TL;DR: Vrbo scams are more common than many hosts expect, and even experienced operators can get caught out. The most frequent schemes include overpayment scams, fraudulent chargebacks, short-stay fraud, and phishing attacks. Key red flags include incomplete guest profiles, requests to pay or communicate off-platform, and pressure tactics. If you’re targeted, document everything and report it to Vrbo immediately. For stronger protection, automated guest screening tools can catch risky bookings before you hand over the keys.
Vrbo scams can happen to experienced hosts, not just newcomers. The most common schemes aren’t especially sophisticated, but they’re designed to move fast and exploit the trust that makes hosting work.
This guide covers the scams Vrbo hosts encounter most often, the red flags that tend to show up before things go wrong, and what to do if you find yourself on the receiving end of one. You’ll also learn about how guest screening can help protect your business against scammers and risky guests.
Can you get scammed on Vrbo?
Yes, there are scams on Vrbo that target hosts. Vrbo acknowledges that scams happen and even publishes guidance on handling them. Rather than treating vacation rental scams as an unlikely, worst-case scenario, it’s worth anticipating them as a regular pitfall of hosting.
Vrbo scams usually take the form of:
- Overpayments and refund requests
- Credit card scams and vacation rental chargebacks
- Phishing, smishing, and vishing attacks
You’ll find out more about these types of scams below, as well as a few others to be aware of.
What is a Vrbo scam?
Like Airbnb scams, Vrbo scams are fraudulent actions people take to get your money and access your personal information or account. Scammers sends messages, emails, requests, or bookings that look normal (or close to it) but are designed to cause damage.
Scammers usually have a specific purpose and a carefully planned fraudulent scheme they use over and over until someone catches them. For example, they may create fake accounts to make quick bookings and enter properties without paying. That’s why it’s so important to carry out guest screening for every booking. That way, you know who’s entering your property and you can catch criminals out before accepting a booking.
Most common Vrbo scams for owners
Vrbo can flag some suspicious activity, but it won’t catch everything. Here are the schemes that catch hosts off-guard most often.
Overpayments and refund requests
Overpayment scams rely on the window between when money appears to arrive and when the fraud is detected. Usually, a scammer sends a fake cashier’s check or books with a stolen credit card. They’ll “accidentally” overpay, then ask you to refund the difference via a separate channel like a bank transfer.
By the time the check bounces or the real cardholder disputes the charge, you’ve already sent money out of your own pocket. You lose both the original payment and the refund.
Surprise trips
In this case, scammers rely on your good nature to get you to give them access to your property. They’ll typically book a stay as a “surprise” or gift for someone else. Thanks to their cover story, you’re not suspicious when a different name appears on the payment.
Once they’re in the property, you might find the booking payment gets charged back, the card gets disputed, or your place gets damaged. You have limited recourse to recover the booking fee or cost of damages, because the identity behind the booking was never verified.
Credit card chargebacks
Chargebacks are there to protect people when purchases go wrong. Unfortunately, scammers have realised they can use this mechanism to get goods or services for free. They’ll book as normal and complete their stay without any issues. Then, weeks later they complain about your services and ask the bank to refund the payment.
One Vrbo host described receiving a chargeback notification three weeks after checkout, despite the guest having completed their stay, sent complimentary messages through the platform, and left a five-star review. “I immediately checked out the guest’s background and discovered I was dealing with a very dangerous person with a criminal record,” says dana.barber on the Hospitable community forum.
Short-stay fraud
Short-stay fraud is designed to work fast. A scammer books last-minute with a stolen or fraudulent payment method, checks in before the transaction has time to be flagged, and checks out before you or your bank realise anything is wrong. By the time the payment is reversed, they’re gone. At the very least, you take a financial hit on lost booking revenue. You might also find yourself with expensive repairs or stolen items to replace.
Threatening negative reviews
This scam at least, is easy to spot. Usually, a guest threatens to leave a negative review unless you give them something — a refund, a free extra night, or a pass on damage they’ve caused. Vrbo takes this seriously enough to have a dedicated policy against it, explicitly prohibiting guests from using reviews as leverage. But having a policy doesn’t mean it never happens. If it does, document everything, don’t negotiate, and report it to Vrbo with the conversation thread as evidence.
Phishing, smishing, and vishing
Phishing (email), smishing (SMS and messaging apps), and vishing (phone calls) all follow the same basic playbook: someone contacts you pretending to be Vrbo, a guest, or another trusted party, and tries to get you to hand over personal information, click a link, or take an action outside the platform.
For hosts, the most common version is a fake Vrbo email flagging an “urgent issue” with your listing or payment details — complete with a convincing login page designed to capture your credentials. If you’re ever in doubt about a message claiming to be from Vrbo, go directly to the platform rather than clicking any links.
Why you need to fight Vrbo scams
When you’re targeted by a scammer, both your property and your business are at risk. Here’s how you could be affected:
- Property damage: Some scammers want to use your place for parties or illegal activity, which could result in property damage and upset neighbours.
- Lost revenue: Fraudulent chargebacks and fake payment methods mean you may never get paid for a stay that already happened.
- Wasted time: Even with Vrbo insurance, disputing a single incident can mean days of admin, evidence-gathering, and back-and-forth with Vrbo support.
- Reputational damage: A retaliatory review from a scammer can hurt your listing long after you’ve recovered from the initial financial hit.
The good news is that most Vrbo scams often follow predictable patterns. Below, we’ll explore some of the biggest red flags to look out for.
6 red flags that may be signs of a Vrbo scam
If you know what to look out for, you can usually spot fake Vrbo inquiries before they escalate. From our own experience and the details in Vrbo’s scam protection policy, we collated this list of red flags. If you spot any thing from this list, be vigilant and make sure your guests are who they say they are.
Incomplete profiles
Everyone has a first booking and some might not think it’s important to add a lot of detail about themselves. In that sense, a bare profile isn’t automatically suspicious. But if you spot an account with no photo, minimal personal details, and no previous reviews, that could be red flag.
Look out for any booking requests that arrive almost immediately after the account was created, too. If anything about your guest’s profile or inquiry raises suspicion, don’t hesitate to ask for details about their trip, e.g. who’s travelling, what’s the occasion, how many guests. A real first-time user will usually be happy to fill in the gaps.
Rude or evasive communicators
Pay attention to how a potential guest responds when you ask basic questions. Evasiveness — vague answers, ignored messages, or a reluctance to share details about their stay — could be a sign that their story won’t hold up under scrutiny.
Some scammers go the other way entirely, using aggression or threats to pressure you into skipping your usual checks or accepting terms you’re not comfortable with. Either way, trust your instincts. A legitimate guest has no reason to avoid straightforward questions or make you feel threatened.
Messages that aren’t about your property
Legitimate guests ask about check-in times, parking, and house rules. Their questions will apply to a specific property you own, rather than an issue with your account or another listing entirely.
If a message references an urgent payment issue, or a verification step you don’t recognize treat it as a red flag, especially if it includes a link. Scammers often impersonate Vrbo to create a sense of urgency that pushes you into acting before you’ve had time to think. If anything feels off, go directly to your Vrbo dashboard rather than engaging with the message.
Grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes
Of course, you shouldn’t judge anyone too harshly for their spelling. But if you see unusual mistakes or text that feels automatically generated, it may point to a Vrbo scam. Keep an eye on inquiries like these and be vigilant for other suspicious signs.
On r/vrbohosts, a host describes an inquiry just like this: “the name is “First Last” (with 2 spaces between names), and the request says, Hello, Are the property selected dates available ? with odd wording and spacing.” The host is absolutely right to find this suspicious.
“It’s a common scam,” says Quirky-Ask2373 in the replies. “The scammer then asks to pay you directly and outside of the system. The next step is that they send you a fraudulent check.”
Overpaying or asking for a refund to another bank account
An overpayment is almost always a setup. Why would a genuine guest pay more than your stay costs? With overpayment scams, your “guest” usually asks you to bypass Vrbo and refund the amount directly to their bank account. Huge red flag. Any guest asking you to transfer funds outside the platform should be an immediate dealbreaker, regardless of how plausible their explanation sounds.
Requests to pay or communicate outside of Vrbo
Like refund requests, there’s no reason a guest should expect to pay you outside of Vrbo either. Scammers push transactions off-platform because Vrbo’s fraud protections don’t apply once you’ve left it.
The same logic applies to communication. One host posted on r/vrbohosts about a guest who complained about not being able to “see” the host’s messages on Vrbo. But this is often the sign of scam. A genuine guest shouldn’t push you to continue the conversation via WhatsApp, personal email, or another channel early in the booking process.
Look out for these common excuses:
- “I always pay with a cashier’s check and don’t have other payment methods”
- “Credit cards aren’t available or safe in my location”
- “That’s my spouse/employer paying, so I have to use a check”
- “Vrbo is blocking your messages to me”
What if you get scammed on Vrbo?
If someone scams you on Vrbo, you must contact the support team and file a dispute. But before you do it, we recommend gathering the evidence. You need solid proof to get your money back and, ideally, get the scammer’s account removed.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Calmly ask the scammer to return the money. They’ll most likely refuse, but it might help your case to show you tried to resolve the situation first.
- Do not share any personal information. Scammers might ask for your card details or phone number. Never share this information.
- Stop engaging with the scammer. If they refuse to return the money, resist the urge to get angry or insult them. Further communication rarely helps and can complicate your dispute. Do not let them pressure you into transferring any money or issuing refunds.
- Take screenshots. Make copies of all communications with the scammer that happened within Vrbo and outside the platform. You can also download PDF bank statements that show the relevant transactions. Keep them in a separate location like your Google Drive.
- If damage has occurred at your property, document this too. Take timestamped photos and keep any receipts for repair costs.
- Report the scam to Vrbo right away. As soon as you have your evidence, report the scam to Vrbo following the instructions below.
How to report a scammer on Vrbo
If you suspect fraud, don’t wait. Vrbo offers three ways to get in touch: the help center, live chat, and 24/7 phone support. We’d recommend you call or use live chat first, rather than waiting for a help center ticket to be picked up.
When you do reach out, have your evidence ready: screenshots of all communications, payment records, and any relevant booking details.The more organized your evidence, the faster Vrbo can act.
How reliable is Vrbo guest screening?
Vrbo does check guests. The problem is the screening process has a lot of limitations and isn’t thorough enough to protect you against scams entirely. When you get a booking request, you may see a ‘Verified Identity’ badge, which means Vrbo has verified the user’s date of birth, physical address, and some other personal information. Is it enough to prevent scams? Not really.
Fortunately, Vrbo allows you to adopt additional tools for guest verification. That means you can implement manual and automated guest checks to protect yourself against fraud (more on that below).
Can you do more reliable guest screening yourself?
Vrbo’s built-in screening verifies account information at signup, but it doesn’t reverify for each booking or share those details with you as a host. That means the responsibility for knowing who’s staying in your property ultimately sits with you. There are two ways to approach it:
Manual screening
You can do a certain level of screening just by interacting with a potential guest and being wary of the red flags mentioned in this article. Ask direct questions about their stay and search their name online if anything feels off.
Of course, if you manage more than one or two properties, you won’t have time to carefully background check every guest yourself. You also can’t verify a government ID, check someone against a watchlist of guests who’ve caused damage elsewhere, or run a criminal background check by hand.
Guest screening services
For hosts managing multiple properties, or anyone who wants consistent protection without the admin, automated screening is essential. With guest screening services like Truvi, bookings are screened automatically. That includes verifying that a guest’s email and phone number are legitimate rather than disposable, and checking their name against a watchlist of guests who’ve caused damage at other properties.
For hosts who want even more visibility, you can get additional layers. For example, ID verification uses biometric matching to confirm the person booking is who they say they are. You can also run criminal background checks on ID so you get a better understanding of the risks of each guest.
The final verdict on Vrbo scams
Most Vrbo scams succeed because they catch hosts off guard. You can get wise by looking out for common red flags, like an overpayment, pressure to move off the platform, or a guest who won’t answer basic questions. Build the habit of checking for those signs on every booking to keep yourself safe.
If something does go wrong, act quickly: stop engaging with the scammer, document everything, and report it to Vrbo with as much evidence as you can gather. Don’t issue any refunds or transfers while a dispute is open.
For hosts who want a more consistent layer of protection, guest screening tools like Truvi can automate the checks that are difficult to do manually, such as verifying identities, flagging disposable contact details, and cross-referencing guests against a watchlist before they arrive. That way, you’ll know who you’re letting in before you hand over the keys.
Stay vigilant against scammers and risky guests
Truvi automatically screens every booking against our internal watchlist. With ID verification and damage protection up to $1M, your protection starts before check-in and lasts throughout the stay.
