Craigslist Vacation Rentals SCAM / FRAUD
on Craigslist, HomeAway, HolidayHome, VacationsFRBO, Ravant,
EscapeRental, and many other vacation rental web sites

How the Rental SCAM works (and there are many variations of this scam)...
If you are contacted by a rental fraudster (or law enforcement looking for an extensive case background) please contact us.
The vacation house is real. The photos and text description in the ad are real. But are you dealing with the real owner of the house? Or a fraudster pretending to own the house and trying to steal your money?

Our real vacation rental homes Idyll-by-the-Sea Two and Pacific Idyll were hit by a scammer (as well as the homes of other home owners). Our homes were listed on craigslist by a fraudster -- pretending to be the homeowner (us) -- and renters were defrauded of their monies.

The scammer finds a 'mark' in the US and cons them into helping them rent 'their' house. The scammer assumes the identity of the mark and rents a house (which he does not own). Rent money is sent to the mark, who then forwards the money to the scammer. Everything then traces back to the 'mark'.
How to avoid being scammed while renting your next vacation home...

Obtain full contact info and verify: Obtain full contact information for the person you are dealing with (name / address / phone number / email / etc) and verify that information (by using Google search, etc). Any real business should be easy to verify, as they will have a full web site, be in the yellow pages, be easy to contact, etc. However, if dealing with a person, ask for references, especially full work contact info, and verify that contact info.
Use maps.google.com to examine the address of the person you are dealing with (via Street or Satellite view). If you see a trailer park, do you really think that person owns an expensive rental vacation home? Usually this works incredibly well. However, watch out since sometimes Google put the address blocks away from where it really is.
Your phone calls are answered: If they always have to call you back (when you call, you always have to leave a message to call you back), then avoid. When they call, ask for a phone number where you can immediately call them back. If they don't pick up the phone, watch out. Be aware that many scammers use message services (no one answers; you always need to leave a message). Also, Google any phone numbers. You should find your contact person associated with that number. If not, that may indicate the phone number is brand new.
Note that anyone in the world (especially scammers) can obtain US phone numbers (sometimes for free), and make it look like they are here in the US, when in fact, they could be around the world. Also with VoIP today, a US phone number could actually ring anywhere in the world.
If the price is too good to be true, it is: If the rental price is too good to be true, warning flags should go up. "Taxes included" is a huge red flag on a short term rental. Ask for a detailed quotation, with 'included' taxes shown. If they don't provide the tax breakdown, avoid. Be aware that some states have no taxes on long term rentals.

Use a Credit Card: Use a credit card (which has a dispute resolution process). Never use bank wires, certified checks, western union, or any other service where the money is gone forever immediately after you send it. The credit card company has already performed basic background checks on the company charging your card.
Provide your credit card number only after you have confirmed who you are dealing with. You don't want to end up giving your credit card number to a scammer.
Rental contract: If the rental contract does not disclose full owner contact info, and does not ask for full renter contact information, watch out. Many scam rental contracts only ask for your signature, and nothing more, a huge red flag. Legitimate rental companies will always require full contact information for you, the renter, as well.

Avoid private/blocked callers: Any legitimate person (or business) has no reason to block their Caller ID when contacting you (a potential renter). However, realize that Caller ID is really easy to fake! So, verify Caller ID by immediately calling the person back (*69), and Google the phone number and verify the person or business is known and listed.
Caller ID is just like the return address on an envelope - most are legit, but some are fake.
Business email addresses only: Only deal with people who can provide (and use) business email addresses. Avoid anyone who can only use anonymous email addresses from aol, hotmail, yahoo, gmail, etc.
If you are dealing with someone@company.com and www.company.com is not the rental company or person you are dealing with (but some other large corporation, like Yahoo) -- insist on an email address that tracks to the person or company.
Craigslist allows the fraud: After I identified the fraudster (by email address) to craigslist, craigslist allowed the fraudster to repeatedly post more listings on craigslist using the same email address. I telephoned craigslist and was told that the person posting the (fraudulent) listings had the right to post on craigslist. Draw your own conclusions.

Use well known vacation rental sites? You would think this would help, but be aware that scammers posted our homes on very well known vacation web sites as well. This works because surprisingly, vacation web sites allow anyone (including real homeowners and fraudsters) to post on their web sites with nothing more than any (even anonymous) email address. So, you always need to verify who you are dealing with, no matter where you found them on the Internet.
One vacation rental site, Ravant, apparently has no protection against fraud -- even after Ravant was notified of the fraud. The same fraudster that posted my home on ravant (same name, same phone number) has now posted another fraudulent listing on Ravant for a different house using the same fraudulent contact information. I notified Ravant that there were more fraud listings on their site, but the listing still remains UP. The lack of concern by Ravant is very telling. They have their interests in mind, not yours.
The bottom line: Perform due diligence --- verify the veracity of the person or business that you are dealing with. With a few simple 'background checks' on the person you are dealing with, you will detect (and avoid) most of the fraud that is out there.

This web page is part of the public record on file with the Frederick County Maryland Sheriffs Office (301) 600-1046, criminal case #09-85611.