fooled.
Remember,
scammers typically get you to pay by wire transfer, move the funds to
another bank account, close the first account and vanish with your money.
You may not realize you are a fraud victim until you arrive and try
to check in with your vacation rental agency! Don't
let your vacation be ruined!
If
you have any questions please call us. Dauphin Island Real
Estate, Inc. - 251-861-8042
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