Vacation Rental Scam in Florida

Here's a story that ran this week on the Today show regarding unscrupulous folks that are running scams on Vacation Rental properties in Florida. This is a growing trend around the country where these folks from Nigeria find a house listed for sale on REALTOR.COM or some other legitimate site, and then they "steal" the pictures, address, and information regarding the property and use the information in a bogus advertisement on Craigslist.com or some other site where an unsuspecting renter will come across the ad and find the house listed for rent at an unbelievable price. The renter signs a contract and sends money to an address somewhere in the USA and shows up at the property only to find the property is occupied by the homeowner and was never available for rent. There have been hundreds of these cases reported not only in Florida, but other parts of the country as well. To date, there have been no stories of this happening on the Outer Banks, but it could be just a matter of time before these people victimize an OBX Vacationer.This is another example of the fact it is ALWAYS best to deal with a professional rental manager with a great reputation on your family's vacation!Outer Banks Blue is standing by to help you with a legitimate and great family vacation for 2012!All the best from the beach!