Scammers prey on people hunting for vacation rentals

Here are some tips from Consumer Affairs to help avoid these cons:

■Be leery of ads for properties that you see on Craigslist and similar sites. These have been a particularly popular means to market scams.

■It might be tempting to rent from an individual with the idea of saving some money, but you’ll be safer if you use an established rental agency or real estate agent.

■Check out whomever you’re renting from. It’s fairly simple to see whether complaints have been lodged against a business. Consumer Affairs, the attorney general, and the Better Business Bureau are all good sources for that sort of information. Sometimes, a quick Web search will produce red flags.

■Search for the property address. If you can’t find it, that’s a problem. Some scams involve renting properties that don’t exist. If you can, the best bet is to actually visit the property.

■Be sure you get whatever rental arrangement you make in writing. That should include any terms that were discussed and the disposition of any deposit, as well as the basic terms of the rental (dates, cost, what’s included, and what’s not).

■Never pay for a rental by wiring money. Scam artists love to collect cash from services such as Western Union. Paying by credit card provides the most protection for consumers.

No one can guarantee that your vacation will be the kind we all hope for, but doing your homework will help prevent having the one we all fear.

Mitch Lipka is a nationally known consumer columnist and runs TheConsumerChronicle.com. He lives in Worcester. You can find him on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/MitchLipka. He can be reached at ConsumerNews@Aol.com.