Posted by admin | Posted in finance, Fraud, holidays | Posted on 30-05-2012
Tags: credit cards, fraud, holiday rentals
Booking hotels or holiday apartments is a fraught business at the best of times but recent holiday rental fraud has shown that there is an additional concern to bear in mind.
Those booking for a fortnight in the sun should especially beware of bargains and last minute deals, but even the most established holiday rental websites are no protection against fraud, so those booking in this way should always take extra care.
There is however action that the consumer can take to try and avoid it happening to them. So, those visiting rental sites should be able to see how long a property has been advertised on a particular site and the longer it has been on, the less chance there is of it being a scam.
Though these bookings are often made online, without any human interaction being necessary, efforts at making human contact with the rental owner should be made. This can give some reassurance that it is genuine as well as giving information about the accommodation and the resort as a whole.
It is sensible in any case to have details of the owner and consumers should certainly get these at the booking stage as at that stage it can be determined that they are serious about staying in the property. When paying, a credit card gives the best protection against fraud or misrepresentation, so try and use one when booking.
These actions won’t completely protect you from the possibility of fraud but they are simple actions that can be taken to reduce the chance of it occurring and, they are also generally common sense procedures that should be taken by every potential holidaymaker.