HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – State officials are warning the public of increased scam activity involving fake vacation rental listings. This as Hawaii already has one of the country’s highest rates of rental scams per capita.
With more budget conscious and last minute travelers looking for places on Airbnb, Craigslist and social media, experts urge deal seekers to be wary of listings that look too good to be true.
Scammers will “take the real listing from the trusted websites, duplicate it, and then repost them on social media, fake websites, or even on legitimate rental platforms,” explained Radji Tolentino, Enforcement Attorney for the State Office of Consumer Protection. “But what makes this especially dangerous is how convincing these listings can look. The photos are real, but the listing itself is not.”…