Beware of Vacation Rental Scams
Beware of Vacation Rental Scams
We have heard of multiple people getting scammed on Craigslist, Airbnb, etc. and it has happened to past guests of ours.
Please don't be a victim.
Possible Scam:
- Very cheap rental compared to other similar units
- No telephone number or will not provide one
- No website or other visible web presence.
We are listed on multiple websites, such as Vrbo, Homeaway, Airbnb, and Booking.com, that we pay for. Scammers will not usually be on paid websites. - Owner or agent wants you to wire money via Western Union or MoneyGram, PayPal, or other sorts of odd payment methods.
Most legitimate companies will accept payment by Visa, Mastercard, etc. - Has no local address or says "I am traveling abroad"
- Says they will mail you the keys
- Poor spelling and/or strange grammar mistakes
Ways to Avoid:
- Call the company, and ask for a local number (Hawaiʻi's area code is 808)
- Ask for their local address. Every company should have a local address. It's actually not legal to manage a property remotely in Hawaiʻi.
- Ask lots of specific questions. If you get nothing but vague answers, it may be a scam.
- Ask for multiple references if you feel suspicious
- Ask for the property address and unit number. And, do a search for that property to see if it is listed on another website. Some people have taken our units' info and listed them on Craigslist as their own. A simple search of the vacation rental's address with unit number would have brought them to our website.
