Some of our vacation rental owners have recently received fraudulent reservation requests that our credit card partner Payment Processing, Inc. (PPI) has unveiled as credit card scams. Don';t fall victim to these criminal activities.

PPI reports that the most common of the two is a fraudulent reservation request from a “Colonel Akimoto” who claims to reside in Japan. He offers to pay the rental fees by credit card in order to gain your confidence. The scammer uses a stolen credit card number—from an account issued in the US—and asks vacation rental owners to charge an additional $250 to $1,000 to wire to his travel agent as a "tip."

The second scam involves a reservation request from someone claiming to represent foreign delegates or dignitaries. Using stolen credit card numbers, the scammer asks vacation rental owners to charge the rental fee for the delegates' extended stay and to add an additional amount—in some cases up to $7,000—to wire on the scammer';s behalf to his/her “logistics” company.

Don't fall victim to these scams, and keep an eye out for similar requests as well. Scammers are smart: once a crook catches on, they change their name and tweak their story. If you receive a request that seems to be fraudulent, do not respond and immediately contact your credit card payment service provider. If you run the transaction, you will be liable for the entire amount. Here is a good rule to follow: Never wire cash to anyone as a result of an overcharge on a credit card transaction. This is against the Card Association regulations and exposes you to losses due to chargebacks.

This alert is provided to you by Payment Processing, Inc., the preferred payment solution provider of the HomeAway.com Credit Card Acceptance Program. PPI provides its merchants with added security by performing ongoing fraud monitoring. In 2006, PPI saved its merchants over $2.4 million in suspicious transactions.

Payment Processing, Inc. is a registered ISO/MSP of HSBC Bank USA, National Association, Buffalo, NY, National Bank of Canada, Montreal, PQ, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto, ON and Chase Paymentech, Dallas, TX.