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TOURISM

8 essential tips to avoid falling victim to a holiday rental scam in Italy

From phishing links to bogus listings, you'll want to be savvy about the holiday rental scams to avoid if you're vacationing in Italy this summer.

Published: 4 July 2024 09:12 CEST
8 essential tips to avoid falling victim to a holiday rental scam in Italy
What holiday rental scams should you be on the look out for in Italy? Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP.

As Italy’s summer holiday season gets underway, numerous vacationers are starting to book their accommodation – and online scammers are on the prowl.

While most official booking sites have mechanisms in place to minimise fraud, direct bookings with a property’s owner are more susceptible to scams.

Online fraud attempts grew by six percent in Italy between 2022 and 2023, according to Italy’s state police, while the amount of money stolen increased by as much as 20 percent, from €114 million to €137 million.

“In recent years, we have seen a steady increase in online financial crimes; in 2023 alone the Postal Police handled more than 16,000 cases, including those related to the booking of holiday homes, packages and travel tickets,” said Massimo Bruno, director of the Italian postal police force’s financial cybercrimes division.

“Although most of the scams take place outside of travel booking platforms, there is significant exposure in this area as well, especially during peak holiday planning periods.”

READ ALSO: Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

With this in mind, Italy’s state police and holiday booking giant Airbnb have teamed up to release an eight-step guide to avoid falling victim to an Italian holiday rental scam.

1. Double check the website address

A common trick among scammers is to use a website address that looks very similar to the one used by well-known, reputable companies. If you receive a message out of the blue from what appears to be a legitimate sender, double check that the url is correct, and ideally only communicate through an official website or app.

2. Avoid clicking on unknown links

Similarly, if you receive an email or social media message that contains external links from what appears to be a well-known company, it’s advisable to avoid clicking and instead log in to your account through the official website or app to see if you’ve received the same message there.

3. Be wary of very cheap offers and deposit requests

If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Check the listing carefully for any red flags; if the owner seems in a particular rush to get paid a large deposit, that’s probably a bad sign.

4. Never pay by bank transfer

Official booking sites will only allow you to pay via debit or credit card; but if you’re making a private arrangement with an individual owner, they may ask for a bank transfer.

READ ALSO: Why Italy’s beaches are getting harder (and more expensive) to access

“If you are asked to pay for a trip by bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift cards, it is very likely a scam,” say police.

5. Book, pay and communicate via an official platform

Though it might be tempting to take a host up on their offer of a discount if you take a booking private, it’s safest to stick with the platform through which you initially made contact – at least on your first stay.

Official booking sites offer insurance and other guarantees that you’ll be able to take advantage of if things go south.

6. Check reviews

All holiday rental owners have to start somewhere, but if you want to play things safe, make sure a listing has at least a few (positive) reviews. Read these thoroughly to see what guests have said in the past.

7. Communicate clearly with the host

Make sure you’ve confirmed all the important practical arrangements with the host before you leave (ideally all through an official platform, so there’s a trail). If they suddenly go silent on you, contact the platform’s customer service team.

8. Report suspicious behaviour

If a listing on an official booking platform seems like a scam to you, flag it through the company’s official channels. If you’ve already made a payment off-platform, let their customer service team know asap.

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TOURISM

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Inflation may now be falling but the price of a summer holiday in Italy has risen again - by up to 20 percent compared to last year.

Published: 24 June 2024 10:53 CEST
Updated: 29 June 2024 08:09 CEST
Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Italian consumer rights groups said last year that the summer of 2023 would be remembered as “the most expensive ever” for travel. But 2024 has already smashed that record, according to the latest price surveys.

The rising cost of air fares, ferry tickets, hotels, restaurants and beach clubs add up to mean a holiday in Italy will be 15-20 percent more expensive this summer compared to last year, according to a survey conducted by the Assoutenti consumer research centre in June.

While price rises in recent years have been attributed to Covid and rising inflation, which is no longer thought to be a factor, this year Assoutenti said high demand was pushing up prices amid the post-pandemic tourism boom.

Prices in Italy were “out of control as a consequence of the resumption of tourism, after the stop imposed by Covid, and the record number of foreign visitors recorded in the last year,” the survey’s authors wrote, calling on the government to take measures to contain price increases.

READ ALSO: ltaly set for summer tourism boom as bookings increase again

They warned that more Italian families were likely to “give up the summer holidays this year, not being able to face an expense that increases from year to year,” and that those who do travel may book shorter trips to keep costs down.

Some 6.5 million Italians say they won’t be going on holiday this summer at all, with half citing economic difficulties, according to a separate survey commissioned by price comparison website Facile.it.

Meanwhile, there had been a nine percent increase this year in applications for personal loans for travel purposes, the survey found.

Flight prices

One of the biggest factors was the cost of air fares, as both domestic and international flights to and from Italy were found to be more expensive again this year.

While the cost of flights between European countries had fallen slightly following inflation-driven price hikes in 2023, Italy was bucking the trend.

Italy’s flight costs had risen instead, according to recent analysis in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, with the average price of a summer flight between Italy and the rest of Europe up by seven percent and domestic flights by 21 percent.

READ ALSO: Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

Industry sources suggest the price increase is again down to unprecedented demand, while consumer groups say the main culprit is a lack of competition on the Italian market.

Transport costs

There were price hikes too for those using other modes of transport, with the rising cost of fuel and motorway tolls in Italy named as another contributing factor in the Assoutenti survey.

Ferry tickets were also more expensive, it found, with the average increase this August at +6.3 percent compared to 2023.

Hotels and B&Bs

For a family of four, the Assoutenti survey found the most expensive place to stay in Italy this summer was Porto Cervo, Sardinia, where the average price of a week’s three-star accommodation in August came to 3,500 euros.

The cheapest options were found to be Bibione, outside Venice (872 euros) and Rapallo in Liguria (909).

READ ALSO: Tourist tax: How much is it increasing in Italy’s cities this year?

The cost of accommodation at coastal destinations had risen by 23 percent on average overall, a separate survey by consumer group Altroconsumo found.

Hotels in cities were found to be a less expensive option, with most Italian families heading for the beach or mountains to escape the heat.

Restaurants

Adding to the overall cost, prices also continued to rise this year at restaurants in holiday resorts and at beach clubs: Assoutenti recorded an average increase for the catering sector of +3.5 percent on 2023.

Beaches

Renting sunbeds and umbrellas at Italy’s beach clubs is seen as a necessity by many Italian families – and often by international visitors too, given the lack of free options in many areas.

This too was becoming more expensive in 2024, with the average daily rate for a slot at one of Italy’s private beach clubs up by more than five percent on last year. Prices had also risen by as much as 11 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Beachgoers can now expect to pay around €30-35 for two sun loungers and a beach umbrella for the day on average, though prices can rise as high as €90 in Salento and €120 in parts of Sardinia.

Both private and free-access beaches in Italy also increasingly require advance booking due to higher demand.

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