Seasonal warning: Fake holiday rental listings spike before summer
As summer approaches, fraudulent holiday rental listings appear on booking platforms, social media, and copycat sites, collecting deposits for properties that do not exist or are not for rent.
Each year in the weeks before the peak summer travel season, reports of fake holiday rental scams increase. Listings may be fabricated entirely, copied from legitimate sites with different contact details, or real properties that the advertiser has no right to rent out.
Scammers typically ask for a deposit or full payment by bank transfer, or via messaging outside the platform's official payment system, to avoid the protections those platforms offer. After payment, communication stops or reasons to postpone emerge until it is too late to rebook.
The pressure of popular destinations selling out makes people more likely to act quickly without verifying the listing. Always book through a platform's protected payment system, research the property address independently, and be cautious of prices that seem unusually low for the time of year.
What to do
- Book and pay only through the platform's official payment system — never by direct bank transfer
- Search the property address to verify it matches the listing description
- Be wary of prices significantly below comparable properties
- Check the host's profile for reviews and how long they have been listed
- If asked to move communication off-platform, treat this as a warning sign