HOTEL ACCOMMODATION & HOLIDAY RENTAL SCAMS

How do you spot an accommodation or rental scam? The scammers usually seek to acquire your immediate trust by appearing to be responsible upstanding citizens, a VIP or a person at the top of their profession and everything is most always urgent. I won't bother with the intricacies of the scams because they always change. There is plenty of data on how those scams are perpetrated on other websites.

Logic might suggest that if 2 or more items in the check-list below match an email you suspect as a scam then that may confirm your suspicions. As a further check, use the tools below to help you verify where it came from and who sent it. Don't forget, scammers want you to contact them so they won't try too hard to hide their origin, although they might use a fictitious postal address and supply only mobile telephone numbers. You might be tempted to reply "just in case they are genuine" but if you still have a "bad feeling" about the reservation enquiry after having done all the checks that you can, trust your instincts!

SCAMS - THE GOLDEN RULE

If you suspect it's a scam, it most probably is. And always remember that if something seems "just too good to be true" it usually is!

Phrases or key words commonly used in accommodation or rental scam emails are in red. Note: New "key words" or scam "signatures" appear all the time and I will add them as and when they do. If you are a landlord, hotelier, guest house, gite owner, bed & breakfast or chalet owner, you may want to bookmark this page by pressing (CTRL-D) and refer back to it should you get an enquiry that you think is dubious. The date that this page was last updated was Thursday, 10 April 2008.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN EMAIL YOU SUSPECT IS NOT A GENUINE ACCOMMODATION OR RENTAL ENQUIRY.


Lots of lower-case letter "i"	When it should be a capital letter.
Unnecessary CAPITAL LETTERS.
Big bold MASSIVE text or changing fonts to emphasize key words.
Reference, link or quote from a website where your details are listed.	A website where they have harvested your email address.
Any offer of a commission payment for your "trouble".
Wanting you to supply mobile phones.
Loads of bad grammar by an author who really should know better.	With an English name claiming to be a Doctor or Professor but who can't spell or construct a sentence properly in English.
Asking you to pay a travel agency for something.
Insisting to pay by credit card when you don't offer that facility.
Asking you to supply bottles of mineral water.
Mentioning using your restaurant when you don't have one.
Wanting you to pay for airline tickets in advance.
Your hotel, cabin, lodge or apartment when you don't have one.
You receive the email late Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.	Gives scammers more time before an ISP can react to spam reports received.
Any reference to Western Union.	Western Union are a large, well-respected and legitimate financial corporation but scammers find ways to use their good name to perpetrate a scam. For example, type in the search terms western union scam into your browser and surf the relevant websites to find out more.
Female Model / Modeling / Modelling
Urgent
Delegates
Researchers
Seminar
okay	Often used repeatedly.
Don't let me down
I expect to hear from you as soon as possible
I expect your urgent response
United States of America	Spelling mistakes are common.
to your country
coming down to your country
secure the accommodations immediately	Spelling mistakes are common.
have a nice day
God bless
thanks for your anticipated timely response
book reservations immediately
Don't disappoint me
Clients
Marriage	Not seen often.
Dr / Doctor	"Doctors" who can't spell or construct a sentence?
Reverend / Rev.	Might be genuine - can you be sure?
Professor / Prof.
Pastor
Esteem / Esteemed
Vocation
Audition / Auditioning
Summit
Comprehensive bill
Thanks for your anticipated co-operation
Reunion in your country
Collegues	Spelling?
meeting conference in your country
lodge in your place
Get back to me ASAP so that we can proceed with the booking
reservation will be made immediately
coming to your country for a programme
I would like to make a reservation of room within your establishment
mandate of this amount via WESTERN UNION or MONEY GRAM
FAMILY RESSERVATION
How are you doing today? Hope you are doing great.
Greetings, How are you this morning?
I would like to solicit you so that you render this service to me
let me know the grand cost of the stay for 20 days
time of my wedding nights with my wife
do get back to me with the requirements as stated above
couples coming for their honey moon at your property
help me for the purchase of the plane tickets
Looking forward to receiving your response soon
for my children who will be coming for a holidays from

TRY AND FIND OUT EXACTLY WHERE THE EMAIL ORIGINATED USING THESE TOOLS

http://www.dnsstuff.com/	DNS Stuff DNS tools, DNS hosting tests, WHOIS, traceroute, ping and other network and domain name tools. Comprehensive and easy to use. A very handy tool for the enthusiast or professional.
http://spam.deadbeef.com/lookup.php	Lookup a domain or IP to get contact details to report spam or Security Violation. This report gives you the email addresses of the persons responsible for dealing with email abuse on a given network. If there are several contacts, simply block, copy & paste into your email TO: section.
http://www.geobytes.com/	Spam Origin Locator - Enter an email header to find its geographic route across the internet. Very useful tool, especially with an email you suspect is a scam or from a phisher.