Have you already planned your next getaway for this year? Although we have just started 2025, there are already those who are thinking about where to go on their vacation. But if you are going to want to save on renting a rural house or an apartment, sometimes cheap is expensive and you may be subject to a clear scam situation. The Police have placed great emphasis on this type of fraudulent situations and offer the main warning signs to avoid falling into the trap.
As they say, new year, new resolutions to fulfill and, why not, new experiences to live. And, no matter how much you want to avoid it, you are probably already planning where you are going to spend the upcoming holidays in 2025, such as Easter, and even if you have decided to request vacations from your work with the main objective to disconnect as much as possible these days and welcome the new year as it deserves.
However, the authorities already report that you should not let your guard down at any time, as cybercriminals do not rest and plan to turn your plans into a real nightmare. In fact, vacation rentals are usually one of the most common ways to scam you, in such a way that they use their best tricks to ruin your days off without you hardly realizing it. How to avoid it?
Vacation rental, the most requested
Renting a small house in the mountains or an apartment on the beach are very common practices when we want to travel on vacation. Homes for tourist use are also becoming fashionable and are very functional for people who want to visit popular places for little money. Applications like Booking or Aribnb offer several options at low prices and are quite reliable platforms for renting.
Although all of this can turn out to be one of the best experiences, it is always necessary to keep in mind that along the way you can encounter a series of problems that make you lose your dreams and everything can end in tragedy. It is at this point where cyber scammers put all their effort into deceiving you and ruining your enthusiasm. Therefore, it is always advisable to be aware that many times nothing is what it seems and a simple conversation with what appears to be a trustworthy person is really the complete opposite, so you should take note of a set of tips that will be very useful to avoid having to deal with these tricks and get away with it.
How to detect the vacation rental scam?
Impostors know perfectly well all the keys to deceive their victims with social engineering techniques to convince you that the rental you are requesting is completely true. They all know it. So the Police wanted to disseminate the keys to identify the usurpers and thus reduce the number of people affected by the vacation rental scam.
First of all, the stranger will try to escape with proof that he is currently abroad and will not be able to assist you personally, as he must attend to some matters and will ask you to make an international transfer. Consequently, it could request all your data to steal your identity, including your passwords. At the same time, he will always want to close the deal as soon as possible so that you do not ask him so many questions and he will pressure you with a maximum deadline for you to confirm the reservation. But another reason that cheats are exposed is because they ask for a down payment in advance and thus ensure that no one takes that apartment away from you. Finally, they will act professionally to tell you that they work with a collaborative company with Airbnb or another official platform, when in reality these websites do not work with third parties.
National Police
@police
Thinking about a #vacation?
Keep these five warning signs in mind to avoid being a victim of a #scam when looking for a vacation rental 💸 https://t.co/2OFNsZMsfS
January 19, 2025 • 16:08
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As you have seen, any of these illicit activities can compromise your privacy and leave you without your desired vacation. The best thing you can do is follow these recommendations and put them into practice so that no one plays tricks on you.
