Top 3 Ways to Avoid Getting Scammed When Booking Destin Vacation Rental

How can you be sure you're not getting scammed when you book a Destin vacation rental? 

Scams happen more than you think. You find the vacation home of your dreams and it’s priced well below the going rate for other homes of a similar size and location.  Too good to be true?  Probably.  

A growing concern for vacationers and legitimate rental property companies are the ever-growing numbers of scammers trying to take hard-earned vacation dollars and deliver nothing but heartache and headaches in return.   

Scammers use two different ruses to hook their victims.

(1) They create vacation rental properties that are not actually available to rent or don’t even exist. 

(2) They commandeer legitimate listings complete with photos and descriptions and then change the contact information. They lure you into a false sense of security and then they ask for a wire transfer of funds.  This should be a giant red flag. Are the warning bells going off yet?

One study from the Hotel and Lodging Association found that nearly 55 million bookings a year are made on fake travel websites.  Fortunately, with a small amount of pre-booking research, you can avoid showing up to a non-existent rental property that you’ve already paid for. Here are some tips to protect yourself: 

 Don’t look for a vacation rental on Craigslist.  Craigslist is a favorite place for cyber scammers to lie in wait, simply because it’s a common landing place for consumers looking for good deals.  While Craig’s List is a great tool for local transactions between buyer and seller, it is a scammers’ dream platform as listings may not be scrutinized as much as they would on a vacation rental site

2.      Check the photos.  Do a Google reverse image search.  On Google Chrome, right click the photo and select “search Google for this image”.   If you see the same photo on a bunch of other sites, that should be a huge red flag.

3.       Do not rely solely on email to contact the owner.  Get a phone number.  And be wary of foreign phone numbers

4.       Pay for your rental with a credit card or PayPal. Paying for your vacation rental through a third party vendor makes it much easier to dispute a fraudulent charge

5.       Don’t wire money or pay with a gift card.  Once a scammer collects your money, it’s almost impossible to get it back.

6.        Don’t be pressured or rushed to make a decision.  If you receive an email pressuring you to make a decision, ignore it and move on.

7.       Be wary of super cheap rates for premium vacation properties especially during peak season.  As the saying goes “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”

At Newman Dailey, we offer rentals to fit a wide range of tastes and budgets.  We have been making vacation dreams a reality in the Destin, Florida area for almost 35 years. And we only represent rental properties in Destin, Miramar Beach and 30-A area. We work here and we live here. Call us today let us help you find the perfect beach rental as well as suggest spots to celebrate a special event, best places to order flowers and where to get the best pedicure. You can trust Newman-Dailey Resort Properties for your next vacation. Voted by "Property Management Company" by readers of Emerald Coast Magazine and honored with the "Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics" by the Better Business Bureau. -

View our premier collection of South Walton and Destin vacation rentals online or call one of our friendly vacation specialists at 1-800-225-7652.

See you at The Beach!

Published on Monday, August 19, 2019