Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

A little late - yes I forgot my blog - but I would like to wish everyone reading this a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope that 2006 is a good and prosperous year for everyone.

For us it was a quiet Christmas in Florida. The weather was bright and sunny, a lot different to the snow we have heard reported in the UK. The snow is one thing we DON'T miss.

Best wishes to one and all.

Another Scam Inquiry Reported

Thanks to the Florida villa owner who wrote and advised us today of an inquiry they received about their vacation property and believe that it is along the similar scam lines of wanting to send more money than the rental cost and asking for a refund of the difference.

His email is stevemorg202 @ yahoo.com and he says he is an Australian businessman

If anyone gets an email from this person or a different email address but with the same MO please use caution.

Unsolicited Emails

Our enquiry system has been used by a Cleaning Company to send (in the guise of an enquiry) an unsolicited email offering their cleaning services.

We are not going to mention names because we don't want to give them any free publicity.

Those that received the enquiry today will know who we mean.

A few weeks ago a Management Company did the same thing.

We have not endorsed or approve of these companies contacting owners via our website. They should look at more ethical ways of gaining business and not using Spam methods.

Thanks from Villas2000

New Scam Enquiry ?

Follow on from our previous post about Mr Hill being a "scammer" or "bogus enquirer" we have heard today from an owner who believes another enquiry he received is bogus.

The enquiry is from Diana Daniels and the message is along the following lines:-

Quote

Hello , How are you today? i hope you are doing great if so thanks to God. It my humble pleasure to write to you irrespective of the fact that you don't know me. I am diana daniels an international business woman based in nigeria, just got married. I saw your advert on the web indicating your willingness to rent out your house which i'm interested in because my husband and i would be coming down to the states for our honeymoon so we need a nice ,quiet,cozy home and secured enviroment to stay during our stay in the united states.in either oct,nov,or dec for 1 or 2 weeks and I would like to know your last offer for your home and your preffered mode of payment. Thanks and remain blessed. Best Regards. diana

End Quote

As before if you are unsure about an enquirer please do not give out personal information without doing your own research on the person, ringing them up, etc.

Or if you are sure that it is a bogus enquiry just ignore and delete it.

Bye for now.

Scam Enquiries

Yes we have received emails from a number of owners who say that they think a scammer has sent out an enquiry to many of the owners at the website. Not everyone has received it so I don't know why this person choose some and not others.

Anyway, this is what I wrote in an Alert to all owners today.

The enquiry being made is by a Mr Abraham Hill. Many owners have emailed me to say that they think it is a scam so please, if you have received an email from him, proceed with caution.

So if you ever receive an enquiry that you are not sure about or feel that it could be a scam please do not give out your personal details to that person. Make sure that you take extra measures to check the validity of the enquiry, if possible ring the enquirer up.

Other things to look out for in an enquiry which could indicate a scam:

- Bad english - and I mean really bad not the type used in text messages :-)

- They say apartment when you have a house or house when you have an apartment - indicates that they may not even have checked your property and are just harvesting emails from property websites

- Want to give you more money than your rent actually is - eek, this is so that you have to refund them the difference but after you have done that you will find that the money they paid you bounced

- Often they use biblical names, references or church positions in their emails (i.e. Reverend, God Bless etc) - I assume to try and come across as honest and trustworthy

Unfortunately there is no way we can stop these people from completing the enquiry forms. So please just be extra careful.

Perhaps Mr Abraham Hill is genuine. At first I wasn't too sure that it was a scam until I had owners with properties throughout Florida emailing me about him. So if he really wanted a house wouldn't he know where he wants to stay?

Sarah @ Villas2000

Welcome & First Post

We gave in and joined the world of bloggers today. We often have something to say :-) but had nowhere to post it - now we do.

Those of you who already know who Villas2000 are don't need to read this next part.

Those of you who don't - well we are an online directory of Florida vacation rentals. We have over 1000 vacation properties listed at our website

The purpose of this blog is to let our subcribers know of our website news, updates or general comments regarding what is happening in the Florida vacation rental market at the moment.

We will also use the blog to let villa owners know of any scam enquiries doing the rounds - you know the type, the people who want to pay more rent for your property and then ask for you to refund the difference etc.....

And we may just post a rant, observation, or just plain opinion on anything at all :-)

We'll try to get back to the blog on a weekly basis and hope you all enjoy what you find.

Bye for now.

Villas2000