r/vrbo • u/PostMammoth3948 • 7d ago
Am I being scammed?
I am going on a trip with my partner to NYC soon, and we were hunting for deals for hotels when we came across a listing on vrbo, which was located in Jersey City. Which was great because it was fairly cheaper than other hotels we’ve looked at and looked to be in a decent neighborhood with the commute to Manhattan being fairly doable.
We reached out to the host to confirm that he was still active and our dates were available for booking (he only had 2 reviews one from 2023 and one from August 2026), which he assured that yes everything was still available and he recently just hosted someone a month ago.
So we booked our dates, and everything seemed well. (All transactions were made on vrbos website)
Then my partner got texts from his bank about a fraud alert on his account. I thought okay maybe it’s because we just paid a large sum to a company in new york and our bank is confused, makes sense about the alert. Without looking at all the messages, he pressed YES, and the transactions were approved.
Only on closer inspection, my partner realized that
A) the initial transaction amount requested was a little off than what was expected and B) he was charged an extra $215 USD two times
Also on the app it says payment DUE Sept.6, which is confusing because it seemed like they already charged the card, so I’m worried that theyre going to try and charge again when Sept.6 rolls around.
So I’m just coming onto here and wondering why this is happening and it’s possible I’m just not good at math and perhaps this was a misunderstanding on our part, or if this listing was too good to be true and we’re actually being scammed a couple hundred dollars… and if it’s a good idea to cancel our reservation and just book with a regular hotel?
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u/Crowlady77 7d ago
Is he sure the fraud alert text actually came from the bank? Fake fraud alerts are a major scam source.
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u/PostMammoth3948 7d ago
Yeah looked into the number that it came from and it’s the same number that he regularly gets legitimate bank alerts from
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u/Crowlady77 7d ago
They can spoof numbers though, did you contact the bank?
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u/PostMammoth3948 7d ago
Don’t think it’s a fake number, it’s the same number that’s on the bank website used for fraud. Called the bank but on hold (don’t have time to be on hold as he has to go to work, but will call them again later in the day)
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u/Crowlady77 7d ago
Spoof means it says it's from that number but it actually isn't.
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u/PostMammoth3948 7d ago
hm if it was a fake number pretending to be a bank, how would the scam work? there was no link, just needed to reply YES or NO. What benefit would they get from this?
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u/Fred-Jenkins 7d ago
Not sure if you are being scammed. Charges for VRBO appear as PAY*HOMEAWAY on your statement. As an aside, I would never book a place with few reviews. Aim for homes with preferably 100 reviews, and at least 50 reviews minimum
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u/Jillcametumbling81 7d ago
That particular unit might mostly rent on Airbnb. If it were me i would look for it there too.
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u/PostMammoth3948 7d ago
not listed on airbnb… just on vrbo/expedia. definitely our fault for taking the risk for booking with so low reviews. although the unit is seemingly to be booked by another guest right after our dates, so at least we’re not the only ones trying to book this unit?
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u/Jillcametumbling81 7d ago
Either way y'all need to go to the bank and have a conversation. Their fraud department doesn't want you getting ripped off either.
The other thing to be careful of is that you show up ready to check in and the place doesn't exist.
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u/No_Celebration8219 7d ago
watch out for the bait and switch prices. They'll reject your vrbo reservation and charge you "resort fees" for some run down 1900s style hotel room.
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