Splish, Splash You Were Having a Bash…Until You Got Scammed

Summer is a time full of fun activities, travel, and excursions. With something exciting always around the corner, it’s easy to become lax when it comes to keeping an eye out for scams. Here are some summer situations that scammers hope to get you on while you’re in “relaxation mode”.

Vacation Rental Scam

When it comes to booking a rental property, be wary of how you are booking it. Scammers will hijack rental listings and pose as the property manager acting as if the listing is their own. Unbeknownst to you, you never actually booked the rental. Upon the start of your vacation, you arrive at the property that is occupied by others. Your money is gone and you’re left with no place to stay.

Avoid this situation by searching the rental location’s address together with the name of the property owner or rental company. If you see ads with the same address but different owner, it’s a sign of a scam.  

Rental Car Scams

Renting a spiffy car with a road trip playlist jamming through the speakers en route to your beach or mountain vacation can lead to memories that will last a lifetime. Cue the record scratch as your rental car deal was too good to be true. Scammers are posing as rental car companies. Some will even go as far as building their own websites and customer service phone lines all in an effort to convince travelers that it’s a legitimate company. These fake companies will also try to convince you to pay with gift cards or prepaid debit cards.

Don’t fall for these scams. Research the rental car company and be sure to add the words “scam”, “complaint”, or “review” and check if other customers have had a bad experience. Also, verify deals directly with the company. Don’t rely on advertising as scammers could be behind those.

Stop scams in their tracks by following these tips below.

1. Research! Per the advice above, search the company with the words “scam”, “complaint”, or “review” to see if previous customers have had bad experiences.
2. Don’t sign or pay until you know the terms of the deal.
3. Don’t pay in any of these methods: wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency or money transfer apps. Instead, use a credit card or Chelsea Groton’s debit card, which offers customers the opportunity to set customized monetary and geographic limits, and to receive alerts on your debit card activity. 

For a deeper dive into scams surrounding travel, check out the Federal Trade Commission’s list of scams to avoid while traveling.