Alert: Holiday Rental Scam for Extended Stay

Admin
Published Date: 2013-12-18

First I have added a new category "Alerts" when we hear of news or tips that are important NOW we add them here. We have talked about the "Professional Renter" and the "Friday Night Fraud" and this is a real example that happened this week that combines both but we will call it the "Credit Card Play". Credit Card: Because it involves the use of fraudulent credit cards. Play: Because there is a lot of acting involved. Basics: Tenant wants to rent an extended stay property and wants to move in that day. Tenant is applying in person and has a credit card with matching drivers license ID. The credit card is DECLINED - however the tenant says "no problem" let me call the bank - the tenant comes back with an AUTHORIZATION CODE that when applied to the credit card payment allows the credit card to be APPROVED. Tenant moves in and the next day the credit card company calls back to say the credit card was reported to have been stolen and the funds will not be approved. The credit card company also says there is currently a larger issue with these "authorization codes" that are allowing cards to be processed that are fraudulent cards. TIP: If the credit card can not be processed the regular way, DO NOT accept a secondary authorization code, ask for another form of payment. Be careful when accepting payment for your extended stays rentals.